The Hindu Business Line : Bajaj kick-starting a new shopping experience

To distinguish its customers in the premium performance bike segment, Bajaj is setting up exclusive Probiking outlets that will offer a whole new ambience and buying experience for the biker.

Bajaj Auto's marketing strategy for its performance bikes is finally getting clearer with the company's `Probiking' initiatives and outlets.

Bajaj's dealers have been handling the marketing and servicing of all its bikes.

The company is already offering a triumvirate of performance bikes in its current portfolio.

But with the planned launch of a new 220cc Pulsar bike and more of those big-engine variety to come, Bajaj has changed the direction of its marketing strategy for this kind of specialty and performance bikes.

Bajaj had announced plans and is on course to phasing out its current bikes in the economy/entry-level 100cc segment and completely exiting the manufacture of bikes in that size.

The company is expected to focus more on 125cc to 150cc bikes, firmly believing that this will be the segment where most of the demand will come from.

Meanwhile, to distinguish the sales experience provided to customers in the premium, performance bikes vis-à-vis those in the lower segments, Bajaj is setting up exclusive showrooms that will offer a whole new ambience and buying experience for the serious biker.

The layout, the materials used and the display style have been carefully chosen to please buyers in the higher priced bike category.

When the concept stores open across the nation, bikes in the 180cc and above category will be sold exclusively in these outlets. Called `Bajaj Probiking' showrooms, they may well be the only sales points for the company's high-end bikes.

Currently, this means that the Bajaj Avenger and the Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTS-i will be the only two bikes to be sold in these special showrooms, but they will soon be joined by the 220cc Pulsar and possibly by another 200cc bike later on.

Market grapevine indicates that Bajaj also plans to explore the 400cc class in the next couple of years. These will all head to the new Probiking showrooms. We recently visited one of these new showrooms and found the concept to be very novel and definitely capable of attracting the attention of its target customers.

As you enter the new `Probiking' showroom, its layout and futuristic design gives one the impression of being in a high-end electronics store or a lifestyle products showroom.

A lot of glass areas, wooden flooring, piped lounge music and accessorised bike parts give the interiors an airy, young and upmarket feel.

In addition to innovative display styles for its two bikes currently being sold here, the `Probiking' showroom has a special display area where the technologies and important components of the bikes are displayed.

To give the potential buyer an opportunity to touch and understand the technologies in the bikes better, cut sections of the engines (for explaining the Digital Twin Spark Ignition technology), headlamp, exhaust with the torque expansion chamber technology (to clear the air about the Nitrox gas-filled shock absorbers) have been displayed..

Further, apart from the customer interaction area that traditional outlets also feature, the `Probiking' showrooms are designed to offer unique interactive stations, where potential customers can wear headphones and, with the help of an onscreen menu, check out prices, get expert reviews and even an invoice printed out for the bike of choice.

Static test

The piece-de-resistance at the `Probiking' showroom is what the company calls the Dynamometer area.

It is a static test track, where the two bikes Pulsar 180 and the Avenger are strapped and fixed to the floor at the front while the rear wheel runs over a treadmill-style roller.

The key engine operating parameters fed from the ECM are routed to a computer and an LCD monitor displays, in an easy-to-read layout, details such as the power delivered, torque, speed, distance travelled, in-gear acceleration and engine rpm.

With the bike in a static position, though it would in effect be accelerating, potential buyers can put the vehicle through a thorough test without worrying about road conditions stability and safety.

The purpose of the static ride test is clearly to allow the biker to get a feel of the bike's top speed.

With the digital readout of the bike's speed being offered right in front of the test, Bajaj must be hoping that the feature will build confidence in the customer's minds about the genuineness of the vehicle's performance claims.

Bajaj is planning to open Probiking outlets in over ten cities around the country. About three are already operational.

More are expected to open their doors soon. Well in time for the launch of the bigger-engine, fuel-injected Pulsar.

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