MetalJunction, a sister concern of mJunction, is the largest e-marketplace for steel in the world, having sold over 4 million tonnes of steel for its clients and currently selling at an average rate of 150,000 tonnes per month. The buyer community of 5400 plus buyers comprising traders, fabricators, re-rollers and end-users have placed their confidence on MetalJunction because of the operational efficiency, transparency and equal access that the platform provides. MetalJunction's clients have experienced significant benefits on migrating to online selling. Immediately on migration, from their traditional sale process, to the metaljunction online process, their price realizations increased by up to 23%.Recently in IIM Calcutta, I listened to a talk by Mr Viresh Oberoi, the Managing Director and founding Chief Executive Officer of mjunction services limited. It extended my thinking horizons and made me realize that ecommerce and specifically e-auction for B2B market also has a huge potential in India in addition to the traditional B2C ecommerce we talk about. Going by the supply chain rule book, the principals for a B2B and B2C ecommerce are the same, the only major difference being bulk purchase in a B2B scenario - this apothegm has been proved by Metal Junction in real life.
By using technology, primarily the internet, mJunction provides the steel companies with an opportunity to cut costs and at the same time increase revenue and enhance margins. The internet increases the reach of the companies in discovering new buyers, which in turn bring about quicker realizations. MetalJunction,a subsidiary of mJunction, pioneered the concept of eAuctions for steel by moving the entire process of auctions to the Internet. With state-of-art technology and unique services to support buyers and sellers in the decision making, financing and logistics stages they make sure that their auction tools help enterprises realize their sales and procurement goals with considerable cost savings.
Mr Oberoi's speech was astounding. In a country like India, where commodities such as Coal are heavily dominated by powerful lobby groups and run by Mafias in places such as Dhanbad, mJunction did a remarkable job in circumventing them and the all pervasive Indian bureaucracy in making the eAuction of Coal possible.
What is more heartening is that metal junction has mastered this supply chain process and is slowly moving into B2C sector such as financial services, auto and logistics. From his speech, I could gather that there is not much of a difference between B2C and B2B selling, specially from an ecommerce perspective.
A lesson for entrepreneurs - If you feel B2C segment is saturated with ideas of various kinds, check out B2B segment. However, to make a powerful entry into B2B segment one needs a backing of a strong promoter with good financial standing. One also needs a sound knowledge of the particular industry and a solid understanding of the tenuous human interplays.
What eBay has pioneered in B2C segment, Metal Junction did the same in B2B!!!
