Client: CARS24 Pvt. Ltd.

My role: Content Designer, UX Writer

Team: Project Manager, UX Designer

Tools: Balsamique, Figma, Google Docs

CARS24 is a digital B2C platform for buying and selling used cars, securing car loans, and availing additional car services like clearing challans, car maintenance, and chauffeur hire. 

DISCOVERY

A Little bit about used car buying...

Our research at CARS24 showed Indian buyers' increasing preference for used cars. Today, for every 10 new cars sold, 13 used cars are bought. 56% of these buyers are first-time car buyers.

Despite this, most buyers still hesitate to invest in a used car, and car buying (used or new) remains a significant splurge for an Indian household.  Most buyers take a long time before deciding when, how and which car to buy. 

PROJECT SUMMARY

How do we regain trust in used car buying?

I was roped in to revamp the used car buying experience. CARS24 rang in the message, close to the Indian sentimentality: used car buying should be celebrated as much as a new car buying experience. 

CARS24 aimed to extend their digital app journey to a physical experience, where users engage more with the cars before buying one. 

This project would let prospective buyers visit any of the CARS24 hubs in the city, see multiple cars in person, clear their doubts, and take test drives of the ones they like.

THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

Build a strategy bridging the digital & the physical experience by allowing users to browse wish-listed cars at a CARS24 store, with personalised assistance. 

Apart from this, I had to establish a consistent brand tone that caters to a financially and geographically diverse Indian audience across tier-1 to tier-3 cities, for whom English isn't the primary language.

THE LIGHBULB MOMENT

I drafted the content strategy

Next, I identified and made a list of Do's & Don'ts that can be highlighted in my microcopy:

✅ With hub visits, users can take multiple test drives on the same day. 

✅ Model selection, loan securement, & test drives–all can be completed on the same day.  

✅ Users can browse cars intently. Or, do casual browsing or window shopping for buying later.   

✅ 1:1 sessions with a car specialist can clear doubts concerning car models & features.

❌ Users should not feel like visiting a store physically is 'too much effort.'

❌ Users can be informed how this method saves time from endless research on feature comparisons.

THE SOLUTION

An app experience that keeps a tab on the operations too 

The updated user flow shows an optimised journey with suitable entry points and a designated 'shop at store' page.

The green, numbered circles mark the new interactions I added in the UI framework.

POST-VISIT INTERACTION

What happens after the visit? 

The legacy user journey kicks in. 

A user can visit the store to intently browse wishlisted cars, window-shop, or just make up their mind for a new purchase. What's important is that they must pre-book to keep a car on hold. 

That being said, users must understand that a test drive does not guarantee us holding the car for them. Often, it's still open to other buyers for purchase.

IN CONCLUSION

I built an experience from scratch, raised conversions, and helped a lot of buyers buy their first car, confidently. 

Adding a human contact in the middle of a buying funnel helped build trust. As per our research (mentioned above), 56% of the buyers are first-time car buyers who have doubts about financing, safety features, value-for-money, and the car itself.

We built the trust factor

With hub visits, buyers had the answers to most of these questions, thereby reducing support tickets & per-day customer support queries by 15% saving 20+ business hours weekly.

We learnt that some things still need the human touch

In India, car buying is an emotion. Design should respect the cultural norms and guide at every step to support that behaviour. We restored that trust.