WO2015054818A1

WO2015054818A1 - Processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing

Info

Publication number: WO2015054818A1
Application number: PCT/CN2013/085185
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stefano VILLANTI; Kevin PHELPS; Cristiano CARLUTTI; Karl GASCHKA; Yuan Zhao
Original assignee: Qoros Automotive Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2013-10-14
Filing date: 2013-10-14
Publication date: 2015-04-23

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and system for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing. The method comprises receiving customer information associated with a customer account by a customer journey backend server from a customer via an electronic device; processing the customer information by the customer journey backend server to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information received from an enterprise internal system; storing the customer-specific information in association with the customer account in the customer journey backend server and the enterprise internal system; and displaying the customer-specific information by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at a dealer store.

Description

Processing Customer Information to Facilitate Vehicle Purchasing

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to the field of information processing, and more particularly relates to a method and system for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing.

BACKGROUND

A customer usually studies a great amount of materials before purchasing a car as the vehicle is an important asset of a family. For example, a customer always wants to obtain more sophisticated and comprehensive information of each interested vehicle, which includes vehicle specification and additional information, e.g., the infotainment system, test drive, insurance options, and video shows. Some of the information can be found on the websites of an auto company or dealers. However, the customer generally wants to see the cars, do test driving or have first-hand information at a dealer store. Sometimes, the customer still cannot make a purchasing decision after several visits to the dealer store. The dealer store environment can be stressful to the customer with presence of a large amount of information on the vehicles, which makes the customer feel that he / she needs more time to make a purchasing decision. It is desirable to have a system that allows the customer to use the information that the customer gathered before the dealer store visit and additional information obtained during his/her dealer store visit.

SUMMARY An object of the present invention is to provide a solution for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing, which obviates at least one of the above-mentioned disadvantages.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing customer information regarding vehicle. The method comprises: receiving customer information associated with a customer account by a customer journey backend server from a customer via an electronic device; processing the customer information by the customer journey backend server to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information received from an enterprise internal system; storing the customer-specific information in association with the customer account in the customer journey backend server and the enterprise internal system; and displaying the customer-specific information by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at a dealer store.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: receiving service request together with the customer information by the customer journey backend server from the customer via the electronic device; and processing the customer information and the service request by the customer journey backend server to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of the source information received from the enterprise internal system. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: receiving, from an interactive device at the dealer store, customer information associated with a customer account and/or service request through interaction with the customer; and transmitting the customer information and / or the service request to the customer journey backend server. According to an embodiment of the present invention, displaying the customer-specific information by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at the dealer store comprising: displaying the customer-specific information on an interactive device and / or a dealer staff device at the dealer store by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at the dealer store. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises receiving, on a dealer staff device at the dealer store, customer-specific information of a customer from the enterprise internal system via a dealer management system when a certain dealer store is designated by the customer.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer information associated with a customer account comprises at least one of customer registration information, customer profile, and customer preference information on vehicle configuration.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the service request comprises at least one of test drive booking, dealer staff reception booking, vehicle maintenance booking, and vehicle repair booking.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the source information from an enterprise internal system comprises at least one of vehicle configuration information, and service related information of dealer stores.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer-specific information comprises at least one of vehicle configuration comprising selected vehicle parameters, and a service plan responsive to the service request.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle parameters of vehicle configuration comprise at least one of model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle. According to an embodiment of the present invention, receiving customer information associated with a customer account and service request by a customer journey backend server from a customer via an electronic device comprises: receiving the customer information and the service request by the customer journey backend server from the customer through a website accessed by the electronic device or an application operating on the electronic device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises generating by the customer journey backend server a unique identification associated with the received customer information and the service request, and transmitting the unique identification to the electronic device. According to an embodiment of the present invention, accessing to the customer account comprises accessing to the customer account via one of the unique identification, registered ID, and social network account of the customer.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device is one of desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, interactive terminal, and feature phone.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises transmitting by dealer a confirmation of the service request to the enterprise internal system via the dealer management system. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing. The system comprises: a customer journey backend server configured to receive customer information associated with a customer account from a customer via an electronic device; an enterprise internal system configured to transmit source information to the customer journey backend server, the customer journey backend server is further configured to process the customer information to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information, store the customer-specific information, and transmit the customer-specific information to the enterprise internal system, the system further comprises an interactive device and a dealer staff device at a dealer store configured to display the customer-specific information by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at the dealer store.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer journey backend server is further configured to receive service request together with the customer information from the customer via the electronic device, and process the customer information and the service request to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of the source information received from the enterprise internal system.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the interactive device at the dealer store is further configured to receive customer information associated with the customer account and/or the service request through interaction with the customer, and transmit the customer information and/ or the service request to the customer journey backend server.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the dealer staff device at the dealer store is further configured to receive the customer-specific information of the customer from the enterprise internal system via a dealer management system when a certain dealer store is designated by the customer.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer information associated with the customer account comprises at least one of customer registration information, customer profile, and customer preference information on vehicle configuration.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the source information from the enterprise internal system comprises at least one of vehicle configuration information, and service related information of the dealer store.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer-specific information comprises at least one of vehicle configuration comprising selected vehicle parameters, and a service plan responsive to the service request. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle parameters of vehicle configuration comprise at least one of model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer journey backend server is configured to receive the customer information and the service request from the customer through a website accessed by the electronic device or an application operating on the electronic device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer backed server is further configured to generate a unique identification associated with the received customer information and the service request, and transmit the unique identification to the electronic device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the interactive device and / or the dealer staff device is configured to access to the customer account via one of the unique identification, registered ID, and a social network account of the customer. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device is one of desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, interactive terminal, and feature phone.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer journey backend server operates on cloud.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the dealer staff device at the dealer store is further configured to transmit a confirmation of the service request to the enterprise internal system via the dealer management system.

