B2B Suppliers - B2B Portal News | MarketPlace | Directory | Products | Trade

Every year, Indiamart.com gets these internal ideas within the company to convert themselves into more than what they already do. Sometimes, it is to do with their online presence. Some forces declare that they should always have more online payment systems and henceforth convert themselves into an also B2C company. The highly successful B2B portal running on a highly data intensive Oracle database, has got two more feathers in its cap.

One, it has established itself as an unparalleled platform for B2B players and has as a result become a focused platform for advertisers to high income small and medium enterprises. Two, it has achieved to establish the number one gifts portal in the world's virtual space. Coming back to the other feather in Indiamart's cap; Indiamart's specialised focus on small and medium enterprises have borne fruit.

Microsoft Corporation India has chosen Indiamart's home page to advertise on the benefits of legal Microsoft Software. Microsoft Corporation India has gone through many phases regarding their presence in India and Asia. In the beginning they had even encouraged piracy by turning a blind eye so that Windows becomes all-compassing as far as the operating system industry goes. Now with a new CEO at the helm it has embarked on a campaign to weed out all pirated versions of Windows in India.

One such effort is to advertise on the home page of portals such as Indiamart to reach the maximum relevant target audience. Even the ad is telling of Microsoft's sense of communication and design. It says in very few words: "Use Original Microsoft Software" and then five options are given. They are: With a new PC, Buy Online, Dial-a-software , Locate a store and Volume License. Once you have chosen the route you want to take, the site takes you to the relevant area where you can pursue the purchase.

Started with an objective of managing online media for the benefit of businesses, Indiamart Intermesh Ltd. (IIL) has always seen Internet as a business facilitator rather than a technology phenomenon. In fact, the company, which considers itself to be a business promotion agency focussing on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), is one of the two dotcom companies in the B2B model that not only survived the dotcom bust but also is raking in the profits. The other company is other than trade-india .com, which is half the size of Indiamart.

"Our success mantra for surviving the dotcom bust is that we relied more on direct sales rather than doing million-dollar advertising campaigns. Nor did we have any investor putting in millions in our company," says Brijesh Agrawal, COO, Indiamart. In fact, what explains the company's notable presence in India is that when most of the dotcoms got carried away in the advertising frenzy Indiamart's relied more on direct marketing; its sales team went knocking on doors of traders convincing hem to put up catalogues on their portal.

"What a B2B portal needs is a strong buyer-seller base and word of mouth marketing. How we've managed to so is through direct sales, through word of mouth promotion and by participating in international trade shows," Agrawal says. Besides, the company plans to launch two trade publications by August this year. "For a B2B portal it's important to educate suppliers on the benefits of E-commerce . Hence our initiative to launch trade magazines so that we can educate sellers of the benefits of E-commerce as well as keep them abreast of the latest trends in the field," says Agrawal.

Source: economictimes