Mercedes-Benz India implements ‘Retail of the Future’ in India; ushers in customer-centric ‘direct to customer’ sales model

Mercedes-Benz the country’s largest luxury carmaker, today implemented the futuristic and highly customer-centric ‘Retail of the Future’ (ROTF) business model, ushering in a fundamental transition in the luxury retail landscape in India. This ‘direct to customer’ model which was first announced in June 2021, was launched after the successful beta testing phase, by Martin   Schwenk, Managing Director & CEO and Santosh Iyer, VicePresident- Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India, from the company’s Metro Auto Hangar dealership located in South Mumbai.  With ‘Retail of the Future’, Mercedes-Benz India will retain the ownership of the entire stock of cars and retail them via appointed Franchise Partners, by invoicing them directly to the customers. Mercedes-Benz will also be responsible for processing and fulfilling the customer orders. With ROTF, there will be one nationally set price by the company, which will be uniform across the country.  Industry first practices: Focused entirely on customer convenience, ROTF brings to the Indian customers a bouquet of   industry-first   practices,   creating   a  new   benchmark in transparency   and   customer convenience, aimed towards offering the best customer experience. With ROTF, customers will not have to pay any incidental charges for their purchase anymore. In addition, the customers will now have a direct access to national stock giving them a higher visibility to select their desired products from across markets. Mercedes-Benz also for the first time will now offer the VIN number to the customer even during the order