In line with its continuous efforts to enhance service offerings and intending to provide the best life to its consumers, Panasonic is furthering its commitment to digitizing customer services in the region. The brand shared the FY22 customer services strategy and felicitated STAR SERVICE AWARD winners for the year 2021 at the recently held Customer Service Convention attended by over 22 authorized service centers from 14 different countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Meanwhile, the brand also announced the launch of its Smart Care App in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where it will facilitate digital warranty claims, and service booking systems including repair management. The SMART CARE App opens the path to a new digital future for Panasonic’s consumer division in the region and will simplify the service process to improve the customer experience and delivery of services. The SMART CARE App service was launched in the emirates in association with Techserve, Al Futtaim Electronics Co., and with the new service partners in KSA - Modern Electronics Co. (MEC) and Ahmed Abdulwahed Abdullah Anam and Partners Trading (AAW).
According to Panasonic, the digital platform has been developed to ensure the best customer service experience and enhance engagement with dealers, retailers and customers. The Smart Care App will allow them to communicate all service-related matters and warranty claims seamlessly.
The user-friendly Smart Care App is compatible with Android and iOS devices. It can be downloaded free from the app/play store by searching “Panasonic Smart Care”. It is a one-stop window for anyone to manage their Panasonic product warranty and service request accessible at their fingertips. On registering a product online, customers will get paperless warranty support and do not need to keep any purchase invoice or warranty card.
The prominent features of the app will allow customers to know product warranty status, request and track services, find the nearest service centers, use smart assistance, and get timely alerts on warranty expiry. Panasonic will further update the app with additional features based on user reviews to meet and exceed customer expectations.
During his keynote address, PMMAF’s Managing Director Hiroyuki Shibutani said: “Our motto is to help our customers lead the best life and we strongly believe that providing seamless and convenient after-sales service is crucial to this mission. With more and more people preferring digital interactions with the brand, we continuously invest in making this easy and convenient for them. That is why it gives me immense pleasure to launch the SMART CARE App in the UAE and KSA, which remains the key market for us in the region. It brings together our partner service providers and customers to one platform providing convenience and paperless interaction with customers.”
“We want to make it easier for customers to avail services from the safety of their homes and enable our partners to communicate seamlessly to provide the fastest assistance. We will follow the global CS direction by continuing to offer excellence to our valued customers through service, which goes beyond expectation,” Mr Shibutani added.
“The launch of the Smart Care App aligns with our global motto of enabling our customers to live ‘the best life’ through services that exceed their expectations. Our service app completely digitizes and integrates all service-related activities between customers, retail partners and service centers. With Smart Service App, we aim to productively engage with dealers, retailers and service partners,” commented Anthony Peter - Director, Customer Service Division (CSD) PMMAF.
Furthermore, the Technical Olympics competition held on the sidelines of the event saw the best technicians representing service centers in the region pitted against each other for the ‘Super Technicians’ award. UAE(Techserve) and Kuwait (EHY) technician’s picked up the Winner’s Award while Oman (Omasco) and Egypt (ECEE) were declared the runners-up in the Major Domestic appliances category.
