Quikr

Overview

Quikr is an online classified advertising company where buyers and sellers meet and transact. Sellers are able to post advertisements for their products for free on the platform, and buyers are able to view ads and buy the products of their choice, directly from the seller. Quikr operates the digital platform that connects the two groups and facilitates exchange between buyers and sellers. Thus, at its core Quikr operates a matchmaking business model.

Quikr kept its platform free for the first three years. When its monthly unique visitors crossed 10 million, it decided to monetise the platform, like other classified ad companies such as Gumtree. Quikr Premium Services charges users and businesses for premium listings, that is, placing their ads higher on Quikr search results.[i] Thus, the company also operates an additional product business model aimed enhancing the value of the Quikr platform to its seller-customers.

In 2016, Quikr launched a complementary product, ‘Quikr Doorstep’ that offer its buyer-customers with delivery services, while also addressing customers’ issues of trust, payment and logistics in consumer-to-consumer transactions in the country,” said Pranay Chulet, CEO of Quikr.[ii] Quikr is the largest online and mobile classified ads company, as stated by The Economic Times. [iii]

History

Quikr is an Indian-based company operating across more than 1000 cities in India. The company was founded by Pranay Chulet in 2008 and has since raised more than $150 million from a clutch of investors including Warburg Pincus, Nokia Growth Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. [iv] Quikr has raised $350 million in 7 rounds and has made six acquisitions since its launch. [v]

Quikr’s investors include Kinnevik, Matrix Partners India, Omidyar Network, and eBay Inc.[vi]

Quikr launched vernacular language support for its consumers in 2015 that allows consumers to choose from seven different languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati and Marathi. This new feature allows consumers to browse, search, post ads and interact with buyers and sellers in their language of choice. [vii]

Customers

Quikr has two customer groups that it serves via its marketplace. The first customer group includes online shoppers who wish to buy products in an aggregated and diverse marketplace . The second customer group includes sellers who wish to increase their online visibility and sell their products quickly. These include individuals as well as small businesses.

Quikr has over 19 million visitors each month across 160 business categories in 65 cities in India. [viii]

Engagement  — Value Creation Proposition

Online Shoppers:

Quikr creates value for the online shoppers by providing them with a wide range of products nationwide, all aggregated in one marketplace. Products sold on Quikr range from 14 categories, including mobile phones, household goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services and education.[ix]

The Quikr platform operates across desktop, laptop and mobile phones, and allows consumers as well as small businesses to sell, buy, rent and find things across its multiple categories with great ease.[x]

To tackle potential issues pertaining to security and trust, Quikr provides the option of making online payments from the chat platform, as well as collecting the product from the seller and delivering it to the buyer. [xi] While this option delivers value to both parties – as sellers are able to receive payments quicker online and buyers feel confident in delivery by Quikr – issues of distrust are reduced mostly for buyer-customers. A buyer has the option to return the product to the delivery person on the spot, if he/she is not satisfied with it. To prevent sellers from duping buyers, Quikr keeps the cash in an escrow account. The money is transferred to the seller only once the buyer has received, and is satisfied with the product, much like how other e-commerce majors operate, for example Ebay and Gumtree. [xii]

Small Businesses:

Businesses can promote their products or services on Quikr by ‘Posting Ads’ for them. Unlike newspapers, there is no space restriction on ads placed on Quikr. Multiple images can also be uploaded, alongside detailed written descriptions. Businesses that don’t have websites can also benefit from Quikr by providing contact details for buyers to reach them directly. Businesses can gain greater visibility by way of Quikr’s 19 million monthly visitors.[xiii]

Businesses that are looking for quick growth or to get rid of surplus stock can try Quikr Premium Services. These are paid services and ensure that ads stay on top of the page for up to 30 days ensuring they get the highest possible visibility. Premium ads get 10 times the response as free ads.[xiv]

Small businesses can also sign up for ‘Leads on SMS’ for a small fee. This ensures that they get the contact details of potential customers looking to buy their products in a given locality/city.[xv]

Delivery — Value Chain

Selling on Quikr takes less than 30 seconds; sellers are able to Post Ads for free by filling out a short form online. Purchasing on Quikr is also swift, as buyers are able to select the city and product category they want and browse from the thousands of Quikr ads. Buyers are then able to click on products of interest and contact the seller directly, either by calling a number listed or replying to the ad post itself. Buyers can also sign up for ‘Quikr Alerts’ to get notifications of products available for sale in their locality.[xvi]

Quikr also allows sellers to purchase Premium Ads which makes their ads more visible to customers on the webpage. To opt for a Premium ad, sellers have to start posting your ad on Quikr. As part of the Post ad flow, they will then have an option to either post ads as a free ad or a Premium paid ad. [xvii]

Monetisation — Value Capture

The company makes money from three verticals – premium listings, lead generation and advertising. [xviii] Lead generation has become an important component of the online industry in recent years, epitomized by the emergence of countless sites devoted to capturing customer information that can be sold to companies looking to acquire new customers. [xix]

Further information on monetization is not published on public sources.