Mahindra group to launch e-commerce portal, offer full product repertoire

Mahindra group is set to launch an e-commerce venture called M2ALL.com,
which will offer the entire range of Mahindra products and services, and would
be operated through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary called e-Marketplace.

 

Mahindra group is set to launch an e-commerce venture called M2ALL.com,
which will offer the entire range of Mahindra products and services, and would
be operated through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary called e-Marketplace.

 

 

The entity, said group chief financial officer and chief information
officer V S Parthasarathy, will enable all Mahindra group firms to sell their
products and services as a way to complement existing sales channels. In
addition, non-competing products could also be offered through the platform.
“The idea is to bring Mahindra World on a digital platform,” he said in a
statement.

 

The complementary products and services could be anything from helmets
and biking gears to furniture, interior decoration and accessories. The company
neither disclosed the investment amount nor shared any revenue targets from the
new venture. It also did not elaborate on marketing and advertising spend to
support the venture.

 

Vijay S Mahajan, head, e-Marketplace said, to begin with, the focus will
be on the so-called consumer-facing businesses, and it will eventually be
expanded into business-to-business as well. For instance, it has already
started accepting online bookings for the TUV300, the sport utility vehicle
Mahindra’s auto division launched on September 10.

 

Mahindra’s existing partnership with e-commerce firms such as Snapdeal
and Flipkart for its products and services will continue, said Parthasarathy.
“Eventually, it’s the customer who decides how he wants to reach us.”

 

At present, customers of M2ALL can browse through over 400 products and
services, the company said.

 

In an interview to the Press Trust
of India on August 30, Mahindra group chairman and managing director Anand
Mahindra had said e-commerce play in India was “underestimated”, and that it was
going to “explode” in the country.

 

The e-retail market has been expanding 47% year-on-year and the group
expects it to touch $50 billion by 2020. Parthsarathy said the new entity,
unlike other e-commerce companies, will not resort to “deep discounting” and
would focus on creating value for the visitors. To start with, the group’s
200,000 employees and dealers will be the anchor customers.