B2B Industry in India on the rise

In 2006, BSG estimates that the combined revenues from business-to-business events, publishing and online services were approximately US$155 million with publishing accounting for US$58 million, exhibitions US$87 million and online accounting for US$10 million.
Of the US$58 million generated from B2B publishing, approximately US$29 million was generated from general business magazines. Advertising dollars in India remain heavily focused on TV (41%) and general print (49%). Total advertising expenditures were estimated to be US$3.7 billion in 2006.

India has 300 daily newspapers and despite a highly competitive environment, overall circulation increased 13% last year. The Economic Times continues to be the number one business newspaper by wide margin, while Business World is the top business magazine in India.
In 2006, there was a steady flow of newly launched business titles. According to the Indian Media Observer, 42 new magazines and newspapers were launched in the first seven months of 2006. The majority of those titles were non-English publications.

In the last year, a number of foreign publishers either expanded operations or launched new operations altogether. The Wall Street Journal formed a joint venture with the Hindustan Times. Reed Business Information teamed up with Infomedia India. Independent News and Media announced a joint venture with Jagran Prakashan Limited.

Media-focused private equity deals expanded rapidly in 2006. Overall private equity investment in India tripled in 2006 reaching US$7.46 billion - up from US$2.26 billion the year before. One of the larger deals was Blackstone’s US$275 million investment in Hyderabad-based print and media firm, Ushodaya Enterprises.

The events business in India continues to be constrained largely by its relatively limited infrastructure. Although, in the past two years, two new exhibition centres have opened - the first phase of the new Bangalore International Exhibition Centre in 2006 and India Expo Centre Expo XXI in 2005. As a result, the gross indoor space available increased by 19% rising from 213,000m2 to 253,000m2.

BSG research shows that just over 380,000 m2 of net space was sold in 2005 in India making the market around 9% the size of China’s. The Indian exhibition industry was worth around $64 million in terms of revenues earned by organizers.

B2B online businesses in India generated an estimated US$10 million in revenues in 2006. This figure is very small when compared with other markets and considering the potential size of the Indian market. CyberMedia, a key player in this small market, earned just US$1.1 million from their online operations which was just over 6% of revenues.

BSG maintains a ranking of the top 50 B2B websites in Asia using data from Alexa.com. Only five of the top fifty are Indian-based businesses. They are Indiamart.com, TradeIndia.com, Ciol.com, Go4worldbusiness.com and Indianexporters.com. Four of those five are supplier sourcing websites. The fifth, Ciol.com, is an information portal for IT professionals.

Tradeindia launches news portal for small and medium enterprises

B2B portal Tradeindia has launched a news portal, SME Times, for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Tradeindia.com provides a platform to buyers and sellers across the world.

Launching the portal, Bikky Khosla, CEO, Tradeindia, said, “SME Times will be a one-stop information library for the Exim sector. With our wide reach, the news that we will provide can help improve business practices. As SMEs are exposed to new information, ideas, and values, many will become increasingly aware and interested and, eventually, they will be able to decide what action to take that is best for their businesses.”

“Apart from a daily dose of news, the USP of the portal will rest on the value-added articles written by its staffers, experts and freelancers that will benefit the SMEs,” he added.

The entire business module of Tradeindia revolves around the pledge to help SMEs build a self-reliant India. To keep SMEs informed on the recent policy changes, international trends and how these changes could affect their businesses, Tradeindia comes out with its weekly newsletter, conducts online surveys and organises panel discussions and hosts a Discussion Forum aimed at creating a platform for the business community to exchange business ideas and issues.

News portals are often the SMEs’ first source of new information. Also, news portals help confirm and reinforce the information that people receive about latest developments in the business sector. However, with no news portal devoted entirely to the needs of this sector, SMEs find it difficult to gain reliable information.

SME Times portal has been carefully designed to fulfill the needs of SMEs. Over nine clearly demarcated categories and more than 16 sub-categories will carry news reports that are updated on a minute-to-minute basis. The ‘Editorial’ and ‘Indepth’ sections would carry the views of the Editor and a panel of experts, respectively. The other value-added features include ‘Market Watch’ and ‘Forex Rates’.

BIMTECH hosts summit on SMEs

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector is called the backbone of the Indian economy.
To bridge the knowledge gap between Indian SMEs and the government policies, Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), Greater Noida organized SMEs Summit 2008 on the theme 'Indian SMEs In Exports' on February 2 in Delhi. The Summit was inaugurated by Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Industry, Govt. of India.

The summit highlighted the Indian SME sector about the policies, which have been formed by the government and how the SMEs can use them for their benefit. It also brought out key aspects on how to increase the capability of Indian SMEs and to provide right information to move ahead in the global arena. Inaugurating the Summit, Chief Guest, Sh. Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Industry said, "When the Indian economy is currently growing at 9% and the future growth expected more or less on the same line, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) will give all thrust of development to make India the 3rd largest economic power by 2025 overtaking Germany."

The summit involved three plenary sessions included themes like Governmental infrastructure and institutional framework, environmental and social issues, sector specific issues and financial issues from SME viewpoint.

The speakers on the occasion included Dr. H. Chaturvedi, Director BIMTECH, Dr. R K Dhawan, chairman FIEO northern region, Mr. Jawhar Sircar, Additional Secretary, ministry of industry and commerce, Mr. Bikki Khosla, CEo, Tradeindia.com, Mr. Kishore Balaji, Microsoft India Ltd and Dr. H.P. Kumar, Chairman & MD, NS.

