Auto portal CarDekho goes big on digital

Auto portal CarDekho.com has found a new line of business to drive its future growth. Spotting a need gap in the area of technological solutions, including customer service systems, CRM tools, dealership and virtual reality solutions, CarDekho is focussing on tying up with autom manufacturers and dealers to offer such solutions.

The website promoted by Jaipur-based entrepreneur Amit Jain receives 147 million visits a month, which means it has access to huge amounts of data that can provide insights into consumer behaviour.  It is providing market insights to original equipment manufacturers. At the dealer end, too, it has developed software to improve conversion rates and return on investment.

“Right now, 15 per cent of our revenueis from dealership solutions, the CRM tool and customer service systems. We expect these solutions to contribute exponentially to our revenue in the coming years,” said the CarDekho spokesperson.

GirnarSoft, which runs India's leading automobile portals CarDekho, Gaadi and Zigwheels, has appointed Amol Naresh as director, CRM.He will be responsible for increasing the adoption of CRM tools provided to automobile dealer, partners and manufacturers.

“We have secured $90 million in venture capital from multiple rounds. A large proportion of our latest round of funding has been used for the solutions business and the used car vertical,” the spokesperson said. Speaking at the sidelines of a dealers’ meet here in Ahmedabad, Nalin Kapoor, chief operating officer, new cars, CarDekho, said the company was working with leading automotive companies in the country.

“We have developed a basic matrix that offers insights into which cars are being searched on the platform, what are the features that consumers are looking for, or even which cars are they comparing,” Kapoor said.

CARS ONLINE

• 75% of Indian consumers use internet to research before purchasing a car
   
• 70% is the y-o-y growth rate in auto query volumes online
   
• 125% is the y-o-y growth in auto query volumes on mobile platform
   
• 54% of the online researchers change their brand consideration set after doing online research