It has already been
pressured to delay deliveries a number of occasions, which explains why software program engineer Syed Rabbani, among the many 1000’s of shoppers who’ve acquired their Ola S1 Pro electric scooters at dwelling, is a relieved man. He needed to watch for months for his buy, but it surely’s not like he had a lot of a selection.
Living within the small city of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, Rabbani didn’t have the choice of going to a close-by showroom or travelling to Bengaluru, the place Ola is headquartered, to get his scooter. His solely communication channel with the corporate is Twitter, which he joined to get updates on his reserving. “I never really used Twitter [before this],” he stated. “But I was worried about when I would get the scooter. Twitter was the place I went to because that is where all the updates come first. I follow (Ola CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal’s tweets closely.”
Come for the updates, keep for the chat
Rabbani isn’t the one one who hardly ever used Twitter earlier than reserving an Ola scooter. ET spoke to half a dozen such clients throughout the nation—from Pune and Guntur to Ahmednagar and Bhubaneswar—who turned energetic Twitter customers after reserving their S1 and S1 Pro scooters.
Customers ET spoke with stated that as extra individuals signed up, the platform turned from a spot for updates and complaints right into a discussion board for assembly fellow clients and endlessly discussing the trivia of their shiny new purchases.
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Signing as much as Twitter additionally made them conscious of a phishing rip-off concentrating on potential patrons of the S1 and S1 Pro, by which crooks pretending to be Ola staff would get their victims to deposit cash of their accounts after promising to ship their scooters.
![twitter twitter](https://img.etimg.com/photo/msid-42031747,quality-100/et-logo.jpg)
This fledgeling neighborhood mirrors that of Tesla superfans on Twitter, which is centred round CEO Elon Musk. The billionaire makes use of his Twitter account for—amongst quite a bit else — updates on all issues Tesla. The firm has even shut down its PR unit within the United States, with Musk’s Twitter account turning into the first supply of data.
In an identical vein, Ola Electric now sends Aggarwal’s tweets together with press notes. ET has acquired many such statements together with his tweets connected.
Chance for a recent begin
Varun Dubey, chief advertising officer of Ola Electric, stated speaking over Twitter was typical of shopper web corporations. He stated Ola upped its social media sport, particularly on Twitter, in January 2021.
“We talked about when we started the factory and gave updates on its construction. We also provided updates on the production of our scooters. We are doing this because we want to keep consumers informed,” he stated. “This just isn’t regular within the automotive sector. We have to consider ourselves as a new-age firm that’s within the automotive sector. The bigger level is what is going on to a standard business when consumer-internet sensibilities are utilized to it.”
But Aggarwal’s Twitter account has not all the time been straightforward for the corporate to deal with. Before the pandemic, each tweet he posted was met with a barrage of abuse and complaints concerning the ride-hailing enterprise. This was a time when the battle between Ola and Uber was at its peak and the demand for cabs far exceeded provide, resulting in lengthy wait occasions.
Then got here the pandemic, which
practically decimated the corporate. Revenue fell 95% and staff have been laid off and Aggarwal shifted his focus to the EV enterprise.
In May 2020, Ola Electric
introduced the acquisition of Dutch electric scooter firm Etergo, signalling a brand new route for the corporate. While plans have been chopped and adjusted, by the top of that yr the corporate had plans to construct the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturing unit, which might make a scooter each two seconds—or greater than 10 million a yr.
This ambition garnered consideration from throughout.
“There is a perception that Ola beat Uber in India, and the fact that Bhavish has been able to keep SoftBank away from taking control of the company added to his aura,” stated an organization supply.
A media occasion on the Ola Electric manufacturing unit in February 2021
was a grand success, receiving optimistic media protection from all around the world. With new optics and a grand ambition, replies to Aggarwal’s tweets have been now dominated by cheers and applause.
Aggarwal is alleged to have doubled down on Twitter ever since, tweeting greater than ever earlier than. He realised his tweets have been being picked up by information shops for articles. The launch occasion of the scooter caught individuals’s consideration as Aggarwal promised many good options, together with a voice assistant, keyless begin, hill-hold and cruise management—and a variety of 180 km—at a aggressive value. Ola promised that deliveries would begin in October.