On the occasion, Dr. H. Chaturvedi, Director BIMTECH said, "SMEs sector has tremendous potential. The capabilities of SMEs to compete in the International markets is reflected in its share of about 35% in the national exports, but this sector is still held back from achieving its full potential because of various problems, such as lack of information and awareness."

Dr. Dhawan pointed out some of the challenges facing the SMEs in terms of finance, quality up gradation and taxation where he requested the intervention of government.
Mr. Sircar highlighted on slew of policy initiatives, which the government is planning to come out with in the three most important areas as presented above.

Online businesses gear up to welcome 2008 with a bang

As 2007 draws to a close, the pace of activity at the office and warehouse of Bangalore-based Indiaplaza.in, is getting increasingly hectic. Business has been brisk this festive season. “In terms of growth it’s been an incredible year. We expect to do 3-4 times more business than last year,” says K Vaitheeswaran, co-founder and COO, Indiaplaza. A chunk of the firm’s business online comes from sales of books and electronic gadgets such as digital music players, mobile phones, and digital cameras, and is targeted at NRIs in the US who send gifts home.
Clearly, those in the online business have reason to cheer — from online shopping portals to internet trade exchanges, these are indeed good times for those doing business on the internet. According to recent research jointly conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and research firm IMRB, the consumer ecommerce market in India is expected to grow by 30% in 2007-08 to Rs 9210 crore, of which the online travel segment will continue to dominate with nearly 80% share. Advertising revenues for the industry too, saw an upsurge this year. From Rs 218 crore last year, this year online ad revenues are expected to touch Rs 320 crore.
No wonder it’s an opportunity larger players like Indiatimes (part of Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd, which also owns this newspaper), Rediff, and Yahoo, among others are looking to tap in a big way. “The year 2007 was great year and we launched a number of new applications, and the new look Indiatimes.com, which is a friendlier Web 2.0 version. It was like a new beginning for us,” says Upen Roop Rai, director Times Internet Ltd (TIL). This year indiatimes’ Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) —the industry measure of online sales—more than doubled over last year, and much if it comes from the travel portal, adds Rai.
It’s not just the consumer business that’s hotting up. B2B portal tradeindia.com is also preparing to usher in the New Year with a host of new technology-driven initiatives. “Our market is the SMEs who want to showcase their products to the world,” says its founder and CEO Bikky Khosla from Dubai where he’s just arrived for a holiday. So the company has introduced a service, ‘Call Me Free’, where instead waiting for suppliers to revert to a query interested buyers can key in their contact phone number, and they will be connected immediately by tradeindia’s operators directly to the respective suppliers through a conference call, for free. The technology is provided by US-based eStara’s Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) platform.
“We try and ensure that the limitations of SMEs is compensated through smart use of technology,” says Khosla, who plans to introduce an SMS enquiry service to speed up transactions, and host online videos of suppliers’ facilities for buyers to see before they contact them. Next on the cards is a video-conferencing based inspection of goods. Phew! Tradeindia did revenues of Rs 17 crore in 2006-07, and with increasing awareness and spread of broadband networks, Khosla expects to close this fiscal 35% higher than last year.
For consumer ecommerce sites, it will be a whole new game as innovations in technology and demographic shifts promise exciting times ahead. Says TIL’s Rai, “In the coming year, social networking will play a dominant role and will open up a lot more advertising spending. Search engine marketing is another area that will grow faster.”

Call Suppliers For Free Services From Tradeindia.com

(1888PressRelease) December 18, 2007 - Reston, VA, USA -- "Call Me Free" will assist online browsers, including manufacturers, buyers and sellers, to obtain real-time answers to questions by connecting them with a customer service representative. To utilize the "Call Me Free" program, shoppers need only engage an embedded click to call button within the Tradeindia.com Web site and type in their phone number.

"As one of India's largest B2B e-Marketplaces, Tradeindia.com serves millions of buyers globally by offering them a quality database of manufacturers and exporters," says Bikky Khosla, CEO, Tradeindia.com. "For buyers, in order to identify a listed manufacturer/exporter as the right potential supplier for their sourcing needs, it's of prime importance to understand and know a few things about the supplier. Popular means of first-level communication such as emails and faxes create a vacuum where a buyer waits for suppliers to get back, which kills valuable business time.

Tradeindia.com's 'Call Me Free' service powered by eStara fills that vacuum, makes first-level communication faster, and allows a buyer to speak with the vendor and get solutions to most queries on the first-level of discussion. 'Call Me Free' helps both buyer and seller understand each others' interest level towards possible business opportunities, which further helps in finalizing the business in the shortest amount of time and with ease," he adds.

The Tradeindia.com partnership also heralds eStara's entry into the Indian market. The company has gained momentum internationally of late, including recently announced deals with Yves-Rocher, a leading botanical beauty care company in France, and Voyages-SNCF, an online travel agency also headquartered in France. Tradeindia.com is the largest online B2B e-Marketplace in India, with over 650,000 registered users, 1,298 different product categories and sub-categories and over 20.5 million hits per month.

"We are very pleased to see eStara's international momentum carry us into new markets," eStara CEO John Federman said. "The phone is a primary component of trade communities around the world and eStara's innovative services place businesses in line to provide a premium service to their customers."