APRIL 2017
Future of Car Retail
Context
A major Indian automotive brand wanted to understand the future of car retail in India with a focus to create a service concept that could cater the emerging market for multi-utility vehicles in India.
The traditional car buying process has not seen any major transformation in the last few decades. With advent of new technology, the process has potential for a major paradigm shift. The car buying journey is thus an area which has immense potential for design research and innovation.
PROBLEM
Indian millennial customers faced negative test drive experiences which did not meet their expectations, leading to low conversions rates and sales.
solution
A service design concept for an experiential test drive facility which met the emerging market’s expectations about multi-utility vehicles and off road motor sports in India
DESIGN PROCESS
METHODS
Surveys
Secondary Research
Expert interviews
Workshop
Observational research
Card sorting exercise
In-depth user interviews
IDENTIFIED FRICTION AREAS
Test drives
Unavailability of test drive vehicle
Test drive time limit
Test drive route restriction
Test drive distance restriction
Salesman interference in test drive
Route lacks actual drive conditions
Multiple test drives take up time and efforts
Finding and coordinating test drives difficult
OFF-ROADING
Lack of Proper infrastructure
Lack of Safety support
Lack of Service providers
Lack of Maintenance support
No parking facility for off road vehicles
Difficult to procure off road equipment
PERSONAS
MAPPING THE JOURNEY
INSIGHTS
TWO STAGE SIEVING PROCESS
A pattern has been observed in the user’s buying behavior where a car segment is decided according to the user’s economic background, purpose of mobility, budget and aspirations. The user narrows down typically three preferred models of different brands from the
segment. The user decides on the model to be purchased based on the test drive experience. Sometimes the user may test drive an aspirational car model exceeding the
user’s budget. A positive test drive experience could result in the user extending the budget to buy the aspirational vehicle. This corroborates the importance of test drive as found in the secondary research.
CAR-A,B,C - Cars selected by the user after research
CAR-X - Aspirational car (exceeding users budget)
CAR- A/B/C/X - Final selected car
MULTI BRAND TEST DRIVE
Users have to test drive multi brand cars that they have narrowed down after their research in the preferred segment. Test drive involves two stake holders; car dealerships and people who accompany the user (typically family, friends, local mechanic etc.). It takes more time and effort to test drive each vehicles differently. Coordinating with both stakeholders for a suitable test drive has a large number of difficulties. Hence there is a need for multi brand test drive facility which meets the user’s needs and expectations.
EXPERIENTIAL TEST DRIVES
Users are significantly unsatisfied with the current test drive process which consumes lot of time and effort. Each test drive for individual brand is done on separate occasions, which makes it difficult to compare the experiences for the user. The existing test drives fail to give the experience of the actual conditions that the user wants to ride the car in. The customer has to be given an indulging and experiential test drive, at par with the parallel experiences that the user has in other domains. For this purpose the test drive has to be given in a specially designed test track that exhibits all the features of the car while test drive is done.
FOUR WHEEL OFF-ROAD TRACKS
The sport has lot of potential for growth in India. The sport now lacks proper training academies, tracks, equipment providers and other related infrastructure. Providing a service platform where the off road sport enthusiast can find all the relevant services and products related to the sport under one roof….. This platform could be shared by the OEMs to provide experiential test drives for their vehicles. The off road enthusiasts are an important influencers for the regular users both online and offline; suggesting and giving reviews about which vehicles to buy.
REDEFINED BRIEF
To design an off-road park that provides infrastructure and related services for four-wheel off-road sports and acts as a platform for providing multi-brand experiential test drives.
IDEATION
OFFERING MAP
STAKEHOLDER MAP
MOTIVATIONAL MATRIX
SERVICE BLUEPRINT
SERVICE FLOWCHART
Conclusion
CURRENT AND FUTURE IMPACT
FUTURE OF OFF-ROAD PARKS
With the advancement of technology, the concept of cars and transportation are changing rapidly. Global trends suggest that community shared self-driven cars that run on clean energy could be the future of mobility. Manual driving of cars would become more of a leisure or sport; indulged in for adventure, entertainment or recreation. Establishments that provide leisure or sports services related to automobiles would become exclusive.
In the future, off-road parks will attract all kinds of users to test drive the self-driven or electric vehicles, learn and promote four-wheel off-road sports. At the same time, they act as a platform for providing off-road vehicles, products, and services. They have the potential for expansion by providing other related service options to secondary users such as shopping, hospitality, entertainment etc.
Four-wheel off-road parks that provide all the services related to vehicles and off-road sport would be exclusive places that could be targeted by vehicle manufacturers and consumer brands to sell and market their products and services.
INDIAN MILLENNIAL & TEST DRIVE
India has more than 400 million Millennials—those born after 1982—accounting for a third of the total population and 46% of the workforce. They are the chief wage earners in most households, with millennial income contributing to 70% of total household income. This new generation has the majority purchasing power and portrays keen interest in captivating experiences. Hence it is important to provide them with quality experiences, to influence them as consumers. Off-road experiential test drives would cater to their need for indulgent experiences and provide OEMs with an opportunity to engage the customers with the test drive vehicles.