CAROUSELL AUTOS LAUNCHES NEW CARS CATEGORY WITH DIGITAL SHOWROOM EXPERIENCE
First autos marketplace to launch digital showroom experience with 13 different brands, all in one app
Singapore, 9 June 2020 – Carousell, one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing classifieds marketplaces, today announced the official launch of Carousell Autos’ New Cars category in Singapore. Following the success of its expansion into the secondhand autos business, Carousell’s New Cars category has been launched in response to the increasing demand for new cars.
To allow users to conveniently explore a variety of new cars in one marketplace, Carousell has partnered with 13 different brands, from well-known Japanese manufacturers Toyota and Mitsubishi, to continentals like Volkswagen, Citroen and Jeep. The New Cars category also functions as a digital showroom, providing an interactive experience that connects the user directly to the authorised brand dealers, in real-time.
In the New Cars category, each car listing has been specially designed to simulate a digital showroom viewing with enhanced features including a streamlined introduction, images, videos, icons for standout features, car specifications, a live chat function, as well as an integrated map to the authorised dealership’s physical showroom. New car listings are the only listings that can be embedded with links to videos of any length, which play in-app. The live chat feature, which allows users to get immediate responses from the car brands, can be used to book online consultations, schedule a test drive for when movement restrictions ease, and even purchase cars within the app.
“Meeting customers on the channels where they are shopping and buying is the key to connecting the dots, and delivering a seamless and consistent experience when they are shopping for cars. This crisis has also illustrated the importance of maintaining as many connections with the customer as possible. With a partner like Carousell, we’re another step closer to transcending the barrier between us and the consumer, closing the gap, and deepening our engagement with them in an environment that they are comfortable with,” said Ricky Tay, Managing Director of Volkswagen Group Singapore.
“Our users have grown with us over the years, crossing various milestones in their lives and gaining greater purchasing power. We’ve continually looked at meeting their evolving needs, for example, with higher value verticals, which includes autos. We started with secondhand cars three years ago, and have made significant strides in our comprehensive offerings and seamless car-buying experience on our mobile app,” said Sanjay Shivkumar, Head of Autos, Carousell.
“Social distancing and movement restrictions have completely changed the car-buying journey for consumers. This is the moment for the autos industry to adapt and evolve, so we’ve accelerated the launch of our New Cars category and digital showroom experience as an impetus for the ecosystem. The pandemic has also reshaped the way that we consume content, so we’ve placed a strong focus on the look and feel of the category. The digital showroom experience is a novel way of working with brands to complement their vehicle discovery process, adapt to the new normal and bridge the gap between them and customers, with our strong user reach of 1 in 4 Singaporeans.”
Since its launch in 2017, Carousell Autos has grown to become the most diverse car ecosystem in the country, covering all bases for its consumers. Users can scroll through the category to find all of their autos wants and needs, from renting a vehicle, to requesting for autos workshop services, finding autos accessories, reading the latest reviews and buying both pre-owned and new cars. The New Cars category has seen a growing interest since its soft-launch in 2019, with a sixteen-fold increase in its monthly active users.
To browse through the Carousell Autos digital showroom experience, click the Cars category on the mobile app’s home page, followed by the New Cars category.
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About Carousell
Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and now has a presence in eight markets across Asia. With over 250 million listings, we are one of the world’s largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and are backed by Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India and Naspers. The Carousell marketplace has a diverse range of products across a variety of categories, including cars, lifestyle, gadgets and fashion accessories. Download the app for iOS or Android, and visit www.carousell.com for more information.
