China traditional automobile sales form.

The tide of returning to work in many provinces and cities across the country is gradually coming, and many enterprises choose "February 10" as the first day of returning to work. However, at present, the epidemic affects the hearts of all walks of life, and all households still respond to the call of the state and try to go out as little as possible, which also leads to some offline stores, and their business is deserted and nobody cares. Similarly, it is undoubtedly worse for the offline sales of the automobile industry. Not only the proportion of returning to work is not high, but also the enterprises that have started work are facing practical problems such as shortage of related materials and sharp drop in passenger flow. On the other hand, some online shopping platforms, such as Taobao Shopping, Tmall Supermarket Shopping, and Meituan Takeaway, have seen their sales growth go against the trend and even fall short of demand. In recent days, many auto companies have also launched various forms of online sales, so some people began to speculate that although the arrival of this epidemic will bring a very big crisis to the auto market, at the same time, will more traditional auto companies and dealers usher in the turning point of the development of auto online marketing?

Network marketing with its own characteristics

VIA, the latest issue of "Investigation on Inventory Early Warning Index of China Automobile Dealers" released by china automobile dealers association, shows that the inventory early warning index of automobile dealers from 2065438 to February 2009 was 59.0%. Although the inventory index decreased by 3.5 percentage points month-on-month and 7. 1 percentage point year-on-year, the inventory early warning index was above the warning line. In addition, referring to the past, every year 1 and February is the off-season of the automobile sales industry, and now it is seriously affected by the epidemic, and the sales situation is even more bleak. Therefore, the inventory of major dealers is relatively large at present.

Not only in any case, car companies and dealers can't sit still. Since 2008, many automobile brands have increased their online marketing layout in advance in order to reduce the loss of customers.

Among them, online exhibition hall is the most "simple and rude" way. Taking FAW-Volkswagen Audi as an example, FAW-Volkswagen Audi will launch an innovative reform of "customer-centered, digital empowerment marketing system" by building Audi? EP business eco-digital platform breaks the boundary and builds a big ecology that connects users and vehicles, empowers dealers and integrates external partners. Consumers can watch the appearance and interior of all models sold in 360 stores online on their mobile phones and computers. Compared with the traditional picture mode, the intelligent exhibition hall can present every detail of the car body to consumers in the form of VR.

At the same time, there are also online sales to increase incentives. The official digital marketing platform of Wuling Automobile, the largest comprehensive service platform of China OEM, allows users to easily complete car viewing, manual customer service consultation, one-click ordering and zero-contact car purchase online through Lingling APP, and also get an extra discount of 1 0,000 yuan by paying 9.9 yuan deposit in Lingling.

The most attractive thing is Geely Automobile. Geely Automobile announced that from February 10, it will launch a "car delivery" service for customers all over the country. Users can pay a deposit of 2,000 yuan online at Geely Automobile Official Mall, Geely car home Flagship Store, Geely JD.COM Flagship Store and Geely Tmall Flagship Store to enjoy on-site service. Customers who complete the car purchase can also get an activity package worth 3,000 yuan. At the same time, Geely Automobile will launch the activity of paying 9.9 yuan's deposit on more online platforms, and you can get a gift package with the value of 1500 yuan when you complete the car purchase. Cargill, Job PRO and other popular Geely models are also included in this service. In addition, in addition to "delivering cars to your door", Geely Automobile will also provide additional services such as licensing and insurance to provide customers with a safe car purchase experience without leaving home.

Is online mode really feasible?

In fact, when it comes to online sales, the first thing that editors think of is the new force of making cars. Take Tesla for example. In March last year, Tesla officially announced: "It is limiting its global sales channels to online sales. At the same time, it said that this move can effectively reduce the price of cars-an average reduction of 6%. " In this mode, Tesla only has an offline experience store, and there is no 4S shop of traditional car companies. In other words, even if consumers go to offline stores to experience and finally decide to place an order, they still need to place an order in official website.

Moreover, for Tesla, which had already implemented online sales in March last year, there was no sharp drop in sales. In the whole year of 20 19, Tesla's total output was 365,000 vehicles, an increase of 43.5% over 20 18. It is worth noting that Tesla's output and delivery in the fourth quarter reached a new high. In the fourth quarter of 20 19, the output of all Tesla models was 100, and the delivery volume was about 1 12, which increased by 9. 1% and 15.5% respectively compared with the third quarter, setting a new record.

It can be seen that Tesla truly proves the feasibility of the online model in sales volume, which not only allows consumers to restore the experience of seeing and choosing cars in multiple dimensions anytime and anywhere, but also understands all relevant information including models, dealers, preferential activities and even customer evaluations. However, it cannot be ignored that Tesla's main consumers are a group of people who are very receptive to new things. These people know their own needs very well, and they know the Internet very well. So it is no problem for them to place an order online. What they want more is to buy a cheaper Tesla than a Tesla with sales outlets all over the country. As for the experience, although Tesla's offline stores are only opened in first-and second-tier cities, they are enough to meet their needs.

All in all, in the past, some traditional automobile brand layouts did not have much determination and strength for online sales, which led to the failure of the successful rise of automobile e-commerce, but it has already become an advantageous field for many new forces to build cars. Therefore, for traditional car companies and dealers, we may wish to refer to the practices of some new forces in building cars, not only selling online, but also providing consumers with offline experience stores, so that consumers can really sit still and feel, communicate face-to-face with sales staff and enjoy more intimate services. This epidemic will undoubtedly become an important driving force to change the practice of "standing still" of these brands, and also give a hint to car companies and dealers: it is an inevitable trend for marketing promotion to shift from offline to online. Therefore, for traditional car companies and dealers who are not good at this field, making up the shortcomings of online marketing is not only a helpless choice at the moment of the epidemic, but also an inevitable move to meet the next challenge.

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The epidemic situation is bringing an impact to the automobile industry that cannot be ignored. This impact is unpredictable, but it must be faced. Although online sales are unlikely to be a panacea to solve the current automobile sales dilemma, it is still an effort made by brave car companies to reduce risks and even serve the future. In the future, car companies may wish to combine online and offline. On the one hand, car companies constantly convey brand characteristics and product strength to consumers through a large number of online "buyer shows", or live broadcasts or short videos, so that consumers can learn more about vehicles through online websites, and at the same time complete car selection, payment, car booking and other processes online, effectively reducing the number of trips; On the other hand, it also provides offline services, so that customers can actually experience the quality of vehicles and enjoy perfect after-sales service.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.