The new energy era of automobiles has many iconic characteristics. First of all, of course, it is the high attention to intelligent equipment, and secondly, the many new power manufacturers spawned by the lower entry threshold, allowing consumers to obtain a very rich product choice.
There is another feature that even directly changes the way we buy cars that we are used to, that is, online direct sales.
Through a web page or a mobile APP, you can complete the options for the new car, and then submit the order online to pay the intention or deposit.
Experience stores opened by brands in large shopping malls are just displaying cars for consumers to understand and experience. When it comes to buying a car, they actually have to place orders online.
This new direct experience store + online order sales model began with new car manufacturing forces, and soon became popular. It was gradually adopted by some traditional brands, specifically targeting the sale of their own energy models, becoming one of the important symbols of the new energy era of automobiles.
However, although this sales method is very popular, what is the attitude of consumers towards it?
According to the previous report by the foreign media "Automotive News", a market research company conducted a consumer survey to understand consumers' preferences for car purchase methods.
Survey results show that 74% of the respondents said they prefer to buy cars directly from dealers, and 52% believed that online sales methods were "unacceptable".
Although the proportion of respondents who choose to buy cars online has a tendency to increase with age, no matter what age group, more than half of the people will prefer the traditional dealer sales model.
Although the survey subjects of this survey project only involved 1,289 people and the sample size was not large, this also shows to a certain extent the common consumers' preference for traditional car purchase methods.
What are the advantages of traditional dealer sales methods? Is online sales really "unpopular"?
There is always one nearby: the convenience of the traditional sales model
In the traditional dealer sales model, the dealers themselves are relatively independent, and the market areas they are responsible for are also different; the more famous a car brand is, the more 4S stores it opens in the city, and there is always one nearby you.
And in these 4S stores, dealers are not only responsible for selling cars, but also provide after-sales maintenance services to car owners. Therefore, traditional car 4S stores provide consumers with convenience of pre-sales and after-sales services with their intensities.
Of course, you may say: Now the manufacturer's direct store is open in various large shopping malls in the city, and you can check the car while shopping. Isn't this more convenient?
Indeed, it is indeed very clever to place urban experience stores in large shopping malls and other consumer entertainment venues. However, in addition to allowing consumers to experience new cars, these urban experience stores cannot provide services such as new car delivery, registration and license registration, after-sales maintenance, and maintenance.
After buying a car, consumers also need to go to the unified delivery center to pick up their new car and go to a special after-sales service center to maintain their car.
. Given that the number of delivery centers and after-sales service centers directly associated with the manufacturer will not be too many, there are often only one or two in a city, and the service area is too large, so the service experience is more general for some users with far distances.
Early to buy early to enjoy: The temptation of existing cars
In the new car sales process, in addition to the models designated by some brands to "produce by order", new cars freshly driven out of the factory production line are often first delivered to dealers at all levels, and then sold to ordinary consumers.
Although this model similar to the wholesale of manufacturers to retail stores will bring inventory cost to car dealers, and if a certain model has poor sales, dealers may also face the problem of inventory vehicle backlog; but from the perspective of consumers, if the dealer has inventory, it means that they can buy spot stock.
For most ordinary consumer-grade models, as long as there are no unique requirements for the body color, detailed configuration, etc., everyone can buy existing cars directly in the 4S store.
Therefore, in the traditional car sales model, it is common to arrive in the store in the morning and drive a new car home in the afternoon; this is also a very important reason why many consumers like the traditional sales model.
However, in online sales model , offline urban experience stores do not have "current cars"; after consumers place orders through APP or website, they still need to wait for the new car they ordered to be offline or shipped to the delivery center, and then go to the delivery center to pick up the car.
If it is a luxury brand model and involves many meticulous selection projects, it would be fine; but if it is just an ordinary family car, it will have to be on board for ten days and half a month after placing an order, or even longer, then the experience seems to be not in line with the habits of today's consumers.
Offline dealers can bargain when selling cars!
In addition, discounts are also a major advantage of the traditional sales model.
Professor 1 often mentions the discount range when introducing domestic models on sale, and most of this discount is provided by traditional car dealers.
Since dealers are equivalent to intermediates between consumers and car manufacturers, dealers are often able to improve their price advantages through cash discounts, gifts, services, etc. to attract more consumers.
, especially for some models with less than ideal sales and a long backlog, dealers will even minimize their profits with the goal of clearing inventory and "selling" at an astonishing discount; at this time, ordinary consumers can buy new cars at a price lower than the official guide price, and all they save is real money.
As a consumer, car dealers are like food stores in the market, and can fight sales staff for 300 rounds through their iron teeth and copper teeth, and get more discounts and more after-sales services for themselves.
However, in the online sales model, the price of a new car is directly set by the car manufacturer; although there is no middlemen to make a difference, the price discount space is relatively small.
First of all, it is difficult to "bargain" in software, and price adjustments often need to be achieved through user points, special gift vouchers on special consumption days such as Double 11.
But no matter which one it is, it will not be able to achieve a significant discount of tens of thousands of yuan in the end; unless the manufacturer officially reduces the price, this situation is relatively rare.
Traditional sales method Although mature
However, the direct sales method of online sales also has its unique and outstanding advantages
fair and just, without any worries
First of all, dealers sometimes use some not-so-good tricks to increase their profits when selling cars.
For example, everyone has heard of a lot of sales of popular models at a higher price, or the new car is bundled with some services and products in the store, or even the damaged car and defective car are sold as new cars. Disputes arise from this happen from time to time.
However, in the online sales model, consumers are almost directly connected with car manufacturers, and the prices on the official sales platform are uniformly formulated, so there are no problems such as dealers conducting bundled sales and price increases.
After reducing the intermediary, consumers can communicate and deal with the manufacturer directly when encountering product quality problems; although disputes cannot be completely avoided, they can always avoid disputes with dealers.
service is more reliable?
In addition, in the online sales model, the delivery of new cars and after-sales maintenance services are completed by official service centers, and the operation of these service centers is usually ensured by the manufacturer, not by the dealer at his own expense.
In this way, after-sales guarantee can truly achieve brand exclusiveness, and at the same time it can be done more standardized.
Although this approach will certainly increase some operating costs for manufacturers, for consumers, this after-sales service is definitely more reassuring.
No Selection Difficulty !
In addition, although consumers' skills in "bargaining" cannot be implemented under the online sales model, the factory has rarely launched official discounts, which has led to the general ability to buy new cars at the guide price.
But this method also means that no matter which city or area you buy a car, the price you get is uniform.
This means that people no longer need to go back and forth between multiple 4S stores in the same city when buying a car, "more than multiple companies".
Anyway, any urban experience store can see the car and test drive it; without the difficulty of choosing, buying a car will naturally be much more refreshing.
Professor Summary
Indeed, the traditional offline sales model of dealers is very mature, and has long formed a stable operating model, and has relied on the huge sales and service network to bring convenience to consumers.
But at the same time, online ordering and direct sales methods seem to have helped consumers reduce some worries; reducing the agency link, it seems that the risk of disputes is also lower. With various advantages, more traditional brands have indeed joined the ranks of online sales, and even if online sales have not yet begun, the new model of direct-operated experience stores have been opened in the mall.
However, overseas reports show that consumers are more willing to follow the old tricks and buy cars through authorized dealers.
But what is the situation in the domestic market? The professor also wants to do a survey here: if you buy a car, are you more willing to go to a traditional dealer 4S store, or open the APP on your mobile phone to place an order online?
