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MACHINES HUB ONLINE
MARKETPLACE MODEL
SUBMITTED TO:
MR. PARTHIBAN ELANGOVAN
SUBMITTED BY:
ATIN MEHRA
PGDM(MARKETING)
INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
TECHNOLOGY, GHAZIABAD
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
 www.machineshub.com through it’s parent company ‘Essflex’
based in Singapore is looking to enter the online marketplace
model for sale of new and used industrial machinery
 The business idea is aimed at leveraging the increased awareness
and penetration of internet based product and service models in
India
 Since, the Government of India in it’s annual budget which was
presented in Feb,2015 has put greater emphasis on infrastructure
development within the country so this industry becomes even
more lucrative for new business ventures
TARGET MARKET SEGMENT
CORPORATES
LOOKING FOR
NEW/USED
MACHINERY
INDEPENDEN
T INDUSTRIAL
UNITS
LOCAL BUSINESS
HOUSES LOOKING
FOR TURNAROUND
FACTORS FAVOURING THE BUSINESS
MODEL OF MACHINESHUB
 The target market segment of Machines Hub is increasingly
looking for in-depth and validated information about machines
and its spare parts on internet before making the final decision to
purchase
 www.machineshub.com has the potential to become the one single
destination and information source for industrial machinery and
spare parts buyers
 According to PWC’s post budget analysis in Feb,2015 India might
witness shortfall of industrial equipment and machinery
considering the Modi Government’s huge push for infrastructure
development
INTERNET USAGE BEHAVIOR OF
TARGET MARKET SEGMENT
 The business model of www.machineshub.com will be based on
B2B buyers and sellers who are more professional and looking for
streamlined and technical details about the machines
 These industrial units are more active on professional networking
websites such as Linkedin rather than social media channels such
as Facebook, Google+ etc
 Adequate and consistent information related to machines and
spare parts and their intricate usage can act as a catalyst for buyers
to close the deal through www.machineshub.com
 Comparatively smaller business owners and independent business
units are looking for USED CASE STUDIES through which they
gain knowledge about the usage and benefits of using the various
industrial machines
EXISTING COMPETITORS(INDIAN
MARKET)
www.locanto.in
www.tradeindia.com
http://www.clickindia.com/heavy-equipment/
http://www.machineryzone.in/
EXISTING MAJOR COMPETITIORS(TRANSNATIONAL MARKET PLAYERS)
Noble Iron
www.machines4u.com.au
www.worldequip.com
http://www.empirecat.com/New_and_Used_Equipment/Used_Equipment/Used_Equipment.aspx
https://www.rbauction.com/construction?id=ci&q=Y2l8Tj00Mjk0NzQ4MDY5
http://www.rockanddirt.com/
 Foreign online aggregators working in this domain can act as
major threat in this industry as the manufacturing and
industrial units do not shy away to purchase the machinery
from foreign players if they are more cost competitive
 Thus, most important parameters to ensure competitive
advantage in this industry can be attributed as:
 Cost Competitiveness
 Product reliability (Compliance Management)
 Proper Legal Agreements and documentation between Buyers
and Suppliers
 Credit Rating of Buyers and Suppliers
PRODUCTS OFFERED
EXCAVATORS
LOADERS
DUMPERS
BULLDOZERS
SCRAPERS
ROLLERS
CRANES
ROAD
CONSTRUCTION
EQUIPMENT
PILE DRIVING,
TRENCHING,
DRILLING
EQUIPMENTS
CRUSHERS
SCREENERS
COMPRESSORS
GENERATORS
PUMPS/MOTORS
ACCESSORIES
SPARE PARTS
POWER SYSTEMS
FORK LIFT
BRAND BUILDING STRATEGIES FOR
www.machineshub.com
(Based on Competitor Analysis)
KEY INSIGHTS THROUGH PERSONAL
INTERVIEWS
 Based on the insights gained from two industry veterans
through personal interviews it can be concluded that Buyers
are looking for :
 In-depth information about the machinery
 The warranty period(both for new and old machinery)
 Role of machineshub in case of litigation
 Freight quotes and delivery services intermediation
 Testimonials from previous buyers(success stories)
 Quality control and validation policy
CONTENT MARKETING
 Content marketing can become the key differentiating factor
for Machines Hub in this online marketplace model
 Various content marketing strategies that can be leveraged by
the firm are:
 WEEKLY NEWSLETTERS
 BLOGS related to tips on buying and maintenance of new &