In conclusion, the embodiments of the present invention provide an efficient and effective approach for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing. By receiving and processing the customer information and service request to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information, once the customer visits at the dealer store, the customer information and the service request can be directly and quickly retrieved by the dealer staff at the dealer, and displayed to the customer on the interactive device and/ or the dealer staff device, which information may be quite useful for the dealer staff to provide follow-up services to the customer, for example providing quotes and conducting sales according to the customized configuration of the customer, which saves tremendous time and efforts from both the customer and the dealer staff, and lowers the overall cost and increases the efficiency for purchasing a vehicle or other activities at the dealer store, e.g., maintenance and repair of vehicles. Further, the unique combination of information tools provides customers and dealer staffs an interactive way to share information regarding vehicle. In addition, the present invention provides an approach to follow the way the customer use the tools (e.g., the website, the application), and store and use such information to further improve the dealer business.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of embodiments and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this description. The drawings illustrate embodiments and together with the description serve to explain principles of embodiments. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other. Like reference numerals designate corresponding similar parts. It should be expressly understood that the drawings are included for illustrative purposes and do not in any manner limit the scope of the present invention. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall system for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing and an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a structural drawing illustrating an exemplary layout of a showroom in a dealer store according to an embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 3is a flow chart illustrating a method for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, for purposes of explanation rather than limitation, specific details, such as the particular architecture, structure, techniques, etc., are set forth for illustration. However, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments that depart from these specific details would still be understood to be within the scope of the present invention. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present invention. It is to be understood that the features of the various exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise.

Figure 1 illustrates an overall system 100 for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing and an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1 , the system 100 may comprise a customer journey backend server 102, an enterprise internal system 1 10, an interactive device 1 18, and a dealer staff device 1 16. Optionally, the system 100 may further comprise a dealer management system 114. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer journey backend server 102 is configured to receive customer information associated with a customer account from a customer via an electronic device, and the enterprise internal system 110 is configured to transmit source information to the customer journey backend server 102. And the customer journey backend server 102 is further configured to process the customer information to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information, store the customer-specific information, and transmit the customer-specific information to the enterprise internal system 1 10. The customer journey backend server 102 may be a server operated by an auto company. Alternatively, the customer journey backend server 102 also may be a server operated by a vehicle sale company, a dealer, or a third party providing the services. And the customer journey backend server 102 may be any server computer with communication, processing, and storage capabilities and the customer journey backend server 102 may comprise one or more servers. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer journey backend server 102 may operate on cloud, and is namely a cloud server.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, and as illustrated in Figure 1, the customer journey backend server 102 may comprise a customer sign-on database 106, a source information database 108, and a customer specific information database 112. The customer journey backend server 102 may be configured to receive customer information associated with a customer account and store the customer information in the customer sign-on database 106. The customer sign-on database 106 may be a centralized place for customer registration and customer authorization. The information on customer registration including e.g., user name, password, email address or other contact information, is stored in the customer sign-on database 106. In one embodiment, the customer information associated with a customer account may include customer registration information. In another embodiment, the customer information associated with a customer account may include customer profile, and customer preference information on vehicle configuration. For instance, the customer registration information may comprise one or more of user name, password, email address, mobile phone number, and other contact information; the customer profile may comprise one or more of gender, age, occupation, education background, income level, and other profile information of the customer; and the customer preference information on vehicle configuration may comprise usage purpose of vehicle, estimate of budget, customer preference on one or more of appearance, painting, interior, accessory, fuel economy, power, and other features of the vehicle. Alternatively, the customer preference information on vehicle configuration may comprise detailed vehicle parameters such as model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle. It is noted that the above examples are described to help readers understand the principle of the present invention, and cannot be considered as limitation to the scope of the present invention.

Optionally, the customer journey backend server 102 may be further configured to receive service request together with the customer information from the customer via the electronic device 10. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the service request may comprise at least one of test drive booking, dealer staff reception booking, vehicle maintenance booking, and vehicle repair booking, etc. For instance, the test drive booking may be a booking initiated by a customer to request test drive at a dealer store; the dealer staff reception booking may be a booking initiated by a customer to request visiting a dealer store and reception by dealer staff(s) ; the vehicle maintenance booking may be a booking initiated by a customer to request vehicle maintenance service at a dealer store; and vehicle repair booking may be a booking initiated by a customer to request vehicle repair service at a dealer store. It is noted that the above examples are described to help readers understand the principle of the present invention, and cannot be considered as limitation to the scope of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device 10 may be any electronic device 10 with communication and Internet browsing capabilities, for example, desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, interactive terminal, feature phone, etc. Further, the customer journey backend server 102 may be configured to receive the source information from the enterprise internal system 110, and store the source information in a source information database 108. In one embodiment, the source information from an enterprise internal system 1 10 may include vehicle configuration information on selected vehicle parameters, such as model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle. In another embodiment, the source information from an enterprise internal system 1 lOmay include service related information of dealer stores.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer journey backend server may be configured to receive the customer information and/ or the service request from the customer through a website accessed by the electronic device 10 or an application operating on the electronic device 10.

