BMW brings the future to SA dealers

BMW plans to keep with the times as customer habits evolve.

BMW plans to keep with the times as customer habits evolve.

Published Jul 14, 2015

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Midrand - BMW South Africa is implementing a comprehensive new programme called “Future Retail” in all its BMW and Mini dealerships over the next two years as part of its retail strategy.

The programme was launched in conjunction with the BMW i earlier this year in four selected BMW i dealerships, Club Motors Fountains in Pretoria, Sandton Auto, SMG Cape Town and Supertech in Durban. It comprises a range of retail initiatives and tools designed to enhance a BMW customer’s premium retail experience.

Oliver Buchner, the sales channel development general manager at BMW SA, said customers who visited the four pilot dealerships would be introduced to new elements, such as visible new brand architecture, newly designed and reconfigured showroom floors, IT guided product presentations and the BMW or Mini Genius, whose role was to explain the products in detail to the customer without the pressure of making a sale.

Tim Abbott, the managing director of BMW South Africa, said consumer habits were changing and the way people wanted to buy products had evolved.

Customers used multiple information and communication channels and had transparent access to information via the internet and social media and were, therefore, much better informed at first contact with the dealer. Customers also got in touch with the product earlier and as a result of their experiences in other industries also expected a highly emotional, personal and communicative brand experience across multiple channels, he said.

MORE CONTACT POINTS

Through the programme, the BMW group aims to increase the number of possible customer contact points; expand the services and benefits offered through retail channels; enhance the retail experience at dealerships and through initiatives like pop-up stores; and for the dealer to play an even bigger role with an increased number of contact points.

Thando Pato, the product communications manager at BMW SA, said the programme would be rolled out to all 54 BMW dealers in South Africa by the end of next year.

Five cross-border dealers would also be included in the roll-out, she said.

Pato said the investment in the programme would be carried by both BMW SA and its dealers but declined to comment on the overall cost of the programme.

She said global experience had shown that future retail did not have a negative impact on jobs in the dealership, adding feedback had shown that the staff was more motivated and there was higher job satisfaction due to the new working environment.

BMW South Africa said the programme was developed in close alignment with the dealer organisation and its partners worldwide and had already been successfully launched in a number of international markets.

Abbott said BMW not only critically reviewed its internal processes and customer feedback, but also researched customer expectations of a premium retail experience through an intensive focus group programme in North America, Europe and Asia.

He said they had also benchmarked the key customer touch points with leading premium brands.

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