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MUMBAI: E-commerce industry is estimated to reach $16 billion by the end of 2015, out of which 29 per cent contribution is predicted from e-tailing, giving an opportunity to those in the sector to uncover innovations to grab the biggest bite of the pie.
One of the oldest players in the business, IndiaMart, has launched two new TVCs to maximise its mobile penetration. Echoing its core motto ‘Kaam Yahin Banta Hai,’ the campaign featuring Irrfan Khan emphasises on various aspects which fulfills specific requirements of buyers through its mobile platform.
The campaign seeks to establish IndiaMart as the first port of call for all business buyers. “With ‘Kaam Yahin Banta Hai’ as the brand promise, we wish to showcase the ease and convenience that the platform offers to its buyers, by connecting them to the most relevant suppliers. Targeted at the smart buyers who are looking for a much reliable, quick and effective solution for all their key buying requirements, the IndiaMart app helps shorten the time that they spend in finding genuine and right business partners,” says IndiaMart vice president – marketing, Sumit Bedi.
The e-tailer has roped in Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan as the brand ambassador. “Khan’s persona is very much in line with the values of IndiaMart, as the brand strongly displays responsibility and integrity. Moreover, Khan is one of the most celebrated actors of the Indian film industry, having an extremely effective style of communicating messages, by even adding humour, so that a common man is able to establish a connect. We were very confident that Khan would lend realism to our brand and would be able to connect with our target audience and drive the message home,” opines Bedi.
McCann Group has executed the campaign capturing the USP of IndiaMart: convenience – ease of buying. The campaign targets TV, online display and social media. “Apart from mass platforms like TV and online display, social media is an extremely fast moving medium in today’s world and is probably the best way to make your brand be heard. Gaining so much of popularity, we are happy to have connected with a huge set of people on these platforms,” he informs.
E-commerce companies are concentrating on increasing the penetration of their mobile apps for higher growth. So much so, that big players in the space, claim to have more than 50 per cent of their revenues coming in from mobile apps.
IndiaMart app has witnessed over 2 million downloads across all platforms. “The app dedicatedly focuses on strengthening its mobile offering, which is leading to an increased productivity for our users. We see relatively higher engagement on our mobile platform vs. desktop. Yes, we are certainly looking forward to increase the number of app users through a mix of brand and performance campaigns,” says Bedi.
Bedi feels an app is more convenient, giving information on the go which is very beneficial to the buyers across rural and urban areas. Not only that, according to him, app opens the avenue for specific marketing too. “With more insights from user data, platforms like us are able to push customised notifications and ensure extremely personalised experience for the user,” he adds.
But there are challenges too and emphasizing on them Bedi asserts, “From marketing point of view, there are different challenges for brands. For example – on any app store, a user can instantly look at screenshots of the app, its latest reviews and the overall rating. Thus, one needs to ensure that the app store content is optimized for all this and encourage the user to download the app.”
Recent research signifies that e-tailing ventures are aggressively spending to substantiate their app presence and soon they might dissolve the website. Myntra is one such example. The venture recently acquired by Bansals doesn’t have a web presence anymore. When asked if IndiaMart will also take a similar route, Bedi opines, “Growing at an exponential pace, India leads the way in internet usage on mobile in the world (65 per cent users on mobile internet). Smartphones have greatly influenced the consumer buying behaviour. 41 per cent of the e-commerce transactions are conducted via smartphone and the medium offers an immense potential. Though, we are definitely focused on strengthening our app route as we see relatively higher engagement on our mobile platform, but, we will not force our users in any way and will continue to have presence across platforms.”
“We would continue to invest in our product experience and brand to stay ahead. We plan to stay focused on our app route so as to enable users to easily find reliable suppliers in their preferred location with more ease,” Bedi concludes.