Hyundai PH goes ‘phygital’ for safer customer experience

MANILA: To keep its customers and employees safe and healthy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) started to implement the Hyundai Guidelines for Protection and Safety (GPS) in 2020. After a year, it still continues to provide a convenient car buying and service experience to valued customers.

Hyundai GPS is a set of procedures and programs that aim to protect the well-being of HARI employees and customers. HARI has also introduced alternative channels where they can extend their reach to the consumers.

In a statement, HARI President and Chief Executive Officer Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said, “We had to take care of the physical and mental well-being our own, first of all, to ensure that they are ready to adapt and serve customers under the new working conditions. We can’t give customers what we don’t have. As we struggle to get back on our feet, we enable our customers to get back on theirs. This is HARI for you in the new normal and beyond.”

Due to the community quarantine restrictions, HARI has adapted the “phygital” marketing strategy wherein they merge the physical and digital retail experience.

Aside from the implementation of the Hyundai GPS, HARI has also introduced new sales and after-sales programs to reassure customers that they are committed to provide a safe mobility experience in the new normal.

In June 2020, HARI launched its pioneering online selling platform, the Hyundai Online Market Experience (HOME) Page, to provide the customers with a seamless buying experience from the comfort of their homes. This online platform allows customers to select their preferred model, process bank transactions, and receive the purchased unit without having to visit a physical Hyundai showroom. Since its launch last year, HOME has already served around 200,000 Hyundai customers.

To upgrade its “Right Here, Right Care” after-sales customers promise, HARI introduced the Hyundai ARMOR (Active Response, Management, Operations, and Resumption) Service Program. It covers the entire vehicle maintenance process while strictly observing health and safety protocols at the service workshops and minimizing physical contact through online booking via Hyundai@YourService and ordering of genuine parts through Hyundai Unified Buys (HUB). For the past year, the Hyundai ARMOR Service Program has served over 154,000 customers.

Even before the pandemic, HARI had been gaining traction in the digital realm. In 2018, the company  established “i-spaces” in high-traffic areas, such as malls, to offer walk-in customers the convenience of checking out their preferred models online at their leisure in a comfortable and personalized environment. In 2019, HARI launched the Hyundai store in Lazada where netizens got a chance to purchase the Accent and Reina online.

“There’s no turning back. Phygital is the future of our industry. We have discovered a way of providing customers better journeys and they are loving it,” Agudo added.

Photos from Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc.

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