Droom ramps up marketing budget to Rs 400 cr for FY19

Online automobile marketplace Droom today said it has increased its marketing budget by over 75 per cent to Rs 400 crore for the fiscal ended March 2019.

The company, which spent Rs 225 crore in the previous financial year, plans to further strengthen its ongoing efforts to reach out to consumers and "disrupt the pre-owned automobile market" with the amplified monetary allocation, Droom said in a statement.

Of the total marketing budget, Droom has allocated Rs 150 crore for digital media marketing and Rs 150 crore for various marketing activities along with Rs 50 crore towards CSR-related campaigns.

Another Rs 50 crore is earmarked for deals and promotions for customer engagement and experience initiatives, the statement said.

In May, Droom had announced raising USD 30 million in series D funding from Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) and Tokyo-based incubator Digital Garage. Its other investors include Lightbox, Beenext, Beenos and Integrated Assets Management.

"We have increased our marketing spend this year to further give a boost to our current online business. We are also looking to enhance our presence in tier II and III cities to attract more online automobile shoppers," he added.

Aggarwal said the company aims to double its annualised sales and gross merchandise value (GMV) from about Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore by December 2018 and Rs 18,000 crore by 2019.

GMV is a term used in online retailing to indicate the gross merchandise value of the products sold through the marketplace over a certain period of time.

"By increasing our marketing budget, we believe the company can achieve its net revenue target of Rs 275 crore for 2018, expand its reach and build the right customer base with ground-breaking strategies," he said.