CARS24 Creates a Differentiated Experience in Indian Used Car Marketplace

Case Code: CLMM155 Case Length: 5 Pages Period: 2015-2020 Pub Date: 2021 Teaching Note: Available

Price: Rs.150 Organization: CARS24 Industry: Automotive Countries: India Themes: Services Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, B2C Marketing, Platform Model

Abstract

The case study 'CARS24 Creates a Differentiated Experience in Indian Used Car Marketplace' describes how CARS24, a new entrant into the largely unorganized pre-owned automobile market in India, addressed the existing pain points of sellers and buyersto become a unicorn in just five years after it was founded in 2015. Cars24 started its business operations assisting individual customers in selling their pre-owned cars to used car dealers. In 2019, it forayed into the business of selling pre-owned cars to individual customers andin2020 the company entered the pre-owned 2-wheeler business. The case study alsoseeks to highlight the approaches taken by the company to offer the best automobile trading experience to sellers and buyersofpre-owned cars and two-wheelers in India.

The case begins with a brief snapshot of the Indian pre-owned car market and the numerous issues faced by both buyers and sellers. The case study then details the innovative Customer-to-Business (C2B) model used by CARS24 to simplify the process of selling pre-owned cars and the Customer-to-Customer (C2C) business model itimplemented to simplify the process of buying pre-owned cars. Next, the case describes the customer satisfaction and process adherence measuring mechanism undertaken by CARS24 to ensure a uniform customer experience across all its branches with the help of the Learning and Organizational Development (L&OD) and the Business Intelligence (BI) department.Thecasealsofocusesonthe customer experience improvement program implemented by Cars24 to improve the quality of interaction between the company and the customer. Thecase touchesupon the future plans of the companybased on its strong foundation in technology thathas made the customer experience efficient and reliable and helped differentiate the company from the competition.

Issues

• Learn how startups can achieve high growth by addressing unmet customer pain points
• Understand the importance of service quality dimensions and the service gap
• Learn how a focus on ‘customer experience’ can help platform businesses differentiate themselves from the competition
• Learn about technology in service innovation and customer relationship management

Introduction

CARS24, an online platform engaged in buying and selling pre-owned cars and two-wheelers in India, became the first unicorn in the Indian automobile market after it raised US$200 million in a Series E funding round led by DST Global, a privately held multinational internet investment company, in November 2020. CARS24 announced plans to use the capital to bring in innovation in its platform and improve upon its abilities to offer the best automobile trading experience to sellers and buyers.

In 2019, the company obtained a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) license to offer credit to customers as well as channel partners (car dealers). In 2020, it forayed into the pre-owned two-wheeler category. The company followed Customer-to-Business (C2B) and Customer-to-Customer (C2C) business models to streamline the process of selling and buying pre-owned cars and two-wheelers in India.

Keywords

Services Marketing; Customer Experience; Customer Gap Model; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Relationship Management; Business Models; Customer-to-Business Business Model; Customer-to-Customer Business Model;Managing Service Quality; Brand Differentiation

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