Seamless Ownership and Lifecycle Optimization (SOLO)

Publicis Sapient’s Seamless Shop Solution

Seamless Ownership and Lifecycle Optimization (SOLO)

Transforming the automotive post-purchase experience to strengthen brand loyalty, brand advocacy and customer lifetime value (CLV).

Pre-Sales and Sales: A Traditional Focus for Automotive Brands

Automotive brands have traditionally focused on enhancing the pre-sales and sales experience—focusing on new car sales, used car sales and financial services that take customers from awareness to purchase.

As automotive brands embrace digital transformation, they traditionally focus on enhancing the pre-sales and sales experience through digital-first e-commerce, software and subscriptions and a unified mobility ecosystem.

However, the post-purchase experience—including customer care, loyalty programs and brand-facilitated vehicle management—remains largely overlooked. And, this aftersales business is poised for major disruptions due to the changing automotive landscape.

Post-Sales: An Overlooked, High-Profit Business for Automotive Brands

Aftersales service is a significant profit driver for automotive brands, generating a profit share comparable to that of a brand’s financial services. As new car sales decline¹, customers hold onto their cars for longer² and vehicle miles traveled remain consistent³, the profitability of aftersales services is projected to grow in the coming years.

The automotive aftermarket is projected to grow at a rate of over 6.4 percent CAGR from 2022 to 2028⁴. Despite positive growth projections for the global aftersales market, automotive brands are losing market share to Independent Aftermarket (IAM) participants, which include suppliers of spare parts and accessories, independent dealers and garage service providers.

“For original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to capture a larger market share of the $855B opportunity, they need to provide seamless & holistic aftersales services with the customer at the core. Now is the perfect time for OEMs to invest in aftersales.”

Ernie D’Amato, VP, Client Engagement, Publicis Sapient

From a consumer perspective, there’s a strong appetite for digital services that simplify and enrich the car ownership experience. Automotive brands possess data from connected cars, which they can leverage to proactively interact with car owners during post-purchase. These interactions drive crucial customer lifetime value.

While OEMs currently offer some of these aftersales digital services, there remains a wide variety of offerings including but not limited to Maintenance (service packages, over-the-air (OTA) updates, etc.), Services & Products (parking, EV charging, etc.) and Education & Learning (digital manual, warranty information, etc.).

For customers, these offerings are typically disjointed between platforms, and underutilized due to a lack of awareness and training. Even for OEMs, it can be hard to manage the array of aftersales offerings. As the market evolves, there is a growing need to provide a seamless and holistic aftersales approach, with the customer at the core.

Digital strategy to meet the needs of the next generation.

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Why Publicis Sapient’s Seamless Ownership and Lifecycle Optimization (SOLO) Solution?

Publicis Sapient partners with OEMs to capture the growing aftersales market with a customer engagement platform designed to drive customer lifetime value by better connecting OEMs, dealers and customers to meet the demands of the post-purchase customer.

The SOLO tool focuses on five pillars, designed by Publicis Sapient, for a customer-centric streamlined experience.

Our architecture hosts the variety of aftersales offerings and is designed to help the customer through their journey of awareness, consideration, purchasing and retention. At the same time, this solution assists the dealer and OEM with recruiting, planning, selling and servicing.

With the implementation of our SOLO tool, we envision a seamless customer journey intertwined with impactful dealer and OEM touchpoints:

Publicis Sapient provides all ancillary services and comprehensive enablement to successfully bring the SOLO tool to life:

The Seamless Ownership and Lifecycle Optimization (SOLO) Solution is part of Publicis Sapient’s Connected Commerce Toolbox—a suite of solutions designed to help Transportation & Mobility clients elevate their digital ecosystems.