News

Ford's cyber store concept gets test drive

April 11, 2002

While its online efforts are beginning to produce solid sales results, Ford Motor Co. is looking closely at a cyber store experiment in Tulsa, Okla. A DowJones report said the store allows customers to search inventory of Ford vehicles through an in-store kiosk, and that Ford has trained salespeople specifically for online sales.

The cyber store opened six months ago, and a Ford executive said it was likely the concept will be expanded in the next year.

Another retail concept being tested is an auto accessories store Ford recently opened in a San Diego mall. Kiosks in that store allow customers to choose a vehicle and see photos featuring accessories and colors. Ford said it was attempting to attract younger customers with the store.

Ford said that $1.77 billion in new vehicle sales could be attributable to a variety of online efforts. In addition, it said that in sales in which customers used the Internet and a traditional dealer, customer satisfaction increased from about 70 percent to 90 percent. "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />