India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti, was launching a new scheme allows NRIs to gift a Maruti car to a person in India. The scheme would offer NRIs special prices, payment options and home delivery services.

Objective
iridium Interactive (ii) has a long standing e-business and Internet solutions relationship with Maruti Udyog, and this new project only strengthened it further.
ii was required to create an online, web-based, transparent mechanism enabling NRIs to gift a car to a loved one in India. This scheme would not only create a new revenue stream for the client, but also enhance customer loyalty, and give a fillip Maruti’s branding efforts.

Solution
Working with the briefest of instructions provided, iridium created a micro-site for this project, within the Maruti mother site. The look and feel of the micro-site was kept consistent with the main site in order to maintain brand integrity. ii designed the site in a simple manner, providing straightforward navigation around the site. The whole process of buying and ordering was kept open and transparent to the visitor: from getting a quote, making a choice (on model, color, etc), and ordering a car, to paying for the purchase and keeping a track of the order. The forms were designed to capture important information in a non-intrusive manner.
The site provides the buyer with three different options for online payment: Credit Card, Swift Money Transfer or installments through Citibank. As a part of the assignment, ii also integrated the website with that of credit card companies and the bank’s payment systems.

Results
The sheer simplicity of choosing, ordering and purchasing a Maruti car online and paying through the Internet has captured the NRI imagination. The possession of a car in India is still a status- defining possession. So the simple and real possibility of gifting loved ones something as special as a car without the usual hassles has brought in some very tangible returns for the client.
Maruti is now selling cars through their innovative and evocative website. The very concept and its appeal won the company terrific goodwill, extended its customer base and branding mileage, while increasing customer loyalty.
The website is truly interactive, simple and easy to navigate. It is transparent and straightforward. This site responds to many NRIs wishes to be emotionally connected to their loved ones in India.
About ii
iridium Interactive Limited (ii) specializes in providing online business solutions. With a presence across three continents, it has been at the forefront in integrating strategy, design and technology to build unique and robust user-centric e-business solutions. At ii, a holistic approach is adopted towards complex business problems to arrive at a complete solution. ii’s talented team has worked on a variety of disciplines for a multitude of clients drawn from various industries, and has a number of award-winning works to its credit. ii offers it services in the areas of interactive marketing, web marketing, e-learning, enterprise consulting and web accessibility initiatives.

The website is truly interactive, simple and easy to navigate. It is transparent and straightforward with a minimum of navigation for the user. This site is in response to many NRIs requests and their search for a means that would emotionally connect them to loved ones in India.

The site with the suggestive tag, ‘Dil Se’ – allows NRIs to gift a Maruti car of their choice (be it model, colour or variant) to a person in India. The site allows the purchaser to pay for the gift on line and in three different modes’ Credit Card, Swift Money Transfer or instalments through Citibank.

The whole process is open and transparent to the buyer. From getting a quote, choosing the car, ordering a car, paying for the purchase to keeping track of their order. iridium Interactive ensured that integration of the website with that of credit card companies and the bank’s payment systems are completely hassle-free for the purchaser.

‘Besides providing a service and giving the affluent and well-intentioned NRI an outlet to demonstrate his affection for a loved one back in India, the Maruti website has increased customer loyalty and expanded the company’s branding efforts’, said Mr Manish Kumar, Delhi Practice Head, iridium Interactive. ‘The site has also created a brand new revenue stream for Maruti Udyog’, he added.