From the high ground of traffic to the long slope of retail: Twenty years later, Autohome has completed its transformation in the era.

This concept, first proposed by a Chinese e-commerce giant nearly a decade ago, is no longer new today. Ten years ago, the chain retail industry began to explore new retail. This concept, born in the context of e-commerce, has been given different definitions and practical forms in different industries.

Initially, its connotation was limited to the integration of online and offline channels. However, in the consumption era driven by AI and O2O, new retail is no longer just about the interconnection of channels but the reshaping of the entire industrial structure.

Especially at a time when the century - old automotive industry is undergoing structural transformations such as electrification and intelligentization. The chain of automobile consumption has undergone fundamental changes.

With the rise of the direct - to - consumer (DTC) model represented by Tesla, NIO, and XPeng, automobile brands are actively reconstructing their relationships with users in the new retail paradigm. From the distribution system to the marketing logic, the entire retail chain is being redefined by efficiency, trust, and experience.

This is the era's proposition that Autohome, which has just passed its 20th anniversary, is facing. On November 8th, Autohome, which has always been committed to "making it easier to buy good cars", entered the e - commerce field for the first time and officially launched the Autohome Mall. Along with the launch of this new species in automobile retail, Autohome also welcomed 15 brands to settle in, including traditional powerhouses and new - force brands such as Leapmotor, Audi, and Avatr.

If Autohome was once a medium for communication between automobile manufacturers and users, now it is more like a "circle of friends" in the automotive industry. It is no longer just a channel for users to view cars but an industry partner that helps automobile manufacturers sell cars. It is not content to be a vertical media platform but explores the vitality of content through innovation and change, and collaborates with the upstream and downstream of the industry to build a new ecosystem for automobile retail.

Why Autohome? Recently, 36Kr talked to Yu Le, the retail director of Autohome, trying to find out how a 20 - year - old vertical media platform, when deciding to enter the car - selling business, can reshape the entire experience of automobile consumption with a trinity model of "content + transaction + service".

Automobile retail in the era of "dual - line integration",

Why does it fall to Autohome to take action?

For most people, buying a car is a major purchase second only to buying a house.

Compared with fast - moving consumer goods, this is not only because of its high unit price. With an average per - capita car ownership of 0.24 vehicles, it is destined to be a low - frequency consumption that highly depends on real - life experience and trust guarantee. This typical characteristic of durable consumer goods has doomed the relatively slow online transformation of traditional automobile consumption.

However, it has not been completely without an "online" transformation. In the wave of the Internet era, the online transformation of automobile retail has been extremely cautious and difficult.

The first stage was the automobile portals in the mid - to - late 2000s. Their core mission was to move the information about car viewing and selection online to solve the problem of information asymmetry, allowing users to make pre - purchase cognitive decisions through text, pictures, reviews, and price lists.

The second stage was the O2O model around 2014. With the popularization of mobile Internet, automobile retail began to try a new path of "acquiring customers online and delivering offline". Automobile manufacturers and platforms used group - buying, special sales, and subsidies to divert leads from online to 4S stores, achieving a partial closed - loop of transactions.

This period witnessed the first wave of climax for automobile e - commerce platforms. However, since the supply chain and inventory system were still in the hands of dealers, the cost of online - offline collaboration was high, and the experience was significantly fragmented. O2O mostly remained at the level of traffic and promotion.

It was not until 2017 that the DTC model emerged. New - force brands represented by Tesla, NIO, and XPeng were the first to break the traditional distribution system and sell directly to users. This model allows automobile manufacturers to have access to user data and sales touchpoints, and also integrates the car - buying experience from online viewing to offline delivery.

However, with the intervention of AI technology, today's automobile consumption is shifting from "offline - dominated" to "deep integration of online and offline".

On the one hand, users' decision - making process has advanced. More than 80% of users have clear preferences for car models before visiting the store, and offline channels are gradually evolving into "experience centers" and "delivery centers". This advancement is due to the trust advantage created by vertical media such as Autohome through professional content.

