[TusharK]

Suzuki Motorcycle India has partnered with Flipkart for online bookings of its 2-wheelers. Customers can now book the Suzuki Avenis, Gixxer and V-Strom SX using the online platform, starting April 15, 2025.



The online booking service will be available across 8 states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Meghalaya and Mizoram. The service will be expanded to other states in phases.

According to Suzuki, the booking process has been designed for ease. Customers can explore Suzuki models on Flipkart, select their preferred variant and place the order online. The nearest authorised dealership will then assist with the documentation process, and upon completion of registration, customers can take delivery of their new two-wheeler.

Link to Team-BHP News

[venukrithish]

Good move but Suzuki needs to update/bring in new products

[Avikbrio]

What happens when you order one and then a soap gets delivered to you?

[Samarth 619]

Originally Posted by Avikbrio

What happens when you order one and then a soap gets delivered to you?

I'm sure the dealership won't give you a soap when you visit it, otherwise the customer's going to give them a tata punch (first letters non-capitalised on intention). Only the ordering process is online, but good joke.

--

Coming to the topic, online motorcycle sales have been there for quite a few years now, from various brands. Suzuki is welcome to the party now.

And let me tell you, you can join some Telegram groups which list online savings and loots and all (which I've done already). Some solid deals do get listed if you have the intellect to browse through the promotions.
Sometimes, you indeed end up with a far sweeter deal than the dealership quote, I had checked once. More so in the festive season. But, I never actually got a bike online.

So, my question is, last diwali, say a 15k (on road) discount over the regular Passion Plus was going on, is there a catch? Is it actually that sweet a deal or there are hidden costs?
How does the dealership gain a benefit then?

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

How does the dealership gain a benefit then?

From what I've heard and read, about a half of dealerships' profit come from services, a third from financing, accessories, insurances, selling warranty and RSA programs etc. which leaves only about 17% in car sales (new/old). Sales is not where they gain much, but conventionally, this is where they spend much. Everything from rent/lease for such a large commercial area, to salaries for people like those who walk the customers through about the product for sales, who are becoming increasingly useless, and thus increasingly less knowledgeable as well.

I have only been to showrooms a couple of times, but it was quite evident that the less experienced ones had no idea about the product and little-to-no salesmanship; but it was the polar opposite on the experienced folks. This is simply because, in their times they had to be thorough to sell; customers barely knew about the product before stepping into the showrooms. It's quite the opposite these days, thanks to online reviews; most customers are quite familiar about the product, resulting in the no real expectation in performance from the inexperienced salespeople. A consigliere and all those staffs who assist them can essentially be eliminated from the process, or at least drastically reduced in number, as some may still prefer the old-school process.

Such reduction in customer visit to the showrooms to familiarise with the product, leaves many areas where the dealerships can cut costs: rent (won't need a large space), employees, etc. Dealerships are just as irreplaceable as ever in bringing Motorcycles/Cars to customers; this is rather an efficient alternative. I'm not entirely sure, but odds are that the discounts we see on online platforms come directly from the OEM, and not the dealership, who I assume is the 'seller' in this case. Because, they have a vested interest in developing such platforms, to avoid closing of dealerships due to lack of enough revenue. Such platforms may also collect a lot of data efficiently from the (potential) customers, enabling OEMs to advertise better.

Suzuki Motorcycles needs this more than any Motorcycle OEM in the market; that's for sure.

[Samarth 619]

Originally Posted by BullettuPaandi

From what I've heard and read, about a half of dealerships' profit come from services, a third from financing, accessories, insurances, selling warranty a................................................B ecause, they have a vested interest in developing such platforms, to avoid closing of dealerships due to lack of enough revenue. Such platforms may also collect a lot of data efficiently from the (potential) customers, enabling OEMs to advertise better.

Suzuki Motorcycles needs this more than any Motorcycle OEM in the market; that's for sure.

Indeed. Suzuki could use it well.
And we're seeing a micro version of the rent crunch already. In my city, many showrooms in posh areas, are now purposely separated from their service centers, which are now located in outer areas with cheaper rents.

Salespersons in my experience do goof-up a lot. My 65 year old dad was handed over a Discover 125T with 5 gears instead of a 4 gear, lesser powered but more-torquey low-down, Discover 125M.
Salesman said 125T was the better choice, reasons not explainable, he said.

