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“So, we are working towards cutting down on the areas which are not profitable and trying to focus on the areas which are profitable. So, we should be able to get back on track sooner than later,” says Dinesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, IndiaMART.
Just looking at your performance and subscriber additions have been weak for you. What do you think is the sustainable rate? Is it going to be 3,000 to 4,000 per quarter or is it 5,000 to 8,000?
Dinesh Agarwa .
Dinesh Agarwal: So, we have been trying to work out on the churn and it has been stubborn so far. So, we are working towards multiple strategies to deal with it. We have the target of going back to our 4,000 to 5,000, but I cannot give you any numbers as of now.
So, give us a sense as to what the plan of action is to reduce the customer churn because we understand that the overall business inquiries have been a bit weak over the past few years.
Dinesh Agarwal: Business inquiries have been healthy. In fact, if you see, this quarter also about 15% unique business inquiries have grown. We have also been able to grow the revenue at 17-18%. The collections have also grown at 15 odd percent. And EBITDA margin has also shown handsome results. So, we are working towards cutting down on the areas which are not profitable and trying to focus on the areas which are profitable. So, we should be able to get back on track sooner than later
Also, in the concall you mentioned that you do not guide on any churn and said numbers were very sticky. But what kind of major changes in the algorithm will the company be taking to address this issue? Any timelines that you may have suggested?
Dinesh Agarwal: Yes, so we are slowly and slowly trying to see how to balance the business inquiries and the competition on the platform. The marketplace has grown quite healthy and there are thousands of categories with two lakh plus suppliers trying to bid for the buyers which are available. So, it is our constant endeavour to increase the relevancy as well as decrease the competition on the platform. So, we continue to tweak the algorithms in a manner so that everybody gets the fair share.
Let us talk about whether or not we are going to see more business inquiries. What is your own sense going forward owing to good monsoon in India, also the festive season is now expected to start in the coming months, what kind of growth guidance in terms of operational numbers can we expect from you?
Dinesh Agarwal: Unique business inquiries have grown at around 15% this quarter also. Last quarter also they have grown at about 14%. And we believe that upwards of 10% growth should be maintained at unique business inquiries.
And what is the new product launch pipeline looking like or any acquisitions that you may have planned?
Dinesh Agarwal: So, we had acquired LiveKeeping if you remember. We are now in the market with the LiveKeeping product which brings your tally data on the mobile and web. It has started to receive good response from the market. Busy has also launched the mobile app. So, now Busy is probably the only native old accounting software that comes with the bundled mobile app on the platform. On the IndiaMart side, we have started to use a lot of AI and gen AI using the chatbot. So, some of the operating leverage that you are seeing is coming from there also. So, multiple projects that keep on going.
What is the outlook on the B2B business? What kind of growth are you seeing in some of the new-age verticals like the solar segment?
Dinesh Agarwal: All segments are growing nicely actually. All of the segments are growing nicely whether it is construction, whether it is apparel, whether it is medical or whether it is solar. All of these segments are growing nicely.
Online Coverage: The Economic Times