On the other hand, the transaction process has become digital. Driven by the Internet - based transformation of new - force brands, the "locking orders with online deposits" model has become the mainstream in the industry. More and more users are starting to accept the car - buying method of "placing orders online and taking delivery offline". As of now, the proportion of online orders for some brands has exceeded 30%.

Finally, the function of offline channels is being reconstructed. When users can make most of their decisions online through content, data, and word - of - mouth, the role of offline channels has also changed. They are no longer just sales terminals but key touchpoints for experience and delivery.

"The essence of dual - line integration is the transfer of the trust foundation for automobile consumption." Yu Le told 36Kr. This change is not simply about moving the transaction process online but promoting the improvement of both retail efficiency and user experience through a closed - loop of "content - data - service".

In this process, Autohome can understand users through its past professional content, use data precipitation to understand users' car - buying needs, and then achieve a closed - loop of the car - buying experience with the help of car sources, payment systems, and offline service networks. In the context of the AI and O2O era, Autohome's "new retail" is no longer limited to the integration of online and offline channels but uses technological means to build an automobile retail ecosystem with efficiency, trust, and experience.

Behind this is both Autohome's "user understanding ability" as a professional content platform and its "industrial collaboration ability" accumulated through its in - depth involvement in automobile retail. When the industry undergoes new changes, Yu Le said, "Autohome is very fortunate to stand at this stage and do something valuable for the industry with automobile manufacturers and partners."

Fifteen automobile manufacturers gather at the Autohome Mall

to kick off the "ecosystem co - construction" of new retail

The traditional retail system has become a structural constraint for automobile manufacturers.

Under the dealer system that has lasted for nearly a century, automobile manufacturers can usually only reach 4S stores and have no direct access to real users. The overly long channel chain makes it difficult for automobile manufacturers to know where their users are and what kind of cars they need.

Especially in the current wholesale - sales model, automobile manufacturers sell cars in bulk to dealers, but the inventory often piles up in 4S stores for a long time. Once the market fluctuates or sales fall short of expectations, the inventory pressure on dealers will increase rapidly, while automobile manufacturers will still supply goods according to the established production rhythm, resulting in a typical disconnection between production and sales.

On the user side, the pain points are also obvious. Traditional car - buying is often a long, fragmented, and information - asymmetric process. Users need to make repeated phone calls, visit 4S stores, and compare prices and negotiate to make a decision in a market with opaque information and fluctuating prices.

There is a lack of unified price and service standards between online and offline channels, artificially prolonging the car - buying experience for users. Automobile manufacturers cannot reach users, and users cannot easily access brands. There has long been a gap between them, keeping the efficiency of automobile retail trapped in the old system.

If there is a new platform form that allows users to directly communicate with the customer service of brand flagship stores and the car - buying butlers in the mall online while seeing their favorite car models, the car - buying process no longer needs a two - step inquiry: users leaving their phone numbers first, waiting for callbacks, and facing countless future phone harassments. It can be said that the Autohome Mall, as an important annotation of the upgraded new - retail strategy, represents the leading nature of an innovative O2O model.

As a newly built online car - buying platform by Autohome, the Autohome Mall is essentially an online platform for car - buying, but its value connotation has gone beyond car - buying itself.

First, it uses content to influence users' decision - making. With two decades of accumulated professional reviews, real - owner word - of - mouth, and video content, Autohome directly associates them with specific car models, configurations, and prices through AI, building a trustworthy foundation for users' decision - making.

Second, it seamlessly undertakes transactions. When users' purchase intention is fully stimulated by the content, the Autohome Mall provides an immediate transaction entry. From model selection, checking discounts to order payment, the entire process is transparent. The platform simplifies the traditional two - step inquiry process to "make a decision and place an order immediately", significantly improving the conversion efficiency.