The website accessed by the electronic device 10 may be an official website of the vehicle manufacturer or dealer. The official website may provide service which is interactively available to customers, contact centers, or dealers, including customer registration, information subscription, the above described service request, etc. Alternatively, the website may be a third party professional website providing same or similar service.

In addition, the website may also provide vehicle configuration service, which may through virtualized technology, allow customers to customize vehicle by selecting customized configuration regarding vehicle, which may comprise at least one of vehicle model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package and accessory. The website takes response of graphic rendering and display, and all master data is stored in the customer journey backend server 102. Once a customer customizes a vehicle configuration, he/she can store the configuration locally or online, email it, print it out, or share it to social network. Alternatively, if the customer wants to preview his personal vehicle configuration without leaving any details, he/she may choose an anonymous customization, and register at any time later.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the application operating on the electronic device 10 may be an application running on mobile device, e.g., tablet, smart phone, interactive terminal, or feature phone. Illustrative but non-limiting examples of the application may be an iOS App running on iPhone or iPad, or an Android App running on Android tablet or phone. The application may provide same or similar services and functions with the website as mentioned above, such as providing product information, technical information, newsletter, service request, etc. Further, the application running on the tablet may have vehicle configuration services and functions same or similar with the website as mentioned above, and the application running on the smart phone may not have the function. Alternatively, both the application running on the tablet and the application running on the smart phone may have the vehicle configuration function.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the website and the application may also have access to the information regarding sales and/or service, including product information for launch model showcasing key features (e.g., brochure content), technical and product specifications, base price for all trim lines (without options) and option prices, finance calculator, product information on insurance and associated services offerings, locate dealer by city / province or nearest dealer using geo-location, send test drive request to contact center or selected dealer, provide details of contact center (e.g., phone, email) and after sales static service information explaining Road Side Assistance (RS A), warranty terms, service plans, extended warranty plans, etc. Optionally, the website and the application may also have other features, including registration of prospects, logging in and viewing/ editing data held, displaying QR code for access to the database, viewing status of test drive appointment (e.g., request, confirmation), sharing related information to social networks, signing up for newsletter and update details, and saving contact details of sales ambassador or preferred dealer. Optionally, the website and the application software may also provide access to information regarding brand experience, such as photo and video galleries, or to information regarding retail marketing, such as latest customer offers at retail level and latest information update on events, test drive campaigns, and activities based on location.

The customer journey backend server 102 may be further configured to generate an identification for the customer, associate the identification with the customer information and the service request, and transmit the unique identification to the electronic device 10. The identification may be a unique identification (e.g., a QR code), registered ID, and social network account. And the identification may be a shortcut to all the customer information and service request. For instance, the unique identification may be scanned in contact centers or dealer stores to quickly retrieve the customer information and service request as mentioned above.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer journey backend server 102 is configured to process the customer information to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of source information received from the enterprise internal system 110. When the service request is received together with the customer information by the customer journey backend server 102 from the customer via the electronic device 10, both the customer information and the service request may be processed by the customer journey backend server 102 to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of the source information.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in Figure 1, the enterprise internal system 110 may be enterprise application systems deployed in internal environment of the vehicle manufacturers or dealers as the source data provider for the customer journey backend server 102 and a dealer management system 114, and also store customer information and service request which are collected by the electronic device 10 or other devices described in details hereinafter.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the enterprise internal system 1 10 may comprise: a product lifecycle management system (PLM), which manages and stores product information, part information, part modulus and vehicle configuration, and synchronizes these data and information to the customer journey backend server 102; an enterprise resource planning system (ERP), which manages finance and manufacture relevant information, may optionally provide list price of each vehicle configuration, sales package and relevant data, and may synchronize these information to the customer journey backend server 102; a dealer collaboration system (DCS), which provides dealer information containing contains dealer name, dealer code, dealer address, contact information, etc.; a customer and vehicle relationship management system (CVRM), which receives the customer information and/ or the service request from the dealer store (e.g., the interactive device and/ or the dealer staff device as described hereinafter), distributes the customer information and/or the service request to either contact center or relevant dealer store, and also monitors the follow-up processes.

And the source information from the enterprise internal system 1 10 may comprise at least one of vehicle configuration information, and service related information of dealer stores. For instance, the vehicle configuration information may comprise product information, configuration parameter information of vehicles and vehicle accessories, etc., as provided by the PLM; and the service related information of dealer stores may comprise dealer name, dealer code, dealer address, and dealer contact information, as provided by the DCS.

As described hereinbefore, the customer journey backend server 102 is configured to process the customer information and optionally the service request to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of the source information. The customer-specific information may be stored in a customer-specific information database 112. In one embodiment, the customer-specific information may be transmitted to the enterprise internal system 1 10. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the generated customer-specific information may comprise at least one of vehicle configuration comprising selected vehicle parameters and a service plan responsive to the service request, and the vehicle parameters of vehicle configuration may comprise at least one of model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle. The vehicle configuration included in the customer-specific information may be generated by the customer journey backend service from the customer preference information on vehicle configuration included in the customer information on the basis of the vehicle configuration information included in the source information as described above.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the service plan responsive to the service request included in the customer-specific information may comprise one or more service plans responsive to the service request of the customer, for example, a test drive plan responsive to test drive booking of the customer, a dealer staff reception plan responsive to dealer staff reception booking of the customer, a vehicle maintenance plan responsive to vehicle maintenance booking of the customer, a vehicle repair plan responsive to vehicle repair booking of the customer, etc. The service plan included in the customer-specific information may be generated by the customer journey backend service from the service request on the basis of the service related information of dealer stores included in the source information as described above.

