New ways to reach customers: urban sales formats are catching on

Six Porsche Studios and 11 temporary Porsche NOW sales pop-ups were opened by the sports car manufacturer around the globe during 2021 – an average of more than one new site per month. The concept behind the Future Retail sites was also refined over the course of the year, with them now following the Destination Porsche approach. This ensures a particularly inviting atmosphere that’s similar to a boutique, digital applications for a new, complete customer experience and much more.

In total, 17 Porsche Studios and more than 20 Porsche NOW sales pop-ups have been set up in 23 countries to date, creating new points of contact with the brand. And the network is set to become even bigger, with current plans to have overall more than 25 Porsche Studios in high-footfall top city locations by 2023. One example of this will be the opening of a Porsche Studio in Portland, in the US state of Oregon, in spring 2022 – the first in North America.

“With the urban sales formats, we have sought and found new ways to reach customers,” says Marco Kana, Director Sales Retail at Porsche. “Whether it is a Porsche Studio or one of our Porsche NOW sales pop-ups, these innovative formats offer easy access to the brand and are ideally suited to developing contact opportunities with new target groups. We will continue to develop these innovative retail formats over the coming years.”

As part of its Future Retail strategy, Porsche is aiming to reach out to new, younger target groups, as well as its existing customers. The basic idea behind this is to bring the product offering to the customers and not the other way around. With the trend towards urbanisation, city centres are becoming more and more important. But these two sales concepts are not the only strategy Porsche is using to generate greater customer proximity; the same can be said of its new Porsche Satellite Centre, Porsche Approved & Service Centre and Porsche Service Factory. Here is an overview of the new offerings:

Porsche Studios

These urban retail sites with a sales focus offer both a high-quality experience and enjoyable opportunities for contact with the brand and our products. One example of this format is the Porsche Studio Oslo in Norway, which opened its doors in early July 2021. The 125 square-metre showroom boasts views over the city’s picturesque harbour. The Fitting Lounge gives customers the opportunity to individually configure and order vehicles, and test drives are also available. Furthermore, the Porsche Studio also serves as a delivery and collection point for vehicles going to and coming from the workshop at the Porsche Centre Oslo, and it also plays host to small events. The first site of this kind, Porsche on Sylt, was opened in 2017.

Porsche NOW sales pop-ups

While the Porsche Studios are permanent installations, the Porsche NOW sales pop-ups are only in place for a limited time. Along with the cars on show, fans and customers can also experience the Porsche Drivers Selection, see the offerings from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and use the virtual reality apps and private configuration lounge. In summer 2021, the island of Jeju, in South Korea, and Zurich, in Switzerland, played host to Porsche NOW pop-ups. The ‘NOW’ element of the name is all about making the most of the moment. The format was launched in 2018 on the La Mer beachfront in Dubai.

Porsche Satellite Centres

These offer an expansion option for sales partners requiring additional capacity, but where the market area is too small for a further Porsche Centre. These more compact solutions differ from the traditional Porsche Centres due to their single-story building design with a rectangular floor plan and a showroom of around 400m². The first Porsche Satellite Centre in Europe was opened in October 2021 in York, in the UK, and is connected to the Porsche Centre in Leeds. At least five Porsche Satellite Centres will commence operations in 2022 around the world.

Porsche Approved & Service Centre

The Porsche Approved premium used car promise offers customers quality and service at the same high level as when buying a new Porsche. This is where the Porsche Approved & Service Centres come in, focusing on the servicing and sale of these Porsche Approved vehicles. In 2021, three Porsche Approved & Service Centres opened, including a site in Arezzo, Italy, in September.

Porsche Service Factory

The benefit of this format is that it offers customers shorter waiting times as it enables Porsche Centres to increase their service capacities at another site. Customers still drop off and collect their cars at the Porsche Centre, but the vehicle is taken from the Porsche Centre to the Porsche Service Factory for the work. Following the Service Factory in Bonn, another site was opened in Ludwigsburg in December.