An online only approach will require the customer to shift their belief to online shopping though, a big challenge in small cities specially.
The challenges to online shopping in my opinion are:
1. Trust (a bhpian above said, what if the company delivers a soap, so that's something)
2. Weak education/ English or weak computer/mobile skills to process returns/ refunds.
3. No demo, no test rides/drives.

So yes, like you said, the physical dealership needs to fear nothing for a few years at least. EV's were supposed to change this, with less service requirements and all, but clearly it won't be so.

I checked on Amazon the bike seller's name. It seems to list all local sellers-> Pulsar 125 Neon-D is being sold by Charbhuja Bajaj (I know them as a local dealer, a student of mine works there). Glamour is being sold by Relan Motors, which has been in my city since the 90's.
All familiar names I've been to over the years.

And I'm seeing a strict geographical limitation- Only 3 sellers are listed, 1 outside the city, but all are within my district only.
So, it seems they're just the regular dealers going online on company's initiative probably, rest the process is the same.
And no fancy discounts at the moment- correct ex-showroom prices, give or take a few hundred rupees.
The festive discounts during Diwali time, you're right- it could be the company taking the initiative to make people book them nice and easy, and to get customer data.

Right about customer data- data & analytics is all the rage today. Future companies will probably data-predict that you need a vehicle, before you do.

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by Avikbrio

What happens when you order one and then a soap gets delivered to you?

These online orders are treated differently.

I had booked my Aprilia SR150 online on Paytm way back in August 2016. The booking is then passed on to relevant dealer based on pincode and things are taken from there. You pay just the booking amount online.

[tasty911]

Amazon already sells Hero and Bajaj two wheeler. Flipkart sells Hero.
Is this just getting up on the online bandwagon, because others are doing, for Suzuki? Or these online portals generate meaningful sales.

The product description on Flipkart for Hero vehicles leaves much to be desired. I would rather go to Hero's website to get the information.

Plus if I have to anyway engage with the dealer after booking online, I would rather book with the dealer directly.

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by tasty911

Is this just getting up on the online bandwagon, because others are doing, for Suzuki? Or these online portals generate meaningful sales.

Largely, it is. Not sure about sales, but online portals have been proven to bring a lot more visibility. Personally, I'm a fan of how RE has gone about it; KTM too to some extent. They've developed their own website to serve as their online portal, and have fully utilised what such platforms enable with customisation options, alongside booking test rides and purchases. Tie-ups with Amazon, Flipkart, etc. appear to be a less thoughtful, hack-y way of doing this which doesn't require as much capital.

[SmartCat]

In such partnership deals, what exactly is Flipkart's or Amazon's contribution? Can't a simple online form linked to payment gateway (for accepting booking amount) do the exact same thing? Why would a buyer decide to NOT make a booking at the dealership where he probably took the test ride?

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

In such partnership deals, what exactly is Flipkart's or Amazon's contribution? Can't a simple online form linked to payment gateway (for accepting booking amount) do the exact same thing?

Which is basically what KTM has done- Product page + form- which I think most OEMs already have. RE has added configuration/customisation options with it.

Flipkart or Amazon pages must be more about visibility and advertisement than sales directly. I remember reading about such measures during COVID; these brought a lot more visibility for the OEMs, but didn't translate to sales as much.

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Why would a buyer decide to NOT make a booking at the dealership where he probably took the test ride?

One less visit to the dealership? A different well-rated dealership that is a bit too far to visit (or) didn't have vehicles for test rides?

Test rides can also be booked online, where someone from the dealership will bring the vehicle to the customers' door-step. But if the customer visited dealerships for test rides, probably multiple dealerships, they can just skip visiting the one they've finalised.

It's just a handy option, I suppose.

[Funny]

Just to give context, eCommerce listing is a welcome addition since you can make the complete booking/ex-showroom amount payment using Credit Card and gain reward points without paying any extra CC swipe charges that the dealership mostly insists. And this is apart from any on-going card offers, discounts from seller/manufacturer that can be clubbed together to avail huge discount on your purchase much like any other big ticket purchases on Amazon/Flipkart compared to retail stores.

To give an example, this was my Vida V1 Pro purchase:


Apart from the above discounts, I got 5% cashback on the card used (FK Axis CC). I don't think any dealer would be able to match the above discounts especially in the 2W market where the margins are less for the dealerships. The delivery experience was also smooth since the booking is transferred to a dealer of your choice and they process the rest of the formalities as usual.