As mentioned above, the system 100 may further comprise an interactive device 1 18 and a dealer staff device 1 16 at a dealer store configured to display the customer-specific information by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at the dealer store.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the dealer management system 114 may communicate information between the enterprise internal system 110 and a dealer staff device 116 at a dealer store. In another embodiment, the dealer management system 1 14 may be one part of enterprise internal system 100. In one embodiment as illustrated in Fig. 1, the dealer staff device 1 16 at the dealer store may be configured to receive the customer-specific information from the dealer management system 1 14 when a dealer store is designated by the customer. In another embodiment, the dealer staff device 116 also may be configured to transmit the service related information or a confirmation of the service request to the enterprise internal systems 110 via the dealer management system 114. The confirmation of the service request may be a confirmation of at least one of test drive booking, dealer staff reception booking, vehicle maintenance booking, and vehicle repair booking. Further, in one embodiment, the dealer staff device 1 16 at the dealer store may receive customer-specific information of a customer from the enterprise internal system 1 10 via the dealer management system 1 14 when a certain dealer store is designated by the customer. The dealer management system (DMS) 114 is a bundled management information system for dealer stores. When the customer designates a certain dealer store, the DMS 1 14 may request the customer-specific information of the customer from the enterprise internal system 110 and transmit the customer-specific information to the dealer store, e.g., the dealer staff device 116. Further, customer information and/ or service request received on the dealer staff device 116 may be transmitted to the customer journey backend server 102 and the enterprise internal system 110 via the DMS 114.

In the descriptions above conducted in the dealer store, the application operating on the dealer staff device 116 may be a sales app, which may have iOS version, Android version, etc. Further, an after-sale app is also provided. These sales apps and after-sale apps may be referred to as Mobile DMS (Dealer Management System) Apps, which may through DMS Service Bus deployed on the cloud to generate connections to the DMS 1 14 as described above, as illustrated in Figure 1. Several DMS functions can be used by the Mobile DMS Apps, and all relevant data will be stored in the DMS 114. Mobile DMS Apps also connect to the customer journey backend server 102 to retrieve the customer information and service request, so as to generate quotation. The Mobile DMS Service Bus is an integration middleware on cloud. Considering each dealer has independent DMS instance, the Mobile DMS devices (e.g., the dealer staff device 1 16 running the sales apps or the after-sale apps) need a router to connect to the correct DMS instance, and also need to enhance the stability of DMS functionalities for mobile devices to use.

In another embodiment, the customer-specific information may be retrieved from an interactive device 118. The interactive device 1 18 may be any device having a user interface located in a dealer store. When the customer visits the dealer store, the customer can enter his or her account and access the customer-specific information. In one example, the customer-specific information may be vehicle configuration or price for that vehicle model that the customer organized before going to the dealer store. When the customer experiences the vehicle in the dealer store, the customer may be interested in another vehicle model or may want to take additional information to further study the vehicle. In this case, the customer may edit or revise the prior customer specific information at the interactive device 118 and save new customer-specific information into his or her account to be reviewed later. In some embodiments, the customer-specific information may include multiple vehicle configurations and related information. The customer can access the customer-specific information anywhere via the electronic device 10, review the customer-specific information or share the information with his/her family and friends. In this way, the customer is able to fully learn the vehicle to make a purchasing decision. To some degree, the dealer store experience is extended outside and thus increase the efficiency of the dealer system. At the customer's following visit, the customer may already know what he / she wants and go through the purchasing procedure directly. Further, the information sharing may make the customer's friends potential customers.

As described before, the customer can input his/her sign-on information into the customer journey backend server 102 via the electronic device 10 anywhere. After signing into the customer journey backend server 102, the customer can access and learn information available at the customer journey backend server 102 and organize the information into the customer-specific information. As the customer does the above work at relaxed environment, the customer has sufficient time to consider his/her choice of the vehicles. During a dealer store visit, the customer can access the customer-specific information via the interactive device 1 18, request additional information, experience the vehicle or request a service based on the customer-specific information. As the customer's journey at the dealer store is guided and planned, the customer would have pleasant experience at the dealer store, which may facilitate the transaction at the dealer store.

Figure 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary layout of a showroom 200 in a dealer store. As shown in Figure 2, one or more dealer staff devices 116 may be placed at a reception area 202. A plurality of interactive devices 1 18 can be located in various areas of the dealer store 200. For example, one or more interactive devices 118 may be placed in accessories area 208. When the customer wants to add or edit the information related to accessories at his/her account, a customer may use the interactive device 118 at the accessories area 208with the actual accessories present in front of his/her. Similarly, the customer may use the interactive device 1 18 at the vehicle area 210 or Human-Machine Interface (HMI) interactive area 212 if the customer wants to add or edit the information related to vehicle configurations at his/her account. Alternatively, some of the interactive devices 118 mentioned above can be Spec Pods as described hereinafter.