used machinery
 CASE STUDY REPOSITORY for buyers and sellers
 TESIMONIALS & SUCCESS STORIES of previous buyers and
suppliers on machineshub.com
WEEKLY NEWSLETTERS
 Machines Hub must come up with weekly newsletters covering
various aspects of purchase cycle and latest machinery updates to
keep the followers engaged
 Various subjects which must be covered through newsletter are:
 Offer Alert : Various latest offers related to new machinery and spare
parts offerings
 Information about latest trends and machines being used in various
sectors such as Agriculture, Waste recycling, Assembly line processing
and other related sectors
 Industry News: Latest updates and news about various industry best
practices
 Indian Government’s Boost to Infrastructure sector and role &
contribution of Machines Hub in ‘Make in India’ through integration
of buyers and suppliers of modern machinery
BLOGS
 Machineshub must also create a dedicated blog to:
 Increase and promote its product and service offerings
 Promote user generated blogs on its FORUM to generate rapid
and diverse content catering to the needs of diverse
manufacturing sectors
 Industry News: Latest updates and news about various industry
best practices
 Cover trends in the R&D sector and new upcoming machines
and spare parts on www.machineshub.com
 Checkpoints to be kept in mind while purchasing on
www.machineshub.com so as to avoid any inconvenience
CASE STUDY REPOSITORY
 Used Case Studies repository can act as one of the most
promising aspect for Machines Hub to boost the morale of
buyers on the portal
 Machines Hub must create repository of small caselets and
their outputs related to the role of various machines and
industrial equipments being sold on the portal
 These used cases will not only act as a repository of
knowledge but will also enhance:
 SEO rating of www.machineshub.com due to increased user
engagement
 Increased buyer confidence in genuineness of the product
offerings
TESTIMONIALS AS A TOOL FOR WORD
OF MOUTH ADVERTISING
 Industrial equipment and machinery sales is a B2B sales
process and involves long gestation periods
 Several buyers are apprehensive of the quality, genuineness
and warranty of the OLD machines and spare parts
 TESTIMONIALS from the previous buyers and suppliers on
the portal shall help them to make an informed decision and
also will help the portal to win their confidence
 Testimonials will also act as a source of word of mouth
advertising for the portal and will help to enhance the
conversion ratio(prospect to deal conversion)
PROMOTION THROUGH LINKEDIN PAGE
 Linkedin will act as one of the most important social media tool
for www.machineshub.com as:
 Most of the industrial and professional buyers and sellers are active
on Linkedin
 Linkedin Page for machineshub will act as a catalyst to increase the
prospect engagement by starting new discussions and regularly
involving the page members through intuitive queries and their
solutions about various industrial products and processes
 Linkedin will also help in connecting with various procurement
specialists and CXO’s of the firms who are the real decision makers
and influencers while purchasing heavy machinery and equipment in
various industries
FACEBOOK & GOOGLE+
 Facebook and Google+ accounts must be leveraged to
promote brand visibility amongst target audience
 The facebook and google+ posts must have:
 More graphic content rather than textual content
 People on facebook and Google+ are looking for relaxed and
leisure oriented targeting which can be done by:
 Promoting Logo and Brand name of machineshub.com
 Create posters which are easy to understand and graphic heavy rather
than content related to various latest industrial equipments and
machinery
 Personalised messages must be posted on the facebook page through
inclusion of MACHINESHUB MASCOT (Various firms are increasingly
coming up with mascots or symbols associated with the firm which gives
a differentiated positioning and brand equity in the market)
LEVERAGING TWITTER HANDLE
 Atleast two tweets must be posted daily on the twitter handle
involving:
 ‘EQUIPMENT TRIVIA OF THE DAY’ which provides interesting
trivia related to some new business manufacturing process or
innovative use of some industrial equipment which helps to increase
