In this recap we shall look at the other two key online classifieds segments besides for jobs and matrimony and they are property and cars. Both property and cars have been fairly nascent in their growth stage all throughout 2008. But they have also seen consolidation, investments and expansions as well.
The major players in the online property scene are 99acres.com (Infoedge), Indiaproperty (ConsimInfo), Makaan.com (People Interactive) and Magicbricks.com (Times Group).
We first look at the online property scene through 2008.. The year started with ConsimInfo’s Indiaproperty.com looking at expanding internationally by launching a magazine as well as physical presence abroad with a property show. During the same time Makaan.com which had launched in late 2007 was pushing its brand name in the Indian market via virals ( which were cliched) and by launching features like the property rating system and an sms application. Even magicbricks focused on features by launching click to call facility. Also to counter Indiaproperty’s plans to go international even Infoedge’s 99acres went international but via a tie up with US based Secondspace.
In the middle of the year consolidation beckoned the online property space when Realacres got acquired by iProperty.com. As the year progressed new interesting startups in the property space sprung up like Nobrokerage.in a site they aims at eliminating brokers. On the whole the online property scene is yet to mature in India and though one would get good results by putting up an ad on sites like 99acres and others the monetization of these property portals is yet to scale.
Online Cars Market
Though the online cars market has been pretty competitive since 2006. 2008 is a year that belonged to two players which made a dent in the market and one of them was a new entrant. The year started with the news of angel funding for Autoindia but the online car portal market was dominated by the seed funded carwale.com which raised an A series round of funding this year. Also in the news was new entrant Gaadi.com which was launched by Desimartini’s famous founder Vivek Pahwa.
All in all both the property and the cars space are the most nascent spaces in the online classifieds segment with cars having the smallest players i.e. no big classified player like naukri, shaadi or times is really focusing on this space and thereby these spaces could be the lucrative spaces for young startups like gaadi and others to look at to make a mark and some money in the bargain.
I was looking at buying a flat for most of the year in 2008. SO I had my profiles on almost all job sites with me going to a lot of places i found on line…99 acres stands out to be the best with their weekly mails on similar properties that match my price range. Although there are a few problems I faced:
1. The online listings have a lot of entries by the estate agents who are not even sure if the flat is available anymore. Also, if it is, which is like 99% of the times, you have to pay a brokerage which defies the purpose of a site where ppl go to avoid these agents.
2. Most societies in our secular country do not entertain people from different religions. So, these biases are ignored on the online model but more than half of the listings will not entertain you once they hear your name. So, you should know the pockets to apply in.
3. As Rajiv said, the online property scene is yet to mature and that too by leaps and bounds, cause there is a clear potential, the execution is what matters
oopss…when i said job sites in the last article..I meant property sites….hehe
Do give PropertyWala.com a try. We launched less than a year back and are already giving the big guys a run for their money (apologies for the shameless self-promotion
).