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Back in 2010, the Indian automobile industry was majorly occupied by an unorganised and opaque sector dedicated to pre-owned vehicles. The trading of every pre-owned vehicle and equipment involved huge risks. To abandon this practice, Sameer Malhotra, Director and CEO of Shriram Automall India Limited (SAMIL), decided to form a transparent platform to empower buyers and sellers to interact, inspect, evaluate, bid, and close transactions in a timely, transparent and cost-effective manner.

Thus, 2011 saw the inception of the first automall in Chennai, and SAMIL became India’s first-ever service provider to offer a well-organised platform for the exchange of pre-owned vehicles and equipment including commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, construction equipment, and farming equipment.

Getting acquainted with vehicle bidding

With a continuous strive towards excellence and better solutions to customers, Shriram Automall has emerged as more than an auction company in the last 10 years, catering to almost 100 cities. “We started the company with the help of Shriram Transport Finance, the biggest NBFC in the country, and gradually changed our course of business model, adding up more segments, industries, and customers,” says Samir.

SAMIL initiated the first-of-its-kind concept of physical bidding of used vehicles and equipment in India. Currently, it conducts over 500 physical auctions per month at over 100 auto malls across India, where buyers can have a proper understanding of the vehicle before buying. Of course, the start wasn’t easy 10 years back, especially bringing people to the platform, explaining the process, and then ensuring customer satisfaction based on services. However, they succeeded as the figures indicated by the 25,000 crores of transactions happening over time with 10 million inspections and valuations occurring in the platform, and 1.7 million customers registered under various services by SAMIL.

“By adding technological innovations we catered to our customer’s requirements and updated ourselves as they changed over time”, says Samir.

In 2013, SAMIL forayed into online bidding to enhance the reach of their services to customers with varied needs. They introduced online auctions with their state-of-the-art auction portal bids.samil.in. Samir explained this to be one of the most prominent bidding platforms in India, “that ensures customers the most convenient way to view, bid, and own pre-owned vehicles and equipment”.

Shriram Automall has successfully transformed several drivers and machine operators to owners while uplifting farmers in their businesses by providing unique solutions. Samir adds , “We ensure a variety of vehicles at our automall, and ensure the buyers in getting the correct price while buying the used vehicles. We also allow a proper inspection of the vehicle along with the cleared paperwork to ensure a smooth process of trading.”

SAMIL has also increased the value of national assets by its better utilisation, by forming the complete ecosystem for vehicles and equipment starting from parking, valuation, refurbishment, disposal, and documentation. It has emerged as a family of seven different brands which provide unique and diverse solutions under a single roof. SAMIL conducts more than 2,500 monthly bidding events through its structured physical and digital platforms. The company also provides online vehicle transaction services through CarTradeExchange and bids.samil.in and vehicle inspection facility through its subsidiary Adroit Inspection Services Pvt Ltd, innovative car buying and selling experience through BlueJack and industrial auction of properties, plant and machinery, commodities and scrap/salvage/surplus assets through 123done.in. This year, it has also introduced two new brands – the PriceX and Verisure to meet the diverse requirements of customers.

In the pursuit of a better customer experience, Shriram Automall has introduced the MySAMIL App and technology-enabled platforms like SMS Bidding and Desktop Live Bidding facilities.

Making customers feel connected with a .in domain

The decision of acquiring www.samil.in was easy as they wanted to focus on a business strictly meant for the Indian audiences and users. “We were sure that our unique and innovative business model would strike the right chord with clients as we solve their pain point with confidence,” says Samir.

However, he feels that in the 21st century, neither website nor social media should be overlooked or neglected while formulating a business strategy. Still, the .in domain extension highlights that SAMIL is an Indian company, making the customers feel connected to the services with the reminder that they are meant exclusively for the Indian audiences.

The National Internet Exchange for India (NIXI) is helping many businesses across the country to get a .in or .Bharat domain. Enterprises irrespective of their scale and size can avail a .in domain with the help of NIXI. It is affordable and can be availed in more than 22 languages for businesses coming from all regions of the country.

Market and revenue

Currently, around 50,000 used vehicles get registered under the platform for re-selling, while calculating the number of 30,000-40,000 registered buyers every month. Summing up the annual revenue of almost Rs 17,075.04 lakh for the financial year 2020-21, Samir discloses that 40-50 percent conversions are generated to sales every month, keeping their success rate intact.

Even with rapid expansions, Samir still feels that the market is unorganised, thereby creating a major scope for their growth in various cities, segments, and roping in customers with different choices and needs. “Innovation is the key, along with proper employment. We aim to provide the right solutions for our customers to make them loyal for life. The sky’s the limit and there is room for infinite possibilities to flourish,” he concludes.

The ‘Shaping India Inc’s Online Growth’ series chronicles the journeys of startups and SMEs in India and how creating an online presence on the .in or .Bharat domain powered their success stories.