Developed in collaboration with various partners, these offers are tailored to the user’s daily routine and the vehicle’s current location or circumstances. Ahead of a required refuelling stop, for example, the infotainment system will display nearby petrol stations and the relevant discounts available. Soon, ŠKODA drivers will also be informed of special supermarket, hotel, restaurant and car wash offers as well as of special deals available from numerous other partners.
Andre Wehner, ŠKODA AUTO Chief Digital Officer, stated: “As a Simply Clever company for the best mobility solutions, we have put maximum focus on customer benefit for our new, location-based services too. We’ve been collaborating with a number of compatible partners from the very outset so that we can provide our customers with a wide range of bespoke, localised offers right from launch – thus guaranteeing the best possible user experience. Using data and combining it with attractive deals allows us to offer yet another valuable digital service to our customers.”
Sebastian Lasek, Head of Connectivity at ŠKODA AUTO, added: “We have developed our new marketplace for location-based offers independently. It is an impressive testament to the innovative connectivity services we are already capable of offering our customers by making full use of our existing technologies and cleverly combining them.”
The app notifies ŠKODA customers of special deals and discounts, and runs on the vehicle’s infotainment system. If, for example, the car needs to be refuelled, the infotainment system informs the driver about special offers available at the nearest partner petrol station. The offer can be accepted on the vehicle’s central display and the navigation system then guides the customer to the location. In the meantime, a barcode or QR code is emailed to their smartphone. Staff at the respective partner company then scan this code during payment, and the discount is deducted from the bill.
One of the first partners to place their offers on ŠKODA AUTO’s new digital marketplace is international petrol station chain OMV. ŠKODA drivers will be able to present the relevant voucher codes at those stations and benefit from discounts on fuel, for example, or great deals on soft drinks.
Should the route pass a supermarket that has partnered up with the programme, ŠKODA drivers can also find out about special deals available there, allowing them to spontaneously decide whether they want to do their weekly shop, for example. In its suggestions, the infotainment system not only considers vehicle data such as fuel levels but also other parameters such as GPS coordinates and weather information. On this basis, users will always be prompted with suitable suggestions for their respective location.
The app is now available on the latest infotainment systems fitted in the SCALA, KAMIQ and SUPERB as well as the KAROQ and KODIAQ model ranges. Availability on other models is to follow soon. All the customer has to do before using the service is activate ŠKODA Connect and register for the ŠKODA Marketplace. Once the driver has registered for the brand’s marketplace app, the programme analyses their behaviour, routes and daily routines over a period of one to two weeks, to then put together bespoke offers. Until then, the user will be provided with general deals. Following the ‘learning phase’, the app displays user-specific offers based on their habits, the driving situation, season or even the weather. As soon as a new offer becomes available, the user is notified via the car’s infotainment system. Users also, of course, have the option to search the marketplace for interesting deals at any time.
The service will initially be launched on ŠKODA’s home market; international markets will follow. In addition to the OMV chain of petrol stations, current partners also include the car wash operator Automyčka Express and Fruitisimo juice bars. New collaboration partners are constantly joining the programme and in future will also include hotels and restaurants. Companies and businesses interested in a future cooperation can find all information about this topic also on the Internet.
