Mercedes-Benz will begin online sales of its cars in cities in Germany and Poland by the end of the year.

Mercedes customers in Hamburg and Warsaw will be able to order and finance new cars through online shops, the carmaker said in a statement.

The online sales shops will provide the company with important findings on how customers respond to such a digital sales channel, Mercedes said in a statement.

After ordering their car online and picking a finance package, buyers will still have to visit a Mercedes dealer for a “final sales administration phase,” Mercedes said. Customers can pick up their car at a dealer or the automaker will deliver the vehicle to customers throughout Germany and Poland, a Mercedes spokeswoman told Automotive News Europe.

Customers will also be able to schedule test drives online where they work or live at yet-to-be-disclosed locations.

Mercedes said its company-owned and franchised dealers will remain the most important customer contact points for all activities and dealers will remain available to customers as a point of contact after the purchase.

“The inner-city formats will above all channel new customers to the classic dealerships,” Mercedes said.

The spokeswoman said the automaker will offer its most popular models and high-end cars through its Mercedes-Benz Connection Online store. The models available online will be pre-configured but will be available with the types of features that customers usually order.

Mercedes plans to make the service available in other cities, but the spokeswoman declined to say which cities are being consider or whether the online sales will be introduced outside Europe.

Tim Urquhart, an analyst for IHS Automotive, said the online shops will help Mercedes to reach younger, more tech-savvy, and urban customers. “Mercedes is looking to update its sales strategy in line with new technology all with a view to try to encourage younger customers to come to the brand,” Urquhart said.

But with a big-ticket purchase like a car, many customers will still prefer to take a test drive and experience the vehicle first hand,” Urquhart said. “For many people, buying a premium car is a something they’ve worked hard for and aspired to for a considerable time, so there is only so much scope for technology to mediate the buying experience.”

Mercedes said the online sales initiative results from limited space in inner cities for showrooms to display its growing product lineup and also because in the age of the internet and social networks, modern customers in particular “expect to be able to interact with a brand anywhere and at any time.”

Mercedes will also double to 20 the number of its central, inner-city showrooms, which it calls “urban brand outlets.” It opened the first such outlet in 1995 on the Champs-Elysees in Paris and later expanded to cities including Berlin Milan, New York, Beijing and Tokyo.