A closer look at the new BMW Retail Online platform

If we cast our minds back to the end of 2015, BMW unveiled a new platform from which online shoppers were able to purchase their next BMW car with the simple tap or click of a button.

This was partly with the aim of meeting the expectations of today’s consumers – in that the number of online sales and popularity of online retail continues to rise and rise – ‘BMW Retail Online’ as they called it has now passed the six month mark, but has it been a success?

How it works

When you visit the BMW website you can start the process. You need to answer a number of questions such as how you drive, where you like to drive, what type of car you’re looking for and this then brings up a couple of examples of the BMW that will best suit your needs.

Following this you can also choose options on spec based on these recommendations and when there is a car you want to buy, you can even organise deposits, full payment and agree finance plans via the website. In terms of collecting the car, you have the choice of delivery of your new BMW or being able to arrange to collect from a dealership close to your location.

There’s also the potential knock-on effect of these services in that those who don’t complete a purchase can find out which model is the right fit for them – which they may eventually buy in the future or source through alternative methods.

At all points of this process though there are facilities such as live chat and email communication should you have any other queries, to make sure you have everything you need to know on your buying journey.

Has this worked?

The big question then is whether or not BMW have seen any positives with their new online platform. Current indications however are generally very positive, so it would seem that it has indeed been a success thus far.

There have been thousands of people using the platform, it has won awards and apparently hundreds of sales have been made online already. There are also reports that they are to start branching out to the used BMW markets and MINI markets, so there’s every possibility this could indeed turn out to be a continuing success story. As ever time will be the telling factor here.