In a bid to participate in a digital B2B marketplace for the independent aftermarket (IAM) in India, the leading provider of technology and services in the mobility ecosystem, Bosch has acquired a minority stake of 26% in Autozilla Solutions.
This transaction will strengthen its market pull through its Bosch Car Service outlets and the independent garages enrolled under the 'Extra' Loyalty Programme. In addition, the collaboration will improve the platform’s acceptability in the market, expand its product portfolio and scale up operations pan India.
Under this engagement, Bosch will integrate Autozilla’s eCommerce platform with its digital platforms to improve the quality of catalogue search, streamline the ordering of spare parts from workshops to distributors and address the availability of spares with shorter lead times.
Today, Independent Garages (IG) in India procure spare parts primarily offline – either they place their order on the phone or visit the sellers in person to pick up the parts. The entire spares procurement process starting with identifying the right part, estimation, availability, and delivery is highly error-prone, non-transparent, iterative, and inefficient.
The Autozilla platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to enable efficient spares discovery, establish availability and pricing, and matching of IGs with sellers to ensure timely procurement of the right part at the right price. The platform further enables digitisation and quick eCommerce readiness of the auto components supply chain by connecting parts manufacturers, distributors, retailers, thus becoming the common platform for procurement, supply, product tracking and promotion across the various participants.
Soumitra Bhattacharya, Managing Director, Bosch Limited & President, Bosch Group in India, said, “Bosch is actively shaping the change of the online markets in India to meet the expectations of our customers in this region for more online services in the B2B sector. We assume that there will be stable growth, especially in this area in future. To reach our goals, we are collaborating with the Indian B2B E-Marketplace Autozilla and intend to develop this market potential together.”
Vijay Gummadi, Founder, Autozilla, said, “Majority of the $12 billion worth of spares procurement in India is B2B, driven by workshops and happens offline. By deploying standards based e-catalogs and intelligent technology, we are positioned to solve the key problems of discoverability, availability, easy payment options and cost-effective doorstep delivery. This enables workshops to focus on what they do best – car repair, while driving increased business, better margins and cashflow to Sellers. By leveraging our access to thousands of qualified garages across India, we are keen to collaborate with auto component manufacturers and distribution networks to drive higher sales and provide them valuable, data-driven insights.”