The vehicle area 210 is dedicated to display vehicle(s) for customers to explore, including use of Spec Pods to get vehicle specification and additional information. The Spec Pods are electronic brochures showing each vehicle configuration, image, video, and specification sheet. The Spec Pod can be placed in dealer store right besides show vehicle. Content of Spec Pod is stored in cache locally and can be updated online through the media database. The HMI interactive area 212 is a place for customers to stand and explore HMI capability on e.g., tablets which mimic the in -vehicle screen. After the dealer store visit, the customer can access the customer-specific information via an electronic device 10 at home, office, or anyplace having the electronic device 10. With the experience at the dealer store 200, the customer can refresh his memory related to the vehicle, which help him/her make a purchasing decision.

For instance, the interactive device and dealer staff device may be tablet, smart phone, or other portable devices with display, processing, and communication capabilities.

At the dealer store, if the customer is interested in going for a test drive, he/she may check the test drive vehicle availability on the interactive device 1 18 on the basis of service related information in the customer journey backend server 102 received from the enterprise internal server, and choose to go for test drive immediately. The dealer staff may configure a personalized test drive on the interactive device 118 held by the customer, or the dealer staff may do this on the dealer staff device 116. And after the test drive, the driving stats may be displayed on the interactive device 1 18 or the dealer staff device 1 16, which is useful for the customer to learn more about the vehicle. Further, if the customer is interested in configuring a vehicle, he/she may conduct the configuration on the interactive device 118 or the dealer staff device 116, and results of the configuration may be stored in his/her account and then transmitted to the customer journey backend server 102.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing. Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 300 for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing according to an embodiment of the present invention. Descriptions of the method 300 will be given hereinafter with reference to both Figures 1 and 3.

As shown in Figure 3, the method 300 begins with a step 310 of receiving customer information associated with a customer account by a customer journey backend server 102 from a customer via an electronic device 10, which is illustrated in Figure 1. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer information associated with the customer account may comprise customer registration information and customer profile. Further it may also comprise customer preference information on vehicle configuration. For instance, the customer registration information may comprise one or more of user name, password, email address, mobile phone number, and other contact information; the customer profile may comprise one or more of gender, age, occupation, education background, income level, and other profile information of the customer; and the customer preference information on vehicle configuration may comprise usage purpose of vehicle, estimate of budget, customer preference on one or more of appearance, painting, interior, accessory, fuel economy, power, and other features of the vehicle. Alternatively, the customer preference information on vehicle configuration may comprise detailed vehicle parameters such as model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle. It is noted that the above examples are described to help readers understand the principle of the present invention, and cannot be considered as limitation to the scope of the present invention.

Optionally, at the step 310, the customer journey backend server 102 may further receive service request together with the customer information from the customer via the electronic device 10. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the service request may comprise at least one of test drive booking, dealer staff reception booking, vehicle maintenance booking, and vehicle repair booking. For instance, the test drive booking may be a booking initiated by a customer to request test drive at a dealer store; the dealer staff reception booking may be a booking initiated by a customer to request visiting a dealer store and reception by dealer staff(s) ; the vehicle maintenance booking may be a booking initiated by a customer to request vehicle maintenance service at a dealer store; and vehicle repair booking may be a booking initiated by a customer to request vehicle repair service at a dealer store. It is noted that the above examples are described to help readers understand the principle of the present invention, and cannot be considered as limitation to the scope of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device 10 may be any electronic device 10 with communication and Internet browsing capabilities, for example, desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, interactive terminal, feature phone, etc. And the customer journey backend server 102 may be any server computer with communication, processing, and storage capabilities and the customer journey backend server 102 may comprise one or more servers. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer journey backend server 102 may operate on cloud, and is namely a cloud server.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, and as illustrated in Figure 1, the customer journey backend server 102 may comprise a customer sign-on database 106, a source information database 108, and a customer specific information database 1 12. The customer sign-on database 106 may be a centralized place for customer registration and customer authorization. The information on customer registration including e.g., user name, password, email address or other contact information, is stored in the customer sign-on database 106. The source information database 108may store the source information. The source information database 108 may synchronize the data from an enterprise internal system 110 of the vehicle manufacturers or dealers which will be described hereinafter. And the customer specific information database 1 12 may be a database storing customer-specific information which will be described in details hereinafter. In the above described step 310, the customer information and/or the service request may be received by the customer journey backend server 102 from the customer through a website accessed by the electronic device 10 or an application operating on the electronic device 10.

The website accessed by the electronic device 10 may be an official website of the vehicle manufacturer or dealer. The official website may provide service which is interactively available to customers, contact centers, or dealers, including customer registration, information subscription, the above described service request, etc. Alternatively, the website may be a third party professional website providing same or similar service. In addition, the website may also provide vehicle configuration service, which may through virtualized technology, allow customers to customize vehicle by selecting customized configuration regarding vehicle, which may comprise at least one of vehicle model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package and accessory. The website takes response of graphic rendering and display, and all master data is stored in the customer journey backend server 102. Once a customer customizes a vehicle configuration, he/she can store the configuration locally or online, email it, print it out, or share it to social network. Alternatively, if the customer wants to preview his personal vehicle configuration without leaving any details, he/she may choose an anonymous customization, and register at any time later.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the website and the application may also have access to the information regarding sales and/or service, including product information for launch model showcasing key features (e.g., brochure content), technical and product specifications, base price for all trim lines (without options) and option prices, finance calculator, product information on insurance and associated services offerings, locate dealer by city /province or nearest dealer using geo-location, send test drive request to contact center or selected dealer, provide details of contact center (e.g., phone, email) and after sales static service information explaining Road Side Assistance (RS A), warranty terms, service plans, extended warranty plans, etc. Optionally, the website and the application may also have other features, including registration of prospects, logging in and viewing/ editing data held, displaying QR code for access to the database, viewing status of test drive appointment (e.g., request, confirmation), sharing related information to social networks, signing up for newsletter and update details, and saving contact details of sales ambassador or preferred dealer. Optionally, the website and the application software may also provide access to information regarding brand experience, such as photo and video galleries, or to information regarding retail marketing, such as latest customer offers at retail level and latest information update on events, test drive campaigns, and activities based on location.

