NEW DELHI: Consumer-to-consumer marketplace OLX on Friday launched its new franchisee-led pre-owned car retail offering where dealers and consumers can buy and sell pre-owned cars. The franchise-led model which will be branded as ‘OLX Autos’ will enable dealers to become a part of OLX India’s dealer network and is an extension of OLX’s online classifieds marketplace, according to a release.
As OLX exclusive partners, the dealers will leverage the OLX Integrated-Omni Channel Store experience where they will be able to retail pre-owned cars across OLX’s online marketplace as well. This will also bring along benefits such as access to leads from the online marketplace via a digital storefront and the ability to provide value-added services to customers.
In the initial phase the franchisee stores will operate across the cities of Delhi, Chennai, Madurai, Mumbai, Patna, Rudrapur, Jammu, Kolhapur, Kolkata to name a few, the release added.
Customers will have access to a larger inventory of cars, avail warranty services, roadside assistance, and insurance on their pre-owned car purchases. This move is a further extension of OLX’s online platform to the offline format, complementing its company-owned offline stores called OLX CashMyCar.
As per OLX’s estimates, India’s pre-owned market is 80% unorganised, comprising largely of small and medium-sized dealers who deal in limited car inventories across geographic pockets which limits their access to consumers thereby impacting their potential to maximise their earnings. Because of Covid 19, OLX estimates about 60% plus pre-owned car dealers have unsold inventory and are facing difficulties while availing working capital.
Traditionally when consumers bought or sold a pre-owned car to dealers there was a lack of a standardised experience or a certification process which could vouch for the quality of the car being retailed. The new franchise-led model contributes to further strengthen OLX’s market leadership in the pre-owned car segment thereby augmenting the largely untapped and unorganised pre-owned car retail market in India. The dealer ecosystem in India has been fraught with trust issues due to a restricted inventory, limited working capital and a not so satisfactory end consumer experience. In order to tide over the challenges related to limited financing, OLX will also provide economical inventory funding options to the dealers.
Talking about the launch of the franchise network in India, Amit Kumar, head OLX Autos India, said, “we are launching the franchise operations to cater to the growing demands to organize retail of pre-owned cars in the country. We are confident that our move into franchising will bring several entrepreneurs onto our platform. Together, we will significantly enhance the customer experience for buyers and sellers.”
He further added, “The network of our franchise stores will work collaboratively with our dealer partners to increase their profitability and improve their operations, thereby enabling them to offer compelling customer value.”
To ensure that franchise-led outlets replicate the values and processes of the company, OLX will also assist dealers in rebranding their stores for an improved customer service with the aesthetics and experience being supplemented by OLX merchandise. Each car will undergo an inspection process based on parameters such as the condition of the car, kilometres driven, the authenticity of the car documentation and more.
The franchisees will receive training to start and grow their business and access to a full-service model which includes: guidance for bulk procurement, better deals for insurance, branding guidance and franchise guidance program at regular intervals.
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