- Mercedes-Benz will now be directly responsible for selling cars to customers

- Offers full transparency to customers

- Ensures better financial health to retail partners

Back in June, Mercedes-Benz announced the ‘Retail of the Future’ business model for the Indian market. This time around, Mercedes-Benz has officially launched the ‘Retail of the Future’ (ROTF) in the country. The German automaker, claims that India is the first CKD market and the fourth global market to implement ROTF. The company has already accumulated over 1,700 bookings through the ROTF in the beta phase. Currently, this new business model is limited to new car sales only.

For the uninitiated, under the ROTF business model, Mercedes-Benz retains the ownership of entire stocks and retails them via the appointed franchise partners by invoicing the vehicle directly to the customers. The company is now responsible for processing and fulfilling customer orders. Interestingly, the model prices are nationally set by the company and will be uniform across India. Moreover, the customers now have direct access to national stock and for the first time, the company will provide VIN numbers to the customers during the order booking stage to maintain transparency.

Once the customer finds the vehicle of their choice in the national stock, they can proceed with the bookings with a token amount of Rs 50,000. The order completion should occur in the next 14 days and the company will confirm the VIN number with the order booking. The customer will also receive an email confirmation as the car makes its way to the franchise partner. The customer can complete the payment process online or via offline modes. Upon payment realisation within seven days, the final invoice from Mercedes-Benz will reach the customer. The franchise partner will deliver the car at the customer’s doorstep or one can opt for delivery at the showroom.

The ROTF benefits to customers are as follows –

– Avail the best price guarantee

– Experience a seamless omni channel purchase process

– Witness complete transparency and enhanced visibility of products

– Enjoy the best customer service from franchise partners

The ROTF benefits to franchise partners are as follows –

– Better financial health

– Zero inventory

– No market facing risk

– Compete for best customer experience and not for price