What's the news?
After a two-year partnership between BMW and eBay, BMW has decided to extend its store by offering aftersales options on its new Value Service page.
The new page gives customers the opportunity to see how much servicing their BMW will cost at an official dealer. So far the page lists all servicing options for the 3 Series, 5 Series and X5; with prices starting at £139 for an E46 Engine Oil Service. With over 45,000 unique visitors each month to BMW's eBay Direct Store, the Value Service page is expected to be popular, and has already recorded thousands of views.
"Two years ago we embarked on an exciting journey with eBay to offer our customers an easy way to browse and shop for BMW products online," comments Andy Wilde, Aftersales E-Commerce Manager and BMW Group UK. "The addition of a Value Service page provides an ideal opportunity to educate BMW owners within the eBay environment about this great offering."
At the start of BMW's partnership with eBay, no other manufacturers had a Direct Store on the site. Now, other manufacturers such as Vauxhall and Nissan have followed suit and opened Direct Stores. BMW's offers over 6,000 Genuine BMW items including parts, lifestyle and cleaning equipment.
"Consumer shopping behaviour continues to dramatically change, and the automotive sector is no exception," says Justin Lovric, Senior Strategic Advertising Sales Manager, Automotive, eBay UK. "With an average of four million monthly searches for BMW and 19 million unique users visiting eBay in the UK and Ireland every month, online clearly offers car brands a huge opportunity to engage with customers."
Anything else?
BMW's partnership with eBay also extends to the track; as the eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport BTCC car is competing in this year's competition. Many of the racer's parts are also available on BMW's eBay store, including the black BMW M Performance Kidney Grilles. West Surrey Racing was the team that built the car, with all parts and support coming from BMW Aftersales throughout the season.
James Giddings - 7 Aug 2013