OLX is an online classifieds platform. From a toy car to an actual car, from a piece of furniture to an entire house, from Nokia to Apple — you can buy and sell everything via this diverse platform.
A diverse platform in an even diverse country like India that deals a lot in second-hand goods — a whopping Rs. 75,000 crore market, makes OLX India’s competitor analysis extremely interesting.
Although the used-goods market in India is highly unorganized, it is moving from bricks to clicks at some pace thanks to the marketplaces like OLX, Cars24, Cashify etc.
Let us dive-in to see who all are vying to grab a big chunk of this cash-rich market.
Direct Competitors
These are companies having essentially the same business model, operating in the same potential market, targeting the same customer base and having the same distribution model.
Quikr — Online classified advertising platform for cars, electronics, furniture, properties and jobs. With over 30 million monthly users, Quikr is OLX’s largest and the only direct competitor in India.
Let us dig in and compare the two giants using a feature table
Note: If the seller opts for Doorstep pickup and delivery, Quikr charges a conveyance fee for it that has to be paid by both, buyer and the seller. The fee charged varies as per the city, weight and dimensions of the product.
Feature table shows both classified platforms neck and neck in terms of overall feature-set.
Other classified platforms like Sulekha, ClickIndia etc are primarily focused on jobs and other services and does not pose a direct threat to OLX.
Tip: The easiest way to find a list of competitors with the least amount of efforts and time is — open Google search > type ‘Olx Vs ’ and let the maestro Google predictive search take over. The result will look like the image below. The details of each can be found out pretty easily with websites like Crunchbase and Owler.
Indirect Competitors
These are companies offering similar product and services but having a different goal, different marketing strategy and a different revenue model as well.
Cashify — Online platform to buy and sell electronic gadgets like mobiles, TV, laptops, tablets etc. Riding on its USP of free home pickup and instant cash payment, Cashify has encashed close to 16.6M gadgets and given away a mindboggling Rs.1120.5 Cr
Cars24, CarTrade, Carwale, Droom — Experts in buying and selling preowned cars. They have an online marketplace as well as physical outlets to get the car inspected and sold.
Gauging the demand for preowned cars, OLX recently launched the ‘CashMyCar’ feature designed on similar lines.
MagicBricks, 99acres, NoBroker, CommonFloor (acquired by Quikr) — Online marketplaces to buy, sell, rent real estate properties. A segment OLX is eyeing since a long time but unlike Quikr, it is yet to make any acquisitions in this segment.
Coutloot — A fashion re-selling platform, a segment that OLX least focuses on.
Replacement Competitors
These are other companies offering some products or services which consumers would use instead of choosing the products or services offered by your company
Facebook Marketplace — An offering by the social media giant to connect individual sellers and SMEs with its massive userbase spread across geographies and age groups. An average Facebook user spends quality time on the app/website every day. Facebook’s shrewd designers and PMs leverage this engagement to showcase products from their marketplace while the user is scrolling through the feeds. The products displayed to the user are based on his/her persona and behavior.
Whatsapp — The Facebook-owned instant messaging app is arguably the most frequently used app on the planet with a plethora of multimedia and text messages being shared every minute. This makes it an ideal candidate for a re-commerce platform and the candidature would be strengthened once Whatsapp payment is introduced. Even today Whatsapp is being used to sell stuff but in an extremely unorganized manner.
OLX’s USP that makes it a go-to place when it comes to dealing with second-hand stuff is the fact that it does not interfere much during the entire transaction process — post the ad, negotiate with the interested buyers via chat or over a call, decide mutually the most cost/time efficient way of getting the product delivered and receive the payment the way you wish to. The entire process flows naturally, inline with how India shops offline/physically, not forcing users to form new habits.
Sources — EconomicTimes, GadgetsNow, Crunchbase, Owler
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