mjunction, a 50:50 e-commerce joint venture of steel majors Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), will enter the online retail business-to-consumer (B2C) segment
To offer 100 retail products under the new serviceMUMBAI: mjunction, a 50:50 e-commerce joint venture of steel majors Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), will enter the online retail business-to-consumer (B2C) segment by April 2009.
The company has finalised the roadmap to enter the Rs 2,000-crore online retail segment, which is dominated by firms offering railway and airline e-ticket services.
Till now, mjunction was in the online coal and steel sales and purchase space, with a majority of its customers coming from the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment. The retail business will be under the brand name ‘straightline’. Viresh Oberoi, managing director, mjunction, said, “So far, SMEs were the major revenue earners for us and with ‘straightline’, we are extending our reach so SMEs can meet their retail needs as well.”
The company will offer products for retail customers too, Oberoi said. “We will be offering all kinds of retail products such as apparel, electronic items, white goods, furniture etc, everything except rail and air tickets as several players are already in that space,” he added. Under the business, mjunction plans to offer more than 100 retail products including music, gaming, books etc over a period of time.
The company is tying up with other firms for their services to make its offerings comprehensive.
The main selling point of ‘straightline’ will be genuine branded products, lower prices and end-to-end solutions. “We will be providing a one-stop solution that will include selling, dispatch, supply chain, logistics and warehouse services. Though most of it will be third-party service providers, it will be straightline’s responsibility to ensure delivery,” he said. Oberoi said the online retail segment is growing at 100% annually.
Online reservation accounts for as much as 50% of the market, with the remaining being pure retail sales. “The pure retail segment is where maximum growth is anticipated in the next few years. This is the space we will operate in,” he said.
mjunction is the leader in the Rs 20,000-crore online business-to-business market with an over 50% share. “Our share is close to Rs 10,400 crore and we are looking to touch Rs 15,000 crore this fiscal.”
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