Optionally, the method 300 may further comprise an optional step of generating by the customer journey backend server 102 a unique identification associated with the received customer information and the service request, and transmitting the unique identification to the electronic device 10. The unique identification may be a QR code or other unique identification of customer, which is generated on the basis of the received customer information. And the unique identification may be a shortcut to all the customer information and service request. After receiving the unique identification from the customer journey backend server 102, the electronic device 10 may use this unique identification to access to the customer account. Alternatively, registered ID and social network account of the customer can also be used to access to the customer account. In addition, the unique identification (e.g., a QR code) may be scanned in contact centers or dealer stores to quickly retrieve the customer information and service request as mentioned above.

After the above described step 310, a step 320 is performed, in which the customer information is processed by the customer journey backend server 102 to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information received from an enterprise internal system 110. When the service request is received together with the customer information by the customer journey backend server 102 from the customer via the electronic device 10 in the step 310, both the customer information and the service request may be processed by the customer journey backend server 102 to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of the source information. According to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in Figure 1, the enterprise internal system 110 may be enterprise application systems deployed in internal environment of the vehicle manufacturers or dealers as the source data provider for the customer journey backend server 102 and a dealer management system 114, and also store customer information and service request which are collected by the electronic device 10 or other devices described in details hereinafter. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the enterprise internal system 1 10 may comprise: a product lifecycle management system (PLM), which manages and stores product information, part information, part modulus and vehicle configuration, and synchronizes these data and information to the customer journey backend server 102; an enterprise resource planning system (ERP), which manages finance and manufacture relevant information, may optionally provide list price of each vehicle configuration, sales package and relevant data, and may synchronize these information to the customer journey backend server 102; a dealer collaboration system (DCS), which provides dealer information containing contains dealer name, dealer code, dealer address, contact information, etc.; a customer and vehicle relationship management system (CVRM), which receives the customer information and/ or the service request from the dealer store (e.g., the interactive device and/ or the dealer staff device as described hereinafter), distributes the customer information and / or the service request to either contact center or relevant dealer store, and also monitors the follow-up processes. And the source information from the enterprise internal system 1 10 may comprise at least one of vehicle configuration information, and service related information of dealer stores. For instance, the vehicle configuration information may comprise product information, parts information, and configuration parameter information of vehicles, as provided by the PLM; and the service related information of dealer stores may comprise dealer name, dealer code, dealer address, and dealer contact information, as provided by the DCS.

In the step 320, the customer information and optionally the service request are processed by the customer journey backend server 102 to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of the source information. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the generated customer-specific information may comprise at least one of vehicle configuration comprising selected vehicle parameters and a service plan responsive to the service request, and the vehicle parameters of vehicle configuration may comprise at least one of model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle. The vehicle configuration included in the customer-specific information may be generated by the customer journey backend service from the customer preference information on vehicle configuration included in the customer information on the basis of the vehicle configuration information included in the source information as described above.

After the step 320 described above, a step 330 of storing the customer-specific information in association with the customer account in the customer journey backend server 102 and the enterprise internal system 110 is performed, as illustrated in Figure 1. In the step 330, the generated customer-specific information is stored in association with the customer account in the customer journey backend server 102 (e.g., in the customer specific information database 112 as described above) and the enterprise internal system 110.

Afterwards, at a step 340as illustrated in Figure 1, the customer-specific information is displayed to the customer by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at the dealer store. The dealer store may be equipped with one or more interactive devices 1 18 and dealer staff devices 116. For instance, the interactive device 1 18 and dealer staff device 116 may be tablet, smart phone, or other portable devices with display, processing, and communication capabilities. According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the step 340, the customer-specific information may be displayed to the customer on the interactive device 1 18 and/ or the dealer staff device 116 at the dealer store. For instance, when the customer visits the dealer store, he/she is greeted by a dealer staff, e.g., a Sales Ambassador, who has a dealer staff device 116, and at least an interactive device 118 is assigned to the customer. Displaying the customer-specific information of the customer on the interactive device 1 18 or the dealer staff device 116 may be quite useful and helpful for the dealer staff to provide follow-up services to the customer, for example providing quotation and conducting sales according to the vehicle configuration specific to the customer. And the method 300 may comprise an optional step of calculating quotation of the vehicle by the customer journey backend server 102 on the basis of the vehicle configuration customized for the customer. And the calculated quotation may be sent to the dealer staff at the dealer store for sales purpose. Optionally, the method 300 may further comprises optional steps of receiving, from the interactive device 118 at the dealer store, customer information associated with a customer account and/ or service request through interaction with the customer, and transmitting the customer information and / or the service request to the customer journey backend server 102. For instance, if a customer is not a registered customer, has not provided any information, and directly visits the dealer store, the dealer staff at the dealer store may request the customer conduct the registration, and provide customer information and/ or service request as described hereinbefore on the interactive device 1 18. Then, the customer information and/ or the service request can be transmitted to the customer journey backend server 102, and thus customer journey backend server 102 may generate the customer-specific information on the basis of source information received from the enterprise internal system 110, as described above.

