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What you will find in this case Study?
1) About IndiaMart
2) Idea of B2B Marketplace
3) Business Model
4) Growth and Success Story
5) Marketing Strategy of IndiaMart
6) Social Media Campaigns
About IndiaMart
IndiaMart is India’s biggest online marketplace, connecting buyers with suppliers. Being India’s leader in B2B channel, IndiaMart is currently number #3rd B2B marketplace in the world.
This online channel started by Dinesh Agarwal in 1996 focuses on providing a platform for buyers, who can be an individual, SMEs or a large enterprise.
IndiaMart offers a platform and tools to more than 2.6 crore satisfied buyers to search from over 3.3 crore products and get connected with over 22 lakh reliable and competitive suppliers.
The idea of B2B marketplace
The founder of IndiaMart Mr. Dinesh Agarwal was working with HCL America where he was deeply impressed by the internet technology. He soon realized the potential of internet in India and moved to India to bring this new technology to Indian SMEs. The internet broke the geographical boundaries and brought buyers and suppliers on a single platform in a cost-effective manner. Buyers from all over the world can get Indian suppliers and manufacturers just through a single click of mouse on the online B2B marketplace IndiaMart.
Business Model
IndiaMart offers a free service as well as paid membership to the users, mostly for the SMEs. Registration is free of cost for the SMEs and as a part of the registration; SMEs get registered over the portal and are listed among their peers in the industry. As a part of registration, they also get a free website on IndiaMart domain.
IndiaMart has an option to upgrade an account to get a paid membership to get high end results. The membership account gives more business options to the SMEs. The company designs and creates web catalogues for the SMEs and provides them with premium listing.
IndiaMart also works with the business model of pay per lead, which was first of its kind all across the globe when it was initially started. Through this model SMEs can buy a business lead from a buyer after evaluating its relevance for their business.
Once the user gets reasonable result from the PPL model, they can then buy the membership plan at nominal amount. Through this model, suppliers have the option to choose from the listed business leads and can then get back to them to increase their sales.
Growth and Success Story
The company has more than 2.2 million suppliers listed on its website, with around 12 million buyers visiting the online platform every month. IndiaMart has reached to this height with the dedicated hard work of over 3100 employees located in its 55+ offices across the country. No doubt IndiaMart has got their clients from all across the world, from 200+ nations.
With the superior leads and suppliers, IndiaMart grew rapidly and as a result of increasing buyers and suppliers, the marketplace grew gradually. According to the company they have been growing between 45-60 % since their inception in 1996. As the number of suppliers amplified, Agarwal very smartly twisted the competition among buyers and suppliers.
Having its service option available in more than 100+ cities in India, the company offers a wide section of value-added products and services to its 700,000 registered members and nearly 5 million global buyers across various industries and verticals.
With the turnover of Rs. 65 crore, the company grew over 15 times in its initial 7 years. For the financial year 2013-14, the company generated a turnover of around Rs. 200 crore. The company claims to grow at an average rate of 30 % YOY.
Marketing Strategy of IndiaMart
TV Advertisement: With a digital boom all across the country, IndiaMart has featured Bollywood actor Irfan Khan to drive the primary message of “Kaam Yahin Banta Hai”.
Social media marketing
#AaramKiTune campaign: IndiaMart with an ample presence over various social media platforms, Facebook having more than 2.4 lakh and Twitter with more than 5000 followers, created the pre-buzz for the campaign. Its Facebook and Twitter pages started puzzles around the new brand communication.
The campaign was started with the direct involvement of the customers. The users on Twitter were asked to share one song which they always sing or hum to feel relaxed. This campaign was started with 2000 followers on Twitter.
IndiaMart also started grand musical theme contest with its #AaramkiTune hashtag. The contest was hosted over its various social media platforms including Facebook. Other mediums included air medium that was radio transmission where IndiaMart made the users aware about the Twitter contests.
During the campaign, the company came up with a cool mashup video where people were singing their relaxing tunes. This added the much required energy to the social media buzz.
IndiaMart is using social media effectively and is trying to connect with the young audience most preferably through its various social media platforms and latest campaigns. A simple and effective social media campaign like #AaramKiTune is commendable from IndiaMart, especially when the majority of its target group is still offline.
#IndiaKiKhoj campaign:
IndiaMart has most recently launched its “India Ki Khoj” campaign to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship. Irfan Khan kick started the campaign through a tweet which was then amplified through its other digital platforms. The campaign consists of a TVC, Press and Radio promotion, and all other digital mediums.
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