the operational efficiency for the firm(website links must be tweeted
which re-directs the user to www.machineshub.com)
 Again, the tweets must use the Brand Logo and Mascot of
www.machineshub.com which is visually more attractive and
promotes the user to open the web link
 Certain videos related to new manufacturing processes can also be
posted but this content must be developed in-house by Essflex
VIRTUAL TRADE SHOWS & SUPPLIERS
MEET THROUGH ‘WEBINARS’
 Participation in trade shows and meets can be generally expensive




and it is easier said than done to organize such events
But, digital technologies can be leveraged to conduct WEBINARS
for the Linkedin, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter followers of the
portal
Personalised invitations can be sent through E-Mails(E-mail based
marketing) to the followers
The Webinars must be related to various new business process
improvement methods which use state of the art machinery
available on www.machineshub.com (This would be equivalent to
television advertising to start off with)
Various industry leaders and product process specialists must be
invited from whom the followers can learn and at the same time
help to build a brand for www.machineshub.com
MOBILE APP FOR ANDROID & IOS
USERS
 In the long run, www.machineshub.com must come up with
a mobile app for Android, iOS and Windows smart phone
users
 As the mobile app development is a costly affair and might
involve Rs.2lac-Rs.5 lac depending on the interface, so as and
when www.machineshub.com gains traction they must come
up with this app as more users are now logging in through
mobile phones and not from the desktops
TARGETED ADVERTISING THROUGH
GOOGLE ADS
 As soon as the portal www.machineshub.com starts gaining
traction amongst users, they must focus on promoting their
brand through targeted advertising by using Google Ads
 These Google ads must be displayed on online forums and
websites dealing in B2B sales such as www.indiamart.com
 As these advertisements will have pay per click model, these
ads will help the portal to increase the brand visibility and
promotion on a massive scale
DEDICATED CALL CENTRE FACILITY
 www.machineshub.com must come up with a dedicated call
centre and customer support facility as:
 Industrial equipment deals are B2B sales and require long
gestation periods
 Frequent follow ups are required with buyers and suppliers
after the quotation is supplied
 www.machineshub.com must enable the users to POST
THEIR BUY/SELL REQUIREMENT THROUGH CALL
CENTRE and PORTAL INQUIRIES even if the required
product is currently not available on the portal so that as and
when suitable products are available they can be contacted
ADDITIONAL SERVICES TO BE OFFERED
ON www.machineshub.com
 Acting as a mediator to provide QUALITY ASSURANCE for the
buyers of the equipments
 EXCULSIVE DEALERSHIP: The portal can enter into exclusive
dealership agreements with various buyers and sellers to maintain
long-term relationship
 RENTING: In addition to Buy/Sell model on the portal,
www.machineshub.com can also act as a mediator to fix renting
agreements as these heavy and costly equipments might not be
required for long term by everyone esp. in Construction
equipments industry
 GET FREIGHT QUOTES: Help the buyers and sellers to get
them best deals on Freight charges through your logistics partners
ADDITIONAL SERVICES TO BE OFFERED
ON www.machineshub.com (CONTD…)
 ENSURE COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT: This single act(though
difficult) can help increase the trust of the buyers and sellers on the
portal
 CREDIT RATING OF BUYERS AND SUPPLIERS AND FINANCING
OPTIONS : Frequent buyers can be helped by maintaining their credit
rating on the portal and helping them in financing(through third party
agents) their upcoming purchase of machinery on the portal by checking
their credit worthiness
 MONTHLY AUCTIONS: www.machineshub.com can organize monthly
auctions in which it can provide some minor exemptions to the users on
purchasing the equipments on that particular day( These kind of auctions
have seen good traction on other competitor websites of Machines Hub)
 QUALITY CONTROL AND VALIDATION POLICY:
www.machineshub.com must only deal in genuine equipments and with
trustworthy suppliers which helps to create strong brand foundation
from the initial days only
THANK
YOU