No more in-car shopping for customers: GM shuts down Marketplace

American automotive manufacturer, General Motors has declared it will no longer continue with the in-car shopping app, dubbed Marketplace, that earlier allowed customers to make restaurant reservations, buy coffee or even pay for gas from the infotainment screen in their vehicles.

Credible sources have cited that GM will officially shutdown the application from March 2022.

Initially launched in 2017, the app was a crucial step in GM’s mission to recreate the driving experience by including smartphone-like features and open new revenue streams via partnerships with third parties.

During the launch of the app, GM had advertised Marketplace as the first ever commerce platform in the automotive industry to offer on-demand reservations and allow customers to purchase goods and services.

GM’s plan to discontinue Marketplace, comes after a connected car software supplier- Xevo decided to quit the business.

As per company claims, the current decision to shut down the app does not in any way indicate a fallout of GM’s goal to advance in-car shopping experience, instead the automaker plans on introducing a new service in near future.

Meanwhile, vehicle owners can still enjoy in-car shopping using infotainment screens facilitated by third-party apps.

Imperative to note that the discontinuation has brought to notice a few drawbacks of the connected car future that are not discussed by the automakers.

While promoting the benefits of over-the-air software updates or the impressive safety benefits such as vehicle-to-everything communication, automakers refrain from realising that these features can be instantly rendered useless if not able to justify their costs through revenue.

Despite the baffling experiences, Marketplace did not reap many benefits in terms of appealing more customers.

To pay for gas at a Shell station using Marketplace, customers were asked to first register with Shell to get a PIN number which they then had to enter at the pump to authorize the fuel purchase, not exactly a simplified process.

Source Credit: https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/23/22946295/gm-marketplace-shut-down-app-screen-shopping-gas