Finally, it provides full - range service guarantee. A transaction is not the end but the start of an experience. The Autohome Mall introduces the Kataichi service network and 30,000 offline outlets of Haier to provide users with standardized after - sales services such as delivery, finance, and insurance, realizing "placing an order online and having a worry - free offline experience".

More importantly, Autohome still provides a guarantee for users' rights after the transaction is completed. If users encounter problems such as vehicle damage during transportation, defects, or "three - package" issues during the car - buying process, or even have after - sales disputes with the brand, the platform can intervene and coordinate to assist users in safeguarding their rights, ensuring that problems are resolved quickly and fairly.

This is exactly what a platform should do - not only facilitating transactions but also being responsible for trust. The Autohome Mall conducts unified supervision over the service quality of the entire chain, ensuring that every delivery and every service is traceable, standardized, and implementable.

The trinity model of the Autohome Mall is not a simple superposition of functions but a deep coupling of data and processes, constructing an organic ecosystem. It solves the pain point of opaque information in traditional car - buying, bringing users a new, convenient, transparent, efficient, and worry - free car - buying experience. It also provides automobile manufacturers with a business growth path that combines brand building and sales effectiveness.

As the first automobile manufacturer to test the waters, Leapmotor has achieved an unexpected performance. According to the data provided by He Jie, the general manager of channel market and user operations at Leapmotor, from the trial operation of the mall on September 20th to the official launch of the mall, the Autohome Mall had delivered 4,380 Leapmotor orders, accounting for two - thirds of the total sales volume on all platforms in the past 30 days, with a first - touch rate of 32%.

Just three days after the mall was launched, the traditional e - commerce festival "Double Eleven" arrived. On that day, the mall received 5,519 orders, of which 3,731 were from Leapmotor.

The entry of brands is the cornerstone of ecosystem prosperity. Based on the three core capabilities of the Autohome Mall - incremental customer acquisition, user conversion promotion, and channel reinforcement - automobile manufacturers and Autohome are no longer just in a buyer - seller relationship but a community with a shared future that jointly explores the market and serves users.

In the new - retail ecosystem of Autohome, a synergistic effect centered on complementary capabilities and co - creation of scenarios is taking shape.

The traditional retail logic of "disconnection between production and sales, long chain, and opaque information" is being reshaped by a new model characterized by data - driven and scenario - integrated features. Brands can directly understand user needs, and users can complete the entire experience from decision - making to delivery on the same platform. In this new ecosystem, Autohome is no longer working alone but collaborating with ecosystem partners such as Tmall and Alipay. Through complementary strategic capabilities, a "1 + 1>2" aggregation effect is formed.

Tmall has broken down the scenario barriers between lifestyle and automobile consumption, integrating car - buying into users' daily consumption chain. Alipay has transformed payment credit into trust in car - buying, reducing the transaction threshold and increasing the certainty of purchase. The essence of this ecosystem collaboration is to upgrade from traffic exchange to complementary capabilities and co - creation of scenarios.

As the mismatch between supply and demand, long chain, and opaque information in traditional automobile retail are gradually being broken, automobile manufacturers, dealers, platforms, and users are forming a new - retail order based on efficiency and trust.

Starting from content and growing towards value

In 2005, the Chinese automotive industry had just entered an acceleration phase. At that time, China's automobile production was only 5.707 million vehicles, and automobile consumption was still in the early stage of popularization. It was still a long way from today's market position of producing over 30 million vehicles annually and ranking first in the world.

Back then, buying a car was more of a symbol of the era. A car was not only a means of transportation but also an external manifestation of social status and an ideal lifestyle. However, the information channels were relatively limited at that time, and the car - buying experience highly relied on 4S - store sales guides, print - media advertisements, and word - of - mouth.

Opaque prices, information asymmetry, and a long decision - making cycle - for the general public, buying a car was full of difficulties. In that era of dial - up Internet, Autohome, one of the earliest vertical automotive media platforms in China, was established to transform the automobile consumption chain with content.

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