For instance, if the customer is interested in going for a test drive, he/she may check the test drive vehicle availability on the interactive device 118 on the basis of service related information in the customer journey backend server 102 received from the enterprise internal server, and choose to go for test drive immediately. The dealer staff may configure a personalized test drive on the interactive device 1 18 held by the customer, or the dealer staff may do this on the dealer staff device 1 16. And after the test drive, the driving stats may be displayed on the interactive device 118 or the dealer staff device 1 16, which is useful for the customer to learn more about the vehicle. Further, if the customer is interested in configuring a vehicle, he / she may conduct the configuration on the interactive device 118 or the dealer staff device 116, and results of the configuration may be stored in his/her account and then transmitted to the customer journey backend server 102.

Still further, the method 300 may also comprise an optional step of receiving, on a dealer staff device 116 at the dealer store, customer-specific information of a customer from the enterprise internal system 110 via a dealer management system 1 14 when a certain dealer store is designated by the customer. The dealer management system (DMS) 114 is a bundled management information system for dealer stores. When the customer designates a certain dealer store, the DMS 1 14 may request the customer-specific information of the customer from the enterprise internal system 1 10 and transmit the customer-specific information to the dealer store, e.g., the dealer staff device 116. Further, customer information and/or service request received on the dealer staff device 116 may be transmitted to the customer journey backend server 102 and the enterprise internal system 110 via the DMS 1 14. Furthermore, the method 300 may also comprise an optional step of transmitting by a dealer (e.g., a dealer staff device 116) a confirmation of the service request to the enterprise internal systems 110 via the dealer management system 114. The confirmation of the service request may be a confirmation of at least one of test drive booking, dealer staff reception booking, vehicle maintenance booking, and vehicle repair booking.

In the descriptions above of the steps conducted in the dealer store, the application operating on the dealer staff device 116 may be a sales app, which may have iOS version, Android version, etc. Further, an after-sale app is also provided. These sales apps and after-sale apps may be referred to as Mobile DMS (Dealer Management System) Apps, which may through DMS Service Bus deployed on the cloud to generate connections to the DMS 114 as described above, as illustrated in Figure 1. Several DMS functions can be used by the Mobile DMS Apps, and all relevant data will be stored in the DMS 114. Mobile DMS Apps also connect to the customer journey backend server 102 to retrieve the customer information and service request, so as to generate quotation. The Mobile DMS Service Bus is an integration middleware on cloud. Considering each dealer has independent DMS instance, the Mobile DMS devices (e.g., the dealer staff device 1 16 running the sales apps or the after-sale apps) need a router to connect to the correct DMS instance, and also need to enhance the stability of DMS functionalities for mobile devices to use.

Figure 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary layout of a showroom 200 in a dealer store. As shown in Figure 2, one or more dealer staff devices 116 may be placed at a reception area 202 or held by dear staff. A plurality of interactive devices 118 can be located in various areas of the dealer store 200. For example, one or more interactive devices 118 may be placed in accessories area 208. When the customer wants to add or edit the information related to accessories at his/her account, a customer may use the interactive device 118 at the accessories area 208 with the actual accessories present in front of his/her. Similarly, the customer may use the interactive device 118 at the vehicle area 210 or Human-Machine Interface (HMI) interactive area 212 if the customer wants to add or edit the information related to vehicle configurations at his/her account. Alternatively, some of the interactive devices 1 18 mentioned above can be Spec Pods as described hereinafter.

The vehicle area 210 is dedicated to display vehicle (s) for customers to explore, including use of Spec Pods to get vehicle specification and additional information. The Spec Pods are electronic brochures showing each vehicle configuration, image, video, and specification sheet. The Spec Pod can be placed in dealer store right besides show vehicle. Content of Spec Pod is stored in cache locally and can be updated online through the media database. The HMI interactive area 212 is a place for customers to stand and explore HMI capability on e.g., tablets which mimic the in -vehicle screen. After the dealer store visit, the customer can access the customer-specific information via an electronic device 10 at home, office, or anyplace having the electronic device 10. With the experience at the dealer store 200, the customer can refresh his memory related to the vehicle, which help him/her make a purchasing decision. The above detailed description for the system 100 also applies to the method 300 according to the present invention, and is thus not iterated for the sake of conciseness.

In conclusion, the embodiments of the present invention provide an efficient and effective approach for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing. By receiving and processing the customer information and service request to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information, once the customer visits at the dealer store, the customer information and the service request can be directly and quickly retrieved by the dealer staff at the dealer, and displayed to e.g., the customer on the interactive device 1 18 and/or the dealer staff device 116, which information may be quite useful for the dealer staff to provide follow-up services to the customer, for example providing quotes and conducting sales according to the customized configuration of the customer, which saves tremendous time and efforts from both the customer and the dealer staff, and lowers the overall cost and increases the efficiency for purchasing a vehicle or other activities at the dealer store, e.g., maintenance and repair of vehicles. Further, the unique combination of information tools provides customers and dealer staffs an interactive way to share information regarding vehicle. In addition, the present invention provides an approach to follow the way the customer use the tools (e.g., the website, the application), and store and use such information to further improve the dealer business. It should be noted that the aforesaid embodiments are exemplary rather than limiting the present invention, substitute embodiments may be designed by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the claims enclosed. The word "include" does not exclude elements or steps which are present but not listed in the claims. The word "a" or "an" preceding the elements does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. In the apparatus claims that list several components, several ones among these components can be specifically embodied in the same hardware item. The use of such words as first, second, third does not represent any order, which can be simply explained as names.

