Quikr Further Cements Its Leadership in Pre-Owned Goods by Acquiring Zefo
Bengaluru, 25th April 2019: Quikr, the company that redefined classifieds by building India’s largest transaction marketplace for pre-owned goods and services on top of them, today announced that it has acquired Zefo to further scale its pre-owned goods business. Quikr launched Quikr Assured products and services around the second half of last year. In order to offer a touch-and-feel experience to its consumers, especially in tier II-III cities, Quikr has also launched franchised stores in Karnataka and Telangana.
This first acquisition in Quikr’s pre-owned goods category is in line with its overall strategy of going deeper in key verticals. The addition of Zefo makes Quikr the dominant leader in the market for quality-tested, refurbished products in India. As per estimates, the quality-tested pre-owned products market in India is expected to reach $12-15 billion in the year 2020, clearly showing the country’s appetite for pre-owned goods.
Quikr Assured pre-owned products are available in categories such as Furniture, Electronics, and Appliances. All products in the Assured offering are checked for quality, come with a full warranty and replacement guarantee along with doorstep delivery options from Quikr. They are categorized according to their status into unboxed, refurbished, excellent, good, fair and like brand new. They are convenient to buy while also easy on the pocket.
The company’s Quikr Assured products business grew 230% Y-o-Y in the recently concluded FY18-19. With its strong growth and attractive economics, QuikrBazaar also became the company’s fourth vertical to turn cash flow positive. In addition, it remains India’s only C2C transactional marketplace and also offers intercity transactions.
Speaking about the development, Pranay Chulet, Founder & CEO, Quikr said, “The acquisition of Zefo is in-line with the phenomenal consumer acceptance of the Assured products and services on our platform. Generally, a pre-owned product’s price can be as low as 30-60% of a new one. Now, with Quikr and Zefo as a combined entity, we will be able to offer a broader selection of products at even more competitive prices along with as strong a focus on quality.”
Sarath Chandra Gudlavalleti, VP, QuikrBazaar added, “With the best of Quikr and Zefo coming together, we will double our strength in the quality assurance process, logistics, marketing, and retail, thus raising the bar in the refurbished market for Furniture, Electronics & Appliances and Mobile space. This will enhance the Quikr Assured offering to our customers and further boost our transaction-led business model.”
Being an online marketplace which specializes in selling refurbished TVs, mobile phones and furniture, since its inception, Zefo has been offering a completely professional refurbished goods shopping experience for consumers. In three and a half years, the company has expanded to 4 cities and provides 10,000+ unique products across 4 major categories.
On the acquisition, Rohit Ramasubramanian, Co-Founder & CEO Zefo said, “Zefo promises a high-quality, hassle-free refurbished & pre-owned goods experience to both buyers and sellers. We achieve this with our unparalleled quality control and refurbishment capabilities. With this transaction, the capabilities we have built and the offerings we have honed can now be offered to Quikr’s large customer base.”
While QuikrBazaar is bridging the gap between aspirations & affordability in Tier I, II & III cities of India, it is interesting to note that buying and selling pre-owned products helps save the environment as well. A recent survey by QuikrBazaar says that 31% of consumers are aware of the environment-friendliness factor that comes with buying such products.
About Quikr:
Quikr, which now operates leading transaction marketplaces built on top of India’s largest classifieds platform, is India’s largest platform that is used by over 30 million unique users a month. It is present in 1200 cities in India and operates several large classifieds businesses across C2C, Cars, Education, Homes, Jobs, and Services. Quikr is accessible across mobile app, mobile site as well as desktop, and allows consumers as well as small businesses to sell, buy, rent and find things across its multiple categories with great ease. Quikr’s investors include Tiger Global Management, Kinnevik, Warburg Pincus, Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners, NGP Capital, Steadview Capital, Omidyar Network, etc. Visit www.quikr.com for more details.
About Zefo:
Zefo is an online marketplace specializing in selling refurbished TVs, mobile phones and furniture. Zefo promises a completely hassle-free and professional refurbished goods shopping experience. They provide a high degree of standardization through quality checks as well as managing end-to-end logistics thereby adding a layer of trust and convenience to this unstructured refurbished goods market. Visit www.gozefo.com for more details.
