Changing the face of car showrooms to meet new consumer buying habits.
As customers are shifting more and more towards an online, non-physical retail environment when buying a car, multinational automobile manufacturer Nissan wanted to move from simply branding its buildings to developing a design based on the customer journey.
Key information
- Location:
- Yokohama, Japan
- Date started:
- 2016
- Completion date:
- 2023
- Client type:
- Real estate
- Main services:
- Cost and commercial management, procurement, programme management, programme strategy and set up, project management, technology and data
Changing habits
A growing number of customers arrive at the car dealership having already researched the car they are going to buy, but despite this, some still want the typical dealership experience with design bars, car configurators and discussions with a sales representative.
By taking a customer-centric approach, Nissan aims to create flexible retail customer journeys in all 9,000 showrooms for every type of customer, through a design that was adaptable to regional variations in customer expectations and buying habits.
Global and local delivery
Our appointment stems from a 30-year relationship with Nissan, in which we have worked in partnership with the auto giant across the globe.
We worked with Nissan to develop a multi-tiered delivery model with global and regional programme management office’s (PMO), supported by a framework of local delivery project managers.
The role of the global PMO, in Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama Japan, is to embed consistency and quality by setting the global approach, governance process, design quality standards, supply chain strategy and consolidating best practice knowledge sharing for the project.
Then regional PMOs across six continents, in more than 20 offices, act as the intermediary between the global PMO and the project management delivery teams in each market.
Targeted upgrades
To date more than 2,000 dealerships have been upgraded in over 70 countries. These dealerships have been redesigned to make the customer the priority and have included car charging systems for the promotion of electric vehicles.
In doing so, the car dealership can remain an integral part of the car buying process for the future.
Technology is central to the Nissan customer experience. The design focuses on transitioning the dealership to a completely paper-free environment in the showroom by incorporating car configurator and design bars with touch screens.
This enables customers to view, specify and compare the vehicle preferences prior to purchase independently, reducing customer stress and anxiety and increasing the customer confidence.