LONDON: With the re-opening of dealerships across the UK, BMW Group UK has launched new digital car locator tool on the BMW and MINI websites to support customers with their next purchase.
BMW and MINI customers using the new car locator will have real time access to the entire network of new stock vehicles at retailers across the country. Each vehicle listing provides extensive technical details, specification information, pricing and accompanying imagery.
To start the process customers select the models they are interested in and set their initial budget (monthly or "on the road").
They enter their postcode and are prompted to select one retailer from a list of their five closest locations. Newly introduced functionality provides for a powerful search of the retailer’s local, group and national new vehicle stock that is typically available for handover within two weeks.
Vehicles can be sorted by "on the road" pricing, or, thanks to full integration with BMW Financial Services, by the customer’s monthly payment budget.
The latter feature supports a high level of refinement as customers are able to adjust their finance product, deposit contribution, contract duration and/or mileage terms to suit their circumstances.
Results can then be filtered based on personal preferences such as colour combinations, fuel types, transmission and more. Up to three vehicles can be added to a shortlist throughout the refinement process and compared side by side in detail.
Once the right vehicle has been identified, the final step of the process involves either submitting a contact enquiry to the chosen retailer, or paying a £500 (RM2,692) reservation deposit by credit or debit card there and then. Where customers choose to reserve their car online, their selected retailer will contact them directly to discuss the next step.
BMW said it is seeing a sustained rise in web traffic. Online car reservations were up by 130% in May on the previous month, with this trend continuing into June.
