Can you imagine a marketplace where you put in your desired specifications and price and buyers display options like that? The concept of reverse auction can also work on electronic goods, automobiles, etc. with the help of JingleBid.
JingleBid is an e-commerce platform where buyers can buy goods for a quoted price from their nearby retailers. The company is not only beneficial for buyers but also for sellers as they are getting enlightened with the power of data.
Team Sociobits connected with the Co-Founder of JingleBid to know more about how the company works. Apart from that, Mr. Srivas Anantharaman is also the founder of First Feet and is now planning to venture into the world of NFTs to utilize his expertise.
Team Sociobits: Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Mr. Srivas Anantharaman: I am Srivas and I run a couple of ventures. One of them is First Feet, which is an engineering company and we help manufacturing companies save cost by localizing their machinery and spare parts. I have a factory unit in Coimbatore and we operate from there. Another company that I am the co-founder of is JingleBid. We are India’s first reverse auction e-commerce marketplace wherein we help customers get the best price of the desired product they are looking for.
Team Sociobits: Could you explain how reverse auction works?
Srivas Anantharaman: Suppose you need to buy anything, in today’s times, you will either search it online or go to the nearby retail store to purchase it. You compare the prices and try to negotiate the offer the online store offers with the retail store. You can do the same thing through our application as well.
So, if you are a customer looking for a particular product, you can select that item and start an auction with your desired specifications. You will receive the prices listed by the sellers that are near you and you can get the best price for it.
Team Sociobits: How does the concept of the reverse auction benefit the seller?
Srivas Anatharaman: As a retailer or a corner store, the biggest myth that we have as a consumer is that retailers cannot match the price of online stores. The corner store guy is not aware of the price at which products are being sold online and if you tell him, more often he will oblige and match the price or even offer you a better price. So, we are enabling these sellers by sharing the data and making them more intelligent about the products that are popular and the price they can sell them at. This is becoming a great marketplace. The sellers and the retailers who avidly want to be a part of this are our backbones. As of now, we are predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and we are looking to expand one step at a time.
Team Sociobits: How did you come up with the idea of JingleBid?
Srivas Anatharaman: One day, one of my founders wanted to buy a fridge so he went to the nearest retail chain in Chennai and found out its price. He went to another retail chain and negotiated the price, and he went again to the first store to ask why can’t they match their price so they agreed to sell him the fridge at this price.
“Our core aim is enabling the retailers so we are reaching major tier-two, and tier-three cities. On boarding maximum retailers from these places, we will similarly go about in different cities.”
-Co-Founder or JingleBid
That is when he realized that there is a big economy yet to be explored in this transaction and it could be done online. Another thing is, that the retailer was not aware of the price at which the fridge was being sold online. If he was aware, he wouldn’t have offered the product at that price. This is when they started ideating JingleBid.
I joined the team as one of the co-founders when they were launching the application to get going with the operational and strategic aspects. We are trying to support the ‘Vocal for Local’ cause by giving local stores the power of data and it is a decentralized platform. Today, we have 150-200 sellers on board with us and they have been able to utilize the data to get the extra turnover.
Team Sociobits: Do you have any competitors?
Srivas Anatharaman: For us, every e-commerce platform is directly or indirectly a competitor but in this specific business model, there are only two or three players. For the customer, it doesn’t matter as long as you offer loyalty, and to achieve that loyalty, is far-fetched as of now.
Team Sociobits: How do you plan to move forward with JingleBid?
Srivas Anatharaman: No we are moving forward with a two-pronged approach. Our core aim is enabling the retailers so we are reaching major tier-two, and tier-three cities. On boarding maximum retailers from these places, we will similarly go about in different cities. We are focusing on these cities because the power of the internet can be felt more in these cities as compared to tier-one cities.
“We are trying to support the ‘Vocal for Local’ cause by giving local stores the power of data and it is a decentralized platform.”
– Srivas Anantharaman
Team Sociobits: Apart from JingleBid and First Feet, what is new with you?
Srivas Anatharaman: Apart from these ventures, I am currently a part of The Meta Renaissance which is in the space of NFT studio and marketplace. I thought of exploring the world of NFT because I feel NFTs are the future as they could be interlinked to any business, be it brick and mortar or online. The transaction economy five years down the line can be changed, at least that’s what the tech industry is portraying to us.
At the Meta Renassaince Labs, I am a part of the team as a mentor and I help the team to figure out strategies and achieve the targets set. We are also looking for another round of funding.
JingleBid is changing the way India shops by introducing a reverse auction concept in the market. Mr. Srivas also believes that the NFT space holds a lot of value in the future because of how the projections are being played.