The supply quoted above described this section as the corporate’s and Aggarwal’s “honeymoon period” with Twitter.
Delays trigger renewed backlash
In September, the corporate confronted its first main backlash in a very long time. The web site by way of which it was speculated to make its first sale broke down, forcing it to delay the sale by per week and Aggarwal to problem a public apology. Ever since, the responses to his tweets have largely been complaints from patrons.
![TwitterOla TwitterOla](https://img.etimg.com/photo/msid-42031747,quality-100/et-logo.jpg)
Issues vary from failed funds to delayed deliveries and lack of transparency in communication. After promising to ship the scooters in October, Ola pushed the supply date time and again. It lastly managed to ship 100 scooters by December 15, however with out lots of the promised good options introduced on the launch in August.
![Ola Screenshot Ola Screenshot](https://img.etimg.com/photo/msid-42031747,quality-100/et-logo.jpg)
The supply quoted above stated that Aggarwal had informed his social media group to reply to tweets in 25 minutes. This inspired much more disgruntled clients to hitch Twitter, as the corporate’s account turned faster than a typical buyer care centre, stated one of many clients ET spoke with.
Delivery executives face the brunt
ET spoke to an Ola Electric supply government, often known as “brand champion”, from a small city. Since he has to register every car himself, his job is way from straightforward. It’s made tougher by the truth that he will get a number of calls a day from disgruntled clients awaiting their buy. He stated individuals ask if all of the unfavourable reviews concerning the scooter are true and whether or not clients ought to cancel their bookings.
The claimed vary of 181 kilometres has been the most important bone of competition amongst clients. Many early clients stated they’ve been seeing a real-world vary of 135 kilometres on a full cost. Others have reported gaps within the scooter’s panelling.
“Most of these people are coming to me with complaints,” he stated. “I also opened a Twitter account to find out what was happening. I think a lot of people are overreacting and I tell them all of it is not true. I encourage customers who get the scooter delivered to give their feedback, whether it is positive or negative, on Twitter.”
The position of name champions doesn’t finish there. “Brand champions are the last mile partners, who deliver the scooter to the customer’s house. They also give customers the initial orientation and training on the product and familiarise them with it,” stated Dubey. “For a while they turn out to be the purpose of contact for any service-related queries and assist clients resolve these points.”
A brand new mannequin
Increased social media engagement is a second-order impact of the corporate going direct to customers. The automotive sector, caught to its dealership mannequin, is intently watching developments.
Ola Electric, which is constructing the world’s largest scooter manufacturing unit, claims it should ultimately have the ability to produce 10 million scooters a yr. That is one-third the overall two-wheeler gross sales in India in FY21, demand from small cities will likely be essential whether it is to succeed.
One of the most important advantages of the dealership mannequin is that they’ll carry the huge stock value, leaving producers free to mass-produce autos at an inexpensive value. But recently, sellers have been dealing with immense strain as producers more and more hold their stock on their very own books.
“In Tier-I cities it (B2C) is a good way to go because logistically it is quite convenient,” stated Jay Kale, senior vice chairman at Elara Capital. “The dealership model is difficult in these cities because rental costs are high. The B2C model also works much better in tier-1 cities as deliveries are more cost-efficient there.”
Kale believes the challenges of the B2C mannequin multiply as one goes to smaller cities and villages. “In small towns and villages you cannot underestimate the power of dealerships,” he stated. “We have seen it previously, when Hero and Honda cut up up. Despite Honda being a robust model by way of expertise, Hero nonetheless dominates,” he stated.
“Dealers in villages have a big say in the purchase decision of customers there,” Kale added. “Often the dealers in rural areas are also the pradhans, so people do what they say.”
These sellers not solely deal with deliveries and after-sales service, additionally they play an important position in producing demand. Ola’s ‘brand champions’, in the meantime, will not be as invested within the firm as these sellers are within the producers they work with.
“Changing the mindset of customers and getting them to buy directly online without being influenced by dealers will take a lot of time,” stated Kale. “Eventually, Ola may have to go with a hybrid model.”