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Automotive retailers digitizing at full speed

  • First joint product of Deutsche Telekom and Salesforce successfully launched in automotive trade
  • Growing demand from Asia, Latin America and the USA
  • Software to be developed further for retailers

Shortly after its launch, Customer Experience Management Automotive (CEM Automotive), the first joint solution by Deutsche Telekom and Salesforce, is already in use at ten car dealerships, including the two largest Mercedes dealerships in Germany. The solution consists of several components – mobile service acceptance is one of them: Staff can use the cloud software on their company mobile devices to accept vehicles already at the yard, document any damage directly with the camera function, provide pricing information, and transfer orders instantly to the dealership system.

"We have been using the mobile service acceptance system at our Bamberg dealership since March. It particularly makes service check-ins for Mercedes-Benz and SMART vehicles easier for us. We can digitally capture data and transfer them via the mobile devices, which helps us avoid errors and lets us easily request seasonal checks. That's precisely how I see the future of vehicle servicing; that's what we mean by our slogan 'Experience the future'," says Wolfgang Wich, head of service at Scholz Group and member of the management board.

When the car advises the customer
CEM Automotive helps to improve both sales and after-sales activities. For example, iBeacons, small sensors that can easily be attached to vehicles, allow customers to load details of the respective car onto their smartphone from the shop window and arrange a test drive with a simple click. The information – images, video or documents – is transmitted to their mobile device via Bluetooth.

The software has also attracted significant international interest: "We are currently in negotiations with car dealerships in China, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil and the USA," says Frank Gassner, Vice President Automotive Sales at T-Systems. "We are approaching these markets in cooperation with Salesforce, and complement each other with our expertise – from software design to sales."

Digital customer retention for retail
To help retailers improve their customers' service experience when shopping, T-Systems Multimedia Solutions has customized its CEM solution to meet the needs of retailers. Like in the automotive industry, iBeacons and mobile applications are used in the digital retail solution, connecting physical stores with the online world. For example, customers can compile their purchase online in advance, on their PC or using the relevant store app, and can choose whether they want to pick up the products themselves or have them delivered. If they choose to pick their purchases up, iBeacons register their smartphone on entering the store. The store manager is informed and the purchases are provided immediately. Customers can pay online, with their smartphone, or in store.

This all-in-one digital service not only saves time for customers, but also helps the retailer to get to know their customers and their customers' purchasing behavior better. The retailer can send particularly loyal customers individual offers or discounts at any time via the app, including when the customer is in store, standing directly in front of the product on the shelf.

Digitizing securely on the best network
Deutsche Telekom has established itself as an IT service provider to the automotive and logistics industry over the past ten years – with connected car solutions for manufacturers, suppliers, logistics companies and the after-sales market. These services are based on a highly available, powerful network and the corresponding cloud infrastructure. In both these fields, Deutsche Telekom has been taking top places in various network tests for years; experts recently again ranked Deutsche Telekom as the leading provider of cloud solutions.

About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with around 151 million mobile customers, 30 million fixed-network lines and more than 17 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2014). The Group provides fixed-network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has approximately 228,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of 62.7 billion euros in the 2014 financial year – more than 60 percent of it outside Germany.

About T-Systems
Deutsche Telekom considers the European business customer segment a strategic growth area. It offers small, medium-sized and multinational companies ICT solutions for an increasingly complex digital world. In addition to services from the cloud, the range of services centers around M2M, security solutions, complementary mobile communications and fixed-network products, and solutions for virtual collaboration and IT platforms, all of which form the basis for our customers' digital business models. The corporate customers unit (T-Systems) and its 47,800 employees around the world generated revenue of around EUR 8.6 billion in the 2014 financial year.

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