Claims

1. A method for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing, comprising:

receiving customer information associated with a customer account by a customer journey backend server from a customer via an electronic device;

processing the customer information by the customer journey backend server to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information received from an enterprise internal system;

storing the customer-specific information in association with the customer account in the customer journey backend server and the enterprise internal system; and

displaying the customer-specific information by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at a dealer store.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a service request together with the customer information by the customer journey backend server from the customer via the electronic device; and processing the customer information and the service request by the customer journey backend server to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of the source information received from the enterprise internal system.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, from an interactive device at the dealer store, the customer information associated with the customer account and/ or the service request through interaction with the customer; and

transmitting the customer information and/ or the service request to the customer journey backend server.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein displaying the customer-specific information by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at the dealer store comprising: displaying the customer-specific information on an interactive device and / or a dealer staff device at the dealer store by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at the dealer store.

5. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, on an dealer staff device at the dealer store, the customer-specific information of the customer from the enterprise internal system via a dealer management system when a certain dealer store is designated by the customer.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the customer information associated with the customer account comprises at least one of customer registration information, customer profile, and customer preference information on vehicle configuration.

7. The method according to claim 2, wherein the service request comprises at least one of test drive booking, dealer staff reception booking, vehicle maintenance booking, and vehicle repair booking.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein the source information from the enterprise internal system comprises at least one of vehicle configuration information, and service related information of the dealer store.

9. The method according to claim 2, wherein the customer-specific information comprises at least one of vehicle configuration comprising selected vehicle parameters, and a service plan responsive to the service request.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the vehicle parameters of vehicle configuration comprise at least one of model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle.

1 1. The method according to claim 2, wherein receiving customer information associated with the customer account and the service request by the customer journey backend server from the customer via the electronic device comprises:

receiving the customer information and the service request by the customer journey backend server from the customer through a website accessed by the electronic device or an application operating on the electronic device.

12. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

generating by the customer journey backend server a unique identification associated with the received customer information and the service request, and transmitting the unique identification to the electronic device.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein accessing to the customer account comprises accessing to the customer account via one of the unique identification, registered ID, and a social network account of the customer.

14. The method according to claim 2, wherein the electronic device is one of desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, interactive terminal, and feature phone.

15. The method according to claim 5, further comprising transmitting by dealer a confirmation of the service request to the enterprise internal system via the dealer management system.

16. A system for processing customer information to facilitate vehicle purchasing, comprising:

a customer journey backend server configured to receive customer information associated with a customer account from a customer via an electronic device;

an enterprise internal system configured to transmit source information to the customer journey backend server,

the customer journey backend server is further configured to process the customer information to generate customer-specific information on the basis of source information, store the customer-specific information, and transmit the customer-specific information to the enterprise internal system,

the system further comprises an interactive device and a dealer staff device at a dealer store configured to display the customer-specific information by accessing to the customer account during the customer's visit at the dealer store.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the customer journey backend server is further configured to receive a service request together with the customer information from the customer via the electronic device, and process the customer information and the service request to generate the customer-specific information on the basis of the source information received from the enterprise internal system.

18. The system according to claim 16, wherein the interactive device at the dealer store is further configured to receive customer information associated with the customer account and / or the service request through interaction with the customer, and transmit the customer information and/ or the service request to the customer journey backend server.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein the dealer staff device at the dealer store is further configured to receive the customer-specific information of the customer from the enterprise internal system via a dealer management system when a certain dealer store is designated by the customer.

20. The system according to claim 16, wherein the customer information associated with the customer account comprises at least one of customer registration information, customer profile, and customer preference information on vehicle configuration.

21. The system according to claim 17, wherein the service request comprises at least one of test drive booking, dealer staff reception booking, vehicle maintenance booking, and vehicle repair booking.

22. The system according to claim 17, wherein the source information from the enterprise internal system comprises at least one of vehicle configuration information, and service related information of dealer stores.

23. The system according to claim 17, wherein the customer-specific information comprises at least one of vehicle configuration comprising selected vehicle parameters, and a service plan responsive to the service request.

24. The system according to claim 23, wherein the vehicle parameters of vehicle configuration comprise at least one of model, trim line, painting, wheel, interior, sales package, and accessories of the vehicle.

25. The system according to claim 16, wherein the customer journey backend server is configured to receive the customer information and the service request from the customer through a website accessed by the electronic device or an application operating on the electronic device.

26. The system according to claim 17, wherein the customer backed server is further configured to generate a unique identification associated with the received customer information and the service request, and transmit the unique identification to the electronic device.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the interactive device and/or the dealer staff device is configured to access to the customer account via one of the unique identification, registered ID, and a social network account of the customer.

28. The system according to claim 17, wherein the electronic device is one of desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, interactive terminal, and feature phone.

29. The system according to claim 17, wherein the customer journey backend server operates on cloud.

30. The system according to claim 19, wherein the dealer staff device at the dealer store is further configured to transmit a confirmation of the service request to the enterprise internal system via the dealer management system.