On the occasion of his conference, Hervé Gastinel, President of the Bénéteau Group, offered an exclusive interview to BoatIndustry. In this 1st part ( the 2nd part to read here ), he presents his vision of the service offer of the French leader in yachting.
At a press conference, you mentioned a new phase in the Bénéteau Group's digitalization strategy. What does this mean?
We are in a changing environment, with a new way of consuming and traveling. The yachting industry is struggling to evolve and position itself in this digitalized world. The Bénéteau Group wants to become a global reference for all boating experiences through a whole galaxy of services such as the Band of Boats digital platform, but also the Boat Clubs or the Leasy Boat financing offer.
Can you tell us more about the objective of Band of Boats for the Bénéteau Group?
We launched Band of Boats in April 2018 in France. It's a digital platform for sea lovers, to facilitate access to boating for people looking for use without the constraints. It is both a marketplace for buying new or used boats from professionals or individuals, a weekly boat rental offer from professionals, with or without skippers, and a community exchange place with opinions on boats. For the Bénéteau Group, it is a mine of information and data to develop the offer and follow the evolution of new boaters' expectations.
Signing of the partnership with Freedom Boat Club
How do the boat clubs fit into this strategy? How will you manage the integration of sailboats?
We have taken a new step in the offer of our boat clubs (editor's note: Bénéteau Boat Club and Freedom Boat Club partnership for the Jeanneau brand) with the passage to the unlimited offer for a monthly payment of 400 euros to 600 euros. The objective is to make people want to sail. I think that the risks are even more limited with sailboats where there is no notion of speed, cost of use with fuel or mechanical wear. Dealers have already formed partnerships with service companies, as La Baule Nautic has done with La Baule Yacht School, to offer coaching, boating licenses or introductory courses.
Financing services are also evolving, with Leasyboat. For what purpose?
This is the challenge that the automobile has taken up. It is a no-commitment financing to renew the attractiveness of the leisure sector in a very competitive environment. The offer, developed with SGB Finance, is "all inclusive", over 4 years, with no down payment, trade-in included, and engine maintenance.
Where does the dealer fit into all this?
Boating is struggling to keep up with current developments. We are fortunate not to have been disrupted. That doesn't mean it won't happen. So we are starting to think with the dealers. We won't do anything without them. We will not detach ourselves from them, as others have done with rental.
Moreover, when we launch the Bénéteau Boat Club, it's with them. For Band of Boats, they were informed beforehand. The important thing is to share the management, not to do separate actions. We are also thinking about a CRM to better share the sales lead between the manufacturer and the dealers. This work with our network is the challenge for this year.
