The situation
Athlon Car Lease is the market leader in vehicle leasing. The company manages around 125,000 leased cars, of which around 3,500 contracts expire every month. These vehicles are sold via the OccasionCentre in Almere. This takes place via various sales channels, one of which is the internet. Until recently, all the vehicles sold in this way were featured on the site OccasionCentre.nl.
The question
Via the internet, Athlon wanted to be able to respond more quickly to new developments in the market. They asked IQuality for a solution which would allow them to launch websites for specific target groups more easily. Each of the websites was to have:
- a different look & feel
- a specific range of vehicles
- a suitable sales method (for example ‘fixed price’ or ‘auction’)
The challenge Creative freedom is enormously important when it comes to selling as many vehicles as possible at the best possible price via an e-commerce website. For this reason, IQuality advised Athlon to bring all its sites into a single management environment. This simplifies the management at the back end to such an extent that it provides more creative scope at the front end. One condition is that the information on all the sites must always be up to date, with no duplicate entries for the same vehicle. This is only possible if the content (the stock of vehicles) is supplied in a clear, structured and uniform manner.
The answer
IQuality developed, built and implemented a suitable solution for the web environment and the underlying internal business processes. For the web environment, they used Sitecore to develop a heterogeneous collection of sites. For the internal processes, they developed the windows application Athlog. An intelligent interface ensures that both systems are always up to date.
Web environment
Within the management environment, based on Sitecore, the marketers can set up an infinite number of websites. The management activities at the back end are the same for each site, but the look & feel, product range and sales method can be tailored precisely to the target group in each case. This gives the marketing department the freedom to set up campaigns quickly and easily. For example, it might decide to offer the readers of a women's magazine a selection of a specific type of vehicle on a special website.
Athlog
Athlog has put an end to the Excel spreadsheets which the valuers and salespeople worked with until recently. Now they can record all their actions centrally. By means of Athlas, Athlon's company-wide information system, vehicles are automatically registered in Athlog when the lease period comes to an end. Once the vehicle has been valued, the salespeople can choose a sales channel within Athlog. The sale is also processed using this system. If the internet is chosen as a sales channel, the vehicles end up in the Sitecore web environment. The actions which the marketers then apply to these vehicles do not influence the work processes of the other employees.
The extra possibilities
Alongside the extensive marketing freedom and the simplification of work processes, these two solutions provide Athlon with yet another benefit: thanks to central registration, the OccasionCentre is building up an inexhaustible supply of process data. This allows for very interesting searches. For example, how many vehicles of a particular brand are still for sale? Which type of vehicle sells best in which country? On average, how long does it take to sell a red vehicle? These are just some of the many questions which the OccasionCentre can now answer, in principle with just one click of the mouse. IQuality also helps Athlon Car Lease to interpret this information.
The result
Olga Vermaire, head of administration at Occasions, is very pleased with the result. ‘The work has become much easier for our salespeople. Not to mention for our clients, because now they too always have up-to-date information and in some cases the transaction can take place online. Working with IQuality suited us very well. During the project, our requirements changed frequently, but for IQuality that was never a problem. They were always helpful and really thought along with us. Not only about technical matters, but they also really took the time to get to know our business processes. As a result, we now have an automation solution which gives each department the freedom to work in its own way.'
Technical highlights
For Athlon Car Lease, IQuality developed, built and manages:
- an easily scaleable collection of heterogeneous websites, within one management environment, based on Sitecore;
- the business application Athlog, an automation system built around the OccasionCentre's internal workflow;
- an interface between the web environment and Athlog an interface between Athlog and Athlas, the company-wide system used by Athlon Car Lease;
- reporting software which the OccasionCentre can use to retrieve all the information about specific business processes and sales figures with one click of the mouse.
You too could use the opportunities offered by the internet!
Would you like advice about how the right software can help you make the most of e-commerce? Not to mention simplifying the work of your staff? Then please don't hesitate to contact us. We will be delighted to provide you with a unique solution. This is your chance to stand out from the competition. Our phone number is (024) 679 04 20. Our e-mail address is info@iquality.nl.