Mjunction launches B2C initiative

Tata, SAIL e-commerce joint venture to now take on eBay and Amazon.

Mjunction Services, an e-commerce company which is a joint venture between Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India (SAIL), has forayed into a business-to-consumer (B2C) initiative.

Named www.straightline.in, with technology support from information technology companies IBM and Cognizant, the e-commerce portal now comes in direct competition with established ones, such as eBay and Amazon.com, among others.

Viresh Oberoi, managing director of Mjunction, said: “We are looking at a 30 per cent market share of e-retailing in India, to begin with. We have outsourced our logistics services to Drive India Enterprise Solution, another Tata Group company.”

The portal would also start classifieds and B2C auctions this year. “We have been into the online space for some time now, selling industrial products and commodities such as steel, coal, iron ore, and stressed assets such as plants and machinery, automobiles and even land and building. Business volume in terms of transaction value of our B2B businesses had soared to Rs 14,393 crore last fiscal, which would help us retain our leadership position as India’s largest e-commerce company. We will build upon our track record with Straightline, our first B2C venture,” Oberoi added.

Consumers from 644 cities covering about 5,000 pin codes can experience online shopping at straightline.in, which will be extended to rural India, covering 10,000 pin codes by the end of financial year 2010. The Indian e-commerce market is valued at Rs 9,210 crore, growing at 30 per cent, while the B2C non-travel market is valued at Rs 2,210 crore, growing at 40 per cent. A recent study on the distribution of the global online population by 2012 noted that India will contribute 6 per cent, or 109 million users, out of the 812 million in all of Asia.

Mjunction clocked transactional value of Rs 14,393 crore in 2008-09 and is targeting a cumulative transaction value of Rs 50,000 crore by FY 2013. The company’s e-retailing venture is expected to soar along with the 30 per cent growth rate which the Indian e-retail market is experiencing.