The ROTF has 5 key elements; Quote, Order taking, Order finalization, Invoicing and Discount. It will only apply to new car sales and will not affect the operation of separate business lines including customer service, used cars and related businesses.

There are various other characteristics under the ROTF, such as a loyal customer or a profession for which Mercedes-Benz will offer discounts.

The German automaker said there would be only one nationally set price for its cars, which would be uniform across the country. In addition, customers will now no longer have to pay incidental costs for their purchase, while the company will offer its customers direct access to national stock for better visibility on desired products.

The company will now also provide the VIN number to the customer even during the reservation phase of the order and confirm it via OTP. Customers will be free to reserve the car through Mercedes’ new ROTF platform by paying a reservation amount of ??50,000 which will be fully reimbursable. By paying the amount, customers can reserve the car for 14 days and during this period, customers can opt for a test drive and make other purchasing decisions.

“Today, we are proud to implement ‘Retail of the Future’ in India after successfully establishing a strong digital backbone, which will support this important transition in our retail business. ROTF is a unique customer-centric business model, which responds to the evolving trends of our customers, while empowering our franchise partners by significantly reducing their financial and operational risks in the market. ROTF further supports our pursuit of creating customer excellence, as franchise partners will now only be competing to deliver an exceptional customer experience, ”said Martin Schwenk, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India.