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Many
pronged approach to B2B How do you support a B2B customer? By ensuring that he gets relevant business info through all platforms. The web, paper media or just electronic feeds, IndiaMART has them all, says Avinash Kalla  IndiaMART
InterMESH Ltd. (IIL) is venturing into print medium and is doing it at a
fast pace. They launched the 'Apparel Sourcing Guide' at North America's
largest apparel and fabric sourcing event 'Sourcing at MAGIC', in August
end. The second guide on Engineering and Industrial products will be
launched at the EMO, Hanover Trade fair in Germany this month and they
are launching the third guide on Handicrafts and home decor in October.So guides are the happening thing at IIL? "Well you can say so," says founder and CEO, Dinesh Agarwal and adds, "Internet is there and going great but guides are our new initiative and hence the focus is more on it." And why are they launching all these guides overseas? "At IndiaMART our clients are mostly outsiders, so it makes more sense for us to launch the guides overseas." He mentions that the trade guides available in the market at the moment are either information directories with the names and numbers or they are done magazine style with advertisements separate from the information. "Ours is a combination of both, the advertisements find space within the text information and more so the information is more comprehensive. It's as if the complete web information is duplicated," says Dinesh. Sourcing at Magic' connects nearly 4000 suppliers and service providers from over 30 countries to branded apparel and accessory companies, importers, designers, and product development teams from major retail chains in the industry. The company has become a one stop ready reference for its customers who are looking at the apparel industry. The Apparel guide at the moment being distributed at Pret a Porter fair in Paris. IIL is clear that it would promote these guides primarily at the fairs at the moment and later plans to start a website where in buyers can come and order for the guide. "By and large it will be such grand fares that we will be looking at. The idea to have a tie up with some publisher for local distribution is not yet final," informs Dinesh. IIL is all set to launch two more guides on Medicine and Pharmaceuticals and Automotive parts. Their business model is quite simple, presently in the guides the existing customers of IIL get a free mention and the revenue will be generated by advertisements that at the moment primarily contributed by the existing customers for whom the advertising space is not free. "The ration of non client advertisements is less, but we are sure soon it will pick up once we get into the groove," says Dinesh. Going ahead with the guides section the company is also upbeat about its ambitious an international platform that it was to launch in May this year. "The project has been delayed, but no we are through with the process and the project is now in the testing stage, give us a month and by Diwali this year you will hear from us. |