Alpine app and build status
Discussion
Somewhat disappointingly, I think the app only updates after ‘deposit submitted’ and ‘car delivered’. Without knowing what goes into a system that can do more, it does feel like a significant missed opportunity.
Toyota and Porsche do this well, from what I’ve seen/heard.
(ETA - I’d forgotten the ‘order signed’ stage!)
Toyota and Porsche do this well, from what I’ve seen/heard.
(ETA - I’d forgotten the ‘order signed’ stage!)
It's a bit of a shame it's so rubbish. Mine never said anything through the buying/build process. I think this is where a more 'deeply' premium or specialist manufacturer would have recognised the potential for direct connection to its individual customers and invested in that relationship more - something quite valid and appropriate for Alpine and not that hard to do with a relatively small handful of sales per year.
It's an area where shades of the mothership (Renault, a box shifter with no real interest in nurturing close relationships with its customers than brand-building and marketing for the mass market) show through too much.
Pity, Alpine has missed a trick to hook-in a high spending audience buying their niche products, the creation of an added-value customer engagement trick i'm sure Porsche / Lotus and similar would have really milked.
It's an area where shades of the mothership (Renault, a box shifter with no real interest in nurturing close relationships with its customers than brand-building and marketing for the mass market) show through too much.
Pity, Alpine has missed a trick to hook-in a high spending audience buying their niche products, the creation of an added-value customer engagement trick i'm sure Porsche / Lotus and similar would have really milked.
Another view would be that the customers want as much as possible of the £55k+ they're handing over to be spent on their car, rather than have a good chunk of it diverted to running an expensive data driven app. & perhaps if Lotus spent less time & money on this kind of thing, they'd be closer to building their first car with doors that shut properly.
tony993 said:
Another view would be that the customers want as much as possible of the £55k+ they're handing over to be spent on their car, rather than have a good chunk of it diverted to running an expensive data driven app. & perhaps if Lotus spent less time & money on this kind of thing, they'd be closer to building their first car with doors that shut properly.
That's fair enough but Alpine should just ditch the app if they don't have the resources for it.It was only possible to purchase a PE via the app - at that time there were no dealerships. It worked, inasmuch as it allowed me to place a deposit. After that there was virtually no information and I then relied on dealers for updates.
I tried to contact Alpine a number of times using the details from the app but never received a reply.
Alpine should drop the app but they won't as it clearly ticks a few boxes for somebody back at HQ.
Miserablegit said:
tony993 said:
Another view would be that the customers want as much as possible of the £55k+ they're handing over to be spent on their car, rather than have a good chunk of it diverted to running an expensive data driven app. & perhaps if Lotus spent less time & money on this kind of thing, they'd be closer to building their first car with doors that shut properly.
That's fair enough but Alpine should just ditch the app if they don't have the resources for it.It was only possible to purchase a PE via the app - at that time there were no dealerships. It worked, inasmuch as it allowed me to place a deposit. After that there was virtually no information and I then relied on dealers for updates.
I tried to contact Alpine a number of times using the details from the app but never received a reply.
Alpine should drop the app but they won't as it clearly ticks a few boxes for somebody back at HQ.
Not sure about the Lotus reference above. Lotus launch a car, say when it'll be available, allow customers to crawl over a couple of pre-pre-production models, and then people moan when it isn't full production quality despite having been told explicitly what it is and what it isn't.
worldwidewebs said:
Exactly. If you create a product then there is a fair expectation from the customer that it actually provides them a benefit. If it doesn't, and the Alpine app absolutely doesn't, then how might a potential customer perceive that? Either you build an app that serves a purpose and you support it, or you just don't bother. A half-way house is just a half-arsed house.
Not sure about the Lotus reference above. Lotus launch a car, say when it'll be available, allow customers to crawl over a couple of pre-pre-production models, and then people moan when it isn't full production quality despite having been told explicitly what it is and what it isn't.
sorry - my reference to Lotus. i guess my point was that like Alpine they are selling into a specialist market in small numbers - small enough numbers that they ought to know us by first name nearly. Speaking personally, that sense of specialness would be enhanced (and give a value-add that may further justify a decision to choose an Alpine over something else) if you also felt you were joining a privileged club and were in a sense becoming more invested in the brand and all it stands for. It's an effective approach that builds loyalty in loads of other sectors. I guess without too much of an up-sell motivation, it might be limited in value to Alpine. However, as a brand trying to establish itself it seems a bit un-creative not to think a bit more widely on how to keep us engaged with it and do something different to others. This little community on here partly fulfils that role I suppose. Not sure about the Lotus reference above. Lotus launch a car, say when it'll be available, allow customers to crawl over a couple of pre-pre-production models, and then people moan when it isn't full production quality despite having been told explicitly what it is and what it isn't.
As others have noted, do the app meaningfully or not at all. As it is, it doesn't add anything to the ownership experience.
biggles330d said:
sorry - my reference to Lotus. i guess my point was that like Alpine they are selling into a specialist market in small numbers - small enough numbers that they ought to know us by first name nearly. Speaking personally, that sense of specialness would be enhanced (and give a value-add that may further justify a decision to choose an Alpine over something else) if you also felt you were joining a privileged club and were in a sense becoming more invested in the brand and all it stands for. It's an effective approach that builds loyalty in loads of other sectors. I guess without too much of an up-sell motivation, it might be limited in value to Alpine. However, as a brand trying to establish itself it seems a bit un-creative not to think a bit more widely on how to keep us engaged with it and do something different to others. This little community on here partly fulfils that role I suppose.
As others have noted, do the app meaningfully or not at all. As it is, it doesn't add anything to the ownership experience.
I agree with all that you say - including, I must say, the bit about Lotus. Without the info circulated though this web site prospective Emira purchasers wouldn't have known how far the car shown was from a running car. let alone a genuine prototype. Lotus did themselves no favours showing a non-runner with lowered and widened suspension, doors that wouldn't shut, trim that fell off, seats that wouldn't move etc. As others have noted, do the app meaningfully or not at all. As it is, it doesn't add anything to the ownership experience.
worldwidewebs said:
Not sure about the Lotus reference above. Lotus launch a car, say when it'll be available, allow customers to crawl over a couple of pre-pre-production models, and then people moan when it isn't full production quality despite having been told explicitly what it is and what it isn't.
I should have added, "& I'm not talking about the pre-production Emira static demo". I've had two Elises & an Evora in recent years. The way the doors & windows work doesn't compare favourably with any of the other cars I've owned. I bought Lotus because I'm very much into the way the cars feel to drive. I was happy with the compromise I was making on the rubbish doors, etc because the aspects of the car that are so important to me are so good, but Lotus could have sold many more cars if they'd paid more attention to their build quality.Anyway, back on topic (ie Alpine). I am very much looking forward to the lovely sound the doors will make every time I get into my new car.
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