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16 Dec 2020

Sales go virtual on the e-Shop

Before the launch of this operational phase, the e-Shops were piloted with an increasingly large pool of dealers, for several months.

Sales go virtual on the e-Shop

 

The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles e-commerce project has begun, involving the FCA sales network in Italy. The e-Shops form part of an initiative relating to all models from all our brands, each taking the relevant name. This has resulted in the Fiat e-Shop, Lancia e-Shop, Alfa Romeo e-Shop, Jeep e-Shop, Abarth e-Shop and Fiat Professional e-Shop.
All the models are offered to customers in a modern, innovative way. On the e-Shops, you can choose your own car or commercial vehicle, configure it, then select a specific vehicle.
It is one of the first examples of this kind of online sales, whereby an official FCA dealership will contact customers to finalize their purchases with very short lead times.
e-Shop represents the evolution of the CAR@Home project: developed on the Google Meet platform during the first lockdown that began in March, it has enabled and continues to enable thousands of customers to get in touch with FCA dealers conveniently, to choose the new vehicle they wish to buy without leaving home. A successful initiative with customers, it offers them concrete support from the sales network, not only in Italy but around Europe, too.
The way the various e-Shops work is very simple. The configuration section can easily be accessed from each brand’s and dealership’s homepage. Once there and after selecting the features of their chosen car, customers can continue with the online purchase process and are given the option – in only a few easy steps – of ordering the car and adding other services, including financing packs designed and prepared by FCA Bank exclusively for this project. Customers can then sign up and make a secure down payment of €500 by credit card.
Operating on a proprietary FCA platform, the system sends the data to the relevant dealership, then the customer will quickly be contacted by a sales consultant to complete the purchase process by signing a binding contract, either in person or remotely. Only at this point is the €500 converted into a deposit and all the customer needs to do is wait for the car to be delivered. The CAR@Home platform means subsequent contact with the sales consultant can take place online. The binding contract can also be digitally signed over the internet, so the purchase can be completed with no need to visit a dealership, while still being able to count on the professionalism and specialist advice of a sales consultant.
For the time being, the e-Shops are only available in Italy, although the platform will be extended to France in the coming weeks, and to Belgium in mid-January. It will then be rolled out to the other main European markets in the first half of 2021. New content will constantly be added to the platform, including options to view 3D renderings of the cars inside a virtual dealership, and to purchase used cars.
Before the launch of this operational phase, the e-Shops were piloted with an increasingly large pool of dealers, for several months. These various dealerships were therefore able to become an active part of the thorough verification of how the platform works and to experience the simplicity of the process from a customer perspective. As such, and partly thanks to the contribution of an FCA team focused on the project, the best possible user experience has been created, by developing and checking all the features to make it quick and easy for customers to approach the platform.
The e-Shops put Fiat Chrysler Automobiles among the European leaders in online car sales, continuing the transformation of the sales culture with the new e-commerce solution, alongside CAR@Home, to translate into opportunities the difficulties encountered by dealerships in 2020 in maintaining their proximity to customers.
In Italy, e-Shop can be accessed via the official websites of all the FCA brands (www.fiat.it, www.lancia.it, www.alfaromeo.it, www.jeep-official.it and www.fiatprofessional.it) and individual dealership websites.

 

Turin, December 16th, 2020

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