WildBlueSkies - Trends and strategies in Digital Media

mJunction recently joined Carwale, Carsalesindia, Indiadrive, AutoIndia, AutocarIndia, Carazoo, etc. with the launch of autojunction.in - an auto eRetailing portal. Online B2B sales for the automotive sector have been around for some time with eBay and mjunction, but this would have to be the first time that someone is attempting to sell new cars online, and that too with a B2C model. Given that IAMAI expects the size of the business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce industry to grow by 30% to Rs 9,210 crore by the end of fiscal 2008, some big ticket products would be needed online.
Given the touch-and-feel factor involved in buying a car, be it new or second hand, online would best serve as a medium for visitors to research and compare cars, and thus come to a decision, with the final transaction happening offline. Content and features hence become a major component of these websites, where the ultimate objective is to inform, and not necessarily to make a purchase.
Currently, the only car retailing on autojunction.in is Reva (3 models), for which rather detailed information on features and specifications are provided, along with testimonials. However, this would be more suited for an automobile manufacturer website (think Maruti’s SX4 website). More content (reviews, news, interactive flash or video), and communities would probably help to bring out more information about the cars that are listed there - for instance the Zillow model would perhaps be modfied here to help create a community which could help to sell both cars as well as accessories, and can very easily be built to suit a classifieds model as well, where getting listings from dealers becomes a source of revenue.

Filed under: Business, India, Website Alert