Quikr's Inorganic Growth Strategies
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Case Code: BSTR590 Case Length: 11 Pages Period: 2016-19 Pub Date: 2019 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.300 Organization: Quikr India Pvt Ltd. Industry: Internet Countries: India Themes: Growth Strategy, Strategy Implementation |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
Excerpts
Expansion & Growth
The Indian classified market, which till then had been dominated by the print media, saw a radical shift with the entry of Quikr in 2008. The rising number of internet users, evolving mindset of the consumers, aggressive advertising, and bullish investors contributed to the exponential growth of Quikr’s business over the years.
Quikr launched two of its own brands – Dazzlr and AtHomeDiva. While Dazzlr offered tailored solutions to artists and casting professionals for cinema, television, etc., AtHomeDiva catered to the demand for specifically beauty services in QuikrServices, the beauty services later came to be called QuikrEasy. The company entered into a partnership with ItzEasy for its services vertical, Truecaller for enhancing customer services and with Pepperfry to enable better and easier sale of furniture. ..
Growth Through Acquisitions
Along with organic growth, Quikr also grew across verticals through acquisitions. This was a strategy commonly used by e-commerce companies like Flipkart and Snapdeal, which also went for the acquisition of start-ups to fuel their expansion. However, the distinguishable feature for Quikr was that it had scaled up most of its businesses through the inorganic route. Quikr grew by using its acquisition strategy and buying out start-ups to become a sector leader. It continued to innovate and expand the market by adding monthly unique visitors through the acquisition of new entities. The company relied on acquisitions to strengthen its various business verticals. By April 2019, Quikr had acquired 15 companies...
Challenges
Some industry observers pointed out that the acquisition strategy did not function as well for Quikr as it expected. In the whole acquisition process, the firm could spread itself too thin, they said. Though the company attained breakeven in 2016 after the acquisition of jobs platform Hiree, and it represented a positive sign for the growth of the company, industry experts felt that it would not guarantee significant profits and additional revenue going forward. “While this is definitely a positive message, it is really important that the business as a whole starts to make money...
Road Ahead
Swetabh Pareek, head of transaction advisory services at global research firm Aranca, felt that Quikr was growing its business with a sharp vertical focus. At the same time, analysts warned the company not to fall into the trap of chasing gross merchandise volumes (GMV), which had ruined many a consumer internet venture...
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Quikr's Key Business Segments and Competitors
Exhibit II: Quikr Acquisitions (As of April, 2019)
Exhibit III: Search Traffic of OLX vs. Quikr (2011 – 2018)
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