For the first time ever, JCB has started to sell their machinery online directly to the end-buyers. The new service has been launched to improve the experience of their customers and JCB UK and Ireland sales director Steve Smith said “The new service gives customers the ability to buy some of JCB’s most popular products online, directly from the manufacturer, with no need to meet face-to-face or leave their homes.”
The online offer is currently limited to certain types of machinery: four mini-excavators, two scissor lifts, the 1T-2 site dumper and the walk-behind HTD-5 Dumpster. Also, the service is restricted to customers who live on the mainland in the UK only and requires the use of JCB Financial Services in order to hire purchase or lease.
JCB´s first online customer was Poole-based landscaping and groundworks contractor company Focal Landscapes who would previously have used a dealer to purchase machinery. Owner Mark Woodward ordered a JCB 8008 micro excavator and an HTD-5 from the online site at direct.jcb.com with the whole process taking less than a week from order to delivery and said “I discovered the option to buy online via Twitter. I then placed my order on the website and the machine was here in less than a week. The online buying experience is really, really simple. You get all the benefits of an online purchase, but you also start a relationship with the manufacturer.”
This doesn´t mean an end to the traditional intermediary dealership selling. Marc Woodward as introduced to his local dealer who he purchased a range of complementary attachments for his new excavator through the dealer.
More and more companies are introducing new ways of connecting with their customers and selling their products as we shift towards a new way of working and interacting.