Mumbai:  Nov 2022: In an era of digitalization, with more than 73% of vehicle shoppers in India knowing the exact model to be purchased and 88% researching online, product discovery at a showroom remains an important driver of customer experience, according to the J.D. Power 2022 India Sales Satisfaction Index Study (SSI),SM released today. Since 2021, J.D. Power has re-launched the India Sales Satisfaction Index Study in partnership with NielsenIQ.

The study finds that customers with a seamless product discovery engagement have an increase of 28 index points (on a 1,000-point scale) over those who do not (872 vs. 844, respectively). However, more than one-third (36%) of customers in India mention that the product discovery engagement was not seamless.

“Even in an era of instant information availability, the importance of sales consultant-led product discovery continues to drive purchase experience,” said Sandeep Pande, lead of the automotive practice India at NielsenIQ. “With customers returning to the showrooms for their purchase, a seamless product discovery will aid satisfaction and will drive dealer referrals.”

Following are additional key findings of the 2022 study:

· Commercial engagement issues affect overall satisfaction: Nearly one-third (27%) of customers mention that they faced one or more issues during their commercial engagement with the dealers. Satisfaction of these customers drops 26 points compared with those who do not experience any such issues.

· Millennials1 and Gen Z customers remain hard to please: Millennials and Gen Z customers remain the least satisfied, with an overall satisfaction of 852. That score, which is lower than the industry average, reflects lower satisfaction in product discovery engagement as 41% of this cohort citing issues vs. 33% among older customers.

· Key explanations on the day of delivery and beyond: Customers remain sensitive towards key explanations on the day of delivery and a bit beyond. Customers who are provided all explanations, a special ceremony and a follow-up call have an average score of 871. When a dealer fails to complete one of these steps, satisfaction declines to 835.

Study Ranking

MG ranks highest for a second consecutive year, with a score of 881. Toyota (878) ranks second and

Hyundai (872) ranks third.

The 2022 India Sales Satisfaction Study (SSI) is based on responses from 6,618 new vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle from January through December 2021. The study was fielded from June through September 2022.

The study measures new-vehicle owners’ satisfaction with sales process by examining their satisfaction on six factors (listed in order of importance); delivery process (20%), dealer facility (18%), paperwork completion (17%), working out the deal (15%), sales consultant (15%), brand website (14%). The study only examines the after-sale satisfaction in the mass market segment.

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 50 years. The world’s leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies. J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

NielsenIQ is the leader in providing the most complete, unbiased view of consumer behavior, globally. Powered by a groundbreaking consumer data platform and fueled by rich analytic capabilities, NielsenIQ enables bold, confident decision-making for the world’s leading consumer goods companies and retailers.

Using comprehensive data sets and measuring all transactions equally, NielsenIQ gives clients a forward- looking view into consumer behavior to optimize performance across all retail platforms. Our open philosophy on data integration enables the most influential consumer data sets on the planet. NielsenIQ delivers the complete truth.