Quikr brings e-comm simplicity to pre-owned market

BENGALURU: Online classifieds platform Quikr has launched online payments, which combined with other initiatives it has taken over the past few months, ensures that a buyer and seller can conduct their entire transaction without stepping out of their homes or dealing in cash. The new system also dramatically increases the opportunities for buyers and sellers of pre-owned goods because it simplifies the process for inter-city transactions.

Traditionally, a seller and buyer on Quikr, after agreeing to a price on the platform, had to physically meet and exchange cash to conclude the transaction. Now, once the two parties agree on price, Quikr provides the option to make the payment online from the chat platform, collect the product from the buyer and deliver it to the seller, exactly like in an e-commerce transaction.

A buyer even has the option to return the product to the delivery person on the spot, if he/she is not satisfied with it. Quikr will keep the money paid by the buyer in an escrow account till the time he/she takes delivery of it.

Pranay Chulet, founder and CEO of Quikr, said the new initiatives address genuine consumer issues of trust, payment and logistics in transactions between two consumers. “It also directly puts us in the middle of the transaction loop, making us the only player in India that is monetizing this category in a meaningful way. This will strengthen our position in terms of size as well as monetization in consumer-to-consumer categories which have been core to our business since the beginning,” he said.

Quikr collects between 5-10% of the value of the transaction as commission. The new payment and delivery facility has been launched across mobile phones, electronics & appliances, and household furniture. However, the inter-city facility is restricted to electronics as of now.
Around 14% of the mobile handset sales on Quikr now happens between two cities.

The pickup-cum-delivery facility, which was piloted a few months ago, has seen 100% month-on-month growth, Quikr said.

Quikr, which is valued at over $1 billion, has more than 30 million users and its listings are available in 1,000 cities in India. Its investors include Warburg Pincus, Tiger Global Management, Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners, Omidyar Network and others.