Ford’s Online Reservations Key to 2020 Success

At a time when everyone is encouraged to practice social distancing and physical stores are limiting the number of customers inside their premises without affecting sales, market experts have realized the full potential of online commerce.

Now, more brands are adopting the practice and it has reached the automotive industry. The latest example is Ford’s new online reservation platform. Not only are customers allowed to buy new model releases, they can also make reservations for upcoming ones even before they head to production.

Tesla was the first to introduce this online pre-order concept in the industry before a number of mainstream automakers also did it. However, to date, Ford appears to be the most successful. It’s like the company was not affected by the pandemic and managed to stage three huge product launches for the Ford F-150, Mustang Mach-E, and Bronco Sport.

For Hau Thai-Tang, vice president of product development at Ford, the secret to the automaker’s success in the past year is online reservations. Although there were delays such as the arrival of the Bronco SUV, the brand was able to remain transparent to customers.

“Because we did online reservations, and we took them very early in the process, our ability to really forecast a delivery date wasn’t very precise,” he said. “We’ve had to go back to those customers to adjust the timing based on how things are going. Overall, we’ve been very happy with the launches so far.”

This kind of progress shows how Ford has grown from its previous issues with the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator launches. But more importantly, the Blue Oval gained the trust of its customers by updating them on what is happening in the production line.

Aside from a more transparent and convenient reservation process, Ford also saw other benefits to digitizing its process such as real-time vehicle data.

“We have connected-vehicle data now, so we’re able to see in the real-time some of the initial-quality results,” Thai-Tang said. “So far the run rate at zero months in service, we’re seeing about 45% lower quality claims this year than the same period last year. It’s another proof point that the process is working.”

Everything seems to be on the upward trend for Ford despite a production hiatus earlier in 2020 and a drop in new vehicle purchases in the last few quarters. Customers also have a lot to look forward to, especially those who are eager to get their hands on the Bronco SUV.

If Ford continues its seamless online ordering and reservation process, it could just run away with the top sales record this model year.