MatexNet set for major expansion across the country

Company News

Mumbai, June 27

India’s first Material Exchange company, MatexNet is all set for a major expansion across the country with the launch of its two new business verticals for Used Vehicles and Surplus Retail Goods, as part of the company’s expansion plans. While the Used Vehicles Division will be a common B2B platform for the vehicle e-trading, the Surplus Retail Division will facilitate and deal with the slow moving, readily available finished retail goods.

MatexNet has been in the forefront of B2B business for more than a decade and conducts auctions for products and services as varied as copper, chemicals, desktops, human hair, transportation services, etc. While other portals serve as infomediaries, MatexNet sprouted itself out by shoring up with the requisite infrastructure to see the transactions through: databases, transport services, logistics, inspection, payment gateways, and domain knowledge. Currently MatexNet can be considered as India’s largest Internet driven private independent exchange company in B2B with transactions crossing more than Rs.1000 crore this year which is an increase of 150% over last year’s Rs.400 crore transactions.

Before the world realized the quiet revolution of e-commerce, MatexNet was already providing critical support to industries to manage their inventory and liquidate surplus stock. An expert in online auction, the company overcame the dotcom bust and continued its focus on revenues, client acquisitions and innovative solutions for its clients on the Internet. With a small beginning and an angel investment from ICF Ventures based in the US and operating out of Mauritius, and with a twin location presence, MatexNet has now expanded its presence to 28 locations and new industrial towns including places such as Nashik, Rajkot, Baroda and Chandigarh across the country and has plans to expand to the neighboring markets such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Srilanka and Singapore. MatexNet is also in the process of launching new and exciting verticals to its core business of Inventory Disposal Solutions.

Announcing the company’s expansion plans, Mr. JaganniVasan, Managing Director, MatexNet said, “The strong domain knowledge and experience we have gained over the years has spurred the company on to a very good growth trajectory; it has also enabled us to zero in on exciting new opportunities in the field of Used Vehicles and Surplus Retail Goods. We at MatexNet will continue to meet our clients’ needs by evolving more verticals to cater to the specific requirements. Backed by its 125 strong team, MatexNet aims to provide their clients across a wide spectrum of industry with end to end solutions for their surplus sale requirements.”

According to Mr. Yogeshwaran, Director, MatexNet, “The division for Used Vehicles will fulfill the specific needs of corporate such as BPOs, Airlines, Travel Bureaus etc when they want to dispose their existing fleet of vehicles in bulk in order to upgrade to other models.” “The total addressable market in India for Used Vehicles is huge and this is where MatexNet aims at garnering a major share,” he added.

The Used Vehicles Division will deal with four wheelers, three and two wheelers as well as commercial vehicles. Apart from Industrial assets, all its 28 locations will be engaged in carrying out the sale of used vehicles and will cover more than 150 towns across the country. This division is expected to cover atleast 400 towns by next year. All transactions will be carried out through the Internet.

In Surplus Retail Division, auction will start at a minimum Reserve Price for a fixed quantity above which the buyer can place his bid. Items available in the Buy Now category will be available for sale on a first come-first serve basis, at the price shown against the product. Where multiple quantities of various models of a single product are available, Bid & Win will help the buyer bid for required models at required quantities. Products displayed on the portal can be used for resale, cross-promotions or corporate gifting. The portal will enable corporate to make bulk purchase of products at reasonably attractive prices.

The online industry in India is expanding at a fast pace and it is important for MatexNet to extend its expertise to the fast growing retail industry. Being a pioneer in the field of industrial B2B, MatexNet will also have a head start in retail B2B in India. The company also sees a synergy between MatexNet's vast database of corporate clientele requiring products in bulk and surplus available with the retail goods companies, with the channel partners also participating to create more liquidity. Additionally large public sector institutions and societies have evinced keen interest in procuring in bulk for their internal use.

More companies are realizing the fact that it is beneficial to follow MatexNet's slogan, "If you are in manufacturing, you must transact on MatexNet". MatexNet organizes forward auctions on behalf of its large clientele for sale of surplus assets. Recently it completed a very large transaction for sale of more than 1000 machines at the Standard Motors factory site in Chennai, one of the largest e-transactions in the country. It was undoubtedly for the first time that an Indian automobile manufacturer's plant and machinery was auctioned off online at one shot. Tirumala Tirupati Devastonam has engaged MatexNet to carry out an Internet Auction for sale of human hair worth Rs.36 crore. Among its 400 clientele, L&T ECC, Mico, Bajaj Auto, Sterlite, Mumbai Port etc outsource the forward auction services through MatexNet’s Internet platform.