The line between what people do in real life and online begins to blur the more technology advances. This applies to all aspects of day-to-day living, from planning the next trip to grabbing the next bite, and even when in the lookout for a new ride.

Driving customer experience forward

BMW Thailand wants to better serve its customers in a way that creates an integrated and more coherent experience through its multi-channel approach. Whether the customer is at the pre-purchase, purchase, or post-purchase stage, the experience across all these phases should be seamless.

Creating an intuitive purchase experience

“A fully online sales approach may not be the ideal solution for automobiles; however, it’s an increasingly important channel — one that we cannot overlook.” To achieve what the team had in mind, having an intuitive purchasing experience both pre-purchase and post-purchase is essential.

“During the pre-purchase, customers do their research online before visiting our showrooms for a test drive. Our job here is to ensure that they can find the information they are looking for when they are looking for it, be it midday or midnight.”

“At times when a BMW limited edition is launched, we have the option for buyers to make a reservation and payment for the vehicle online. This gives everyone, regardless of location, a fair chance to make a purchase.”

“Post-sales, BMW offers 2 services, which are the BMW ConnectedDrive, a technology packet featuring various types of digital services and infotainment features built-in to all cars, and the BMW Ultimate JOY Experience, an online community exclusively for BMW drivers for dining, entertainment, and event reservations. These are the 2 main touchpoints where an intuitive payment experience plays an important role.”

Effortless payments at every touchpoint

BMW launched it’s implementation of Omise APIs with “BMW ConnectedDrive” which enables drivers to pre-save their card details for future purchases (card tokenization). With a card attached to the ConnectedDrive account, drivers are not required to enter additional credentials or provide further authentication every single time they purchase digital content through their car dashboard. This supports the on-the-go payment experience consumers today are increasingly prioritizing.

As for the www.bmwultimatejoy.com website, BMW Thailand have added Omise.js into the checkout flow. All dining or event reservations made through this channel are facilitated via built-in “pay now” buttons, which enable JOY members to complete their purchase right on the spot. With Omise.js, sensitive card details entered into the checkout form are sent directly to Omise to further process, no sensitive information passes through BMW’s servers. With this flow, there are no page re-directions during checkout, and manual bank transfers are no longer required.

“Activities with high demand - for example, BMW Driving Experience or international trips with limited capacity like the BMW Berlin Marathon - are especially challenging because the next customer in the queue cannot be processed until the one before completes the payment. In the past, this payment step is handled manually by call center and could take up to two days. Not easy for our team and painstakingly long wait - as long as two weeks - for the last customers to know if he/she makes the cut.”

Efficient payment processing is key

“We’re glad to have Omise as our partner for payments. If it weren’t for Omise, we’d have to spend so much more time and resources into dealing with manual payment and reconciliation processes.”

“The payment process is often overlooked. People don’t really think about it. But when you have a seamless payments flow, you see a difference. It creates a difference for both the service provider and the end customer. As a service provider, we use fewer resources. More time can be spent on creating higher value for our customers.”