New Delhi: Soon, you and I will be buying cars without actually seeing them physically. Thanks to virtual reality, of course. VR is being touted to be the next big thing for automobile dealers across India, where prospective customers can get a guided tour of the exterior and interior of a car along with a voice prompter to enable an audio-visual experience without having to actually visit a showroom.
In India, every 30 minutes, around 1,200 net searches are made by prospective car or bike buyers to make a purchase decision. This is indicative of the thrust laid by consumers on experiencing their preferred set of wheels, from either the comfort of their homes, or from any other convenient location. Taking this theme forward, Girnar Software, parent company of online auto portal CarDekho.com, has developed a mobile cardboard VR tool exclusively for car and bike viewing.
“We are at the cusp of a mobile revolution with a big emphasis on making a customer’s buying experience more innovative and lucid. Mobile applications are driving large sales today and the auto segment is fast cashing on this growing trend,” said Amit Jain, the company’s CEO and co-founder.
The concept of mobile cardboards is catching on fast due to its pocket-friendly pricing and value proposition. “The card costs around Rs 500 and by attaching it to a mobile handset, it allows you to have near ‘real’ feel of a car or a motorcycle. We are building augmented reality manuals to make this a reality wherein one can point a smartphone towards any part of a car and the inbuilt software will automatically display its particular specifications,” said Jain.
The virtual reality platform for dealers has been conceptualised to overcome the limitations of a showroom. “Today, it is difficult for a car or bike dealer to display every variant of every model at his dealership due to space constraints. Buying decisions related to exterior and interior colour options, choice of upholstery and even the dimensions of the vehicle, are driven by the look-and-feel factor, and virtual reality will aid this experience,” Jain added. This technology is aimed at educating both customers as well as sales executives to boost sales figures.
Jain believes that for a sales executive, using this technology to guide customers can lead to a 14 to 15 per cent increase in lead generation, which eventually results in a favourable return-on-investment in the long run. “Currently, a dealer will have to shell out around $1,000 for one VR unit, but with mass acceptance of this customer-engagement platform, we expect the prices to come down substantially to around $300 per unit,” said Jain.
Though original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have been quick to adopt technology, a sizable number of dealers are still lagging behind in providing customers an experience beyond the conventional practices being used for decades. “A dealer is the final point of contact between the manufacturer and a customer and if he is not able to create a conducive atmosphere for the buyer, no matter how great a product is, it will fail to gain market dominance. VR gadgets will certainly open a new avenue for dealerships to explore and provide a unique value proposition to every visitor.”
CarDekho.com currently has around 2,000 new-car dealers and around 4,000 used-car dealers using its technology, which makes it easier for the company to penetrate to tier-one and tier-two cities as well.
Highlighting the novelty factor associated with this technology, Jain said that the sheer gratification associated with buying a car or a motorcycle among Indian buyers will go a long way in making virtual reality a big hit. “Buying a vehicle is not just any other purchase; it’s a moment which is cherished by all those who are close to the buyer. We want to enhance this experience and create a win-win situation across the value chain for the Indian automobile industry,” said Jain.
