In the current digital era, India has more than a billion internet subscribers. Considering now that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has slowed down business across sectors, is online booking a good option to revive car sales? We at CarWale conducted a survey to study the luxury car buyer's affinity towards online car bookings. The survey findings are based on 2,431 respondents from metro (53 per cent) and non-metro (47 per cent) regions.
Based on the feedbacks received for the luxury car space, 16 per cent of the total buyers are willing to book a car online. Meanwhile, 84 per cent have replied in the negative, 42 per cent of which agree that a digital tour of the car might help them make a purchase decision, while 58 per cent have insisted on a test drive along with the virtual tour. The survey further revealed that 36 per cent will not book a car online, citing trust and security issues as the main reason. Some of the other reasons stated were, need for a test drive (33 per cent), preferred cheque/cash payment (27 per cent) and complexity of online payments (four per cent).
Among those who are willing to book a car online, 63 per cent are ready to do so without a test drive. A majority (59 per cent) of them will book a car online if they have ready researched about the car of their choice, while 22 per cent will follow the recommendations by a trusted family member or a friend. The remaining 19 per cent will book the car directly as they have either already seen or driven the vehicle.
Although today only a small number of buyers in the luxury car space will book a car, a strong majority of those booking the car online, will do so without a test drive as many among these have already researched about their choice over the internet. Based on a strong percentage of buyers who book online after researching on their own, the online bookings are likely to be the future of car bookings.
We had recently conducted a similar survey for regular car segment. To learn more click here.
