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[ad_1] Founded in 2018, Gurugram-based Fixcraft aims to disrupt the auto service and repair market. The start-up looks to bring in high-quality services at economical costs and has been working on creating a strong relationship with the customer by building trust via a transparent service/repair process. Having been in the industry for a few years now, we spoke to Vivek Sharma, CEO & Founder of Fixcraft to get an idea about his experience thus far and where the market is headed with the onset of EVs. Q. What were the challenges you faced both in terms of customer service and onboarding reliable mechanic partners?  Since we started, the first challenge was to convince the customer on how we will be able to deliver the same or better quality than the authorised service centres. We had to explain the process that we follow to execute the work. Technology and a well-trained team played a big part in the same. Another challenge was to convince the customers to let us take their cars to a well-equipped Fixcraft garage which may not be very close to where the customer lives. Real-time tracking of cars helped us solve the trust issue there. Finally, the trust barrier regarding the quality of the work was solved through an unconditional warranty on the work performed. This was something unheard of in the sector and we got a warm reception there. On the execution side, the churn of good mechanics/painters is an industry problem. When we started, instead of treating the staff as the bottom of the pyramid entity, we treated them as leaders who will make or break us. We provided them with the best-in-industry pay scales, annual appraisals, ESIC and PF benefits and accommodation as well for the needs. This helped us attract and retain the best talent in the industry and we are providing them training and certification as well to enable them to be better professionals. The learning on the way has been very simple and encouraging. If we stay true to our promise of excellent quality and trust, the sky’s the limit. Q. Till date how many vehicles have you serviced and your expansion plans? We are a 35,000+ strong car lovers community and are growing steadily with expansion. We are present across North and South India right now; and intend to expand our presence in West and East India in the coming months. In the next 12 months we are looking at servicing more than 1 lakh customers and have presence across 10 metros. Q. What is your customer retention rate? We operate at a very high NPS (net promoter score) which is a proxy of how likely a customer is to recommend us to their friends and family. In our industry where the average score stands at about 20, our NPS is 60. With time, we see this number increasing as we are continuously improving. The quality of service we provide also adds to the customer retention rate. We have certain customers who are very regular with their services with us. Q. What are the key factors that influence if a customer is likely to repeat business with Fixcraft?  At Fixcraft, we are driven by a simple fundamental principle. Before delivery of any car, the final Quality Check inspector will have to answer one question – ‘Will he/she take the delivery of this vehicle happily if this was his/her car?’. The car is delivered when the answer is a resounding yes. Typically, a good experience is a combination of multiple factors like quality of work, timely delivery, updates on multiple steps, communication with the team/app and seamless execution of payments and delivery. We have been solving these step by step.  One of the factors which are different from the hygiene factors mentioned earlier is our seamless integration with all insurance providers in the country. We are able to provide cashless facilities at all our centres. In a nutshell, our customer obsession is one factor which enables us to get our customers to come back to us again rather than just a price point.  Q. Is the Indian market poised for the growth of this sector? One may argue that the current market downturn will impact the growth of the auto service sector. However, some basic fundamentals are in favour of considerable growth in this sector for India. The per capita penetration of vehicle parc is still very low in India (around 2.2 per cent) and car ownership is still a celebrated moment in the middle-class segment. The emotion-driven availability of entry-level cars and improved financing availability will keep driving the auto sector’s growth. Along with new cars, there is a very healthy used car market in India that is growing steadily with ownership duration coming down. Since the repair market is catered to by both used as well as new cars, we see a very robust path for this sector in the coming times.  Q. With electric vehicles gaining popularity, what are your current offerings for the segment?  The conversion to EVs from ICEs is a welcome change for the entire ecosystem, be it the manufacturers, service chains or the end customers. For now, there is a considerable dent in the two-wheeler market, and we are seeing early adoption signs in four-wheelers as well, led by the fleet operators. The personal car usage of EVs is yet to explode in India and will require a lot of work on infrastructure, financing, and superior products among others. From a service provider’s point of view, the market is still evolving as the need for service will also go through a dramatic shift.  For Fixcraft, since we are a one-stop solution for all car care needs, it’s just one vertical which will go through the change. Other services like body repairs, AC services, tyre and batteries are independent of transmission, and hence remain unchanged.  The controversial view is that an EV customer is more aware and is more abreast with technology, we, however,

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[ad_1] G7 to hike sanctions on Russia, nears oil price cap deal -U.S. official [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Global ed-tech venture headquartered in Singapore, Corporate Gurukul (CG) is on a hiring spree across India and globally. The company plans to increase its workforce from 32 to to 80 and more within the next six months. “Since CG’s inception we have seen steady growth and demand for our experiential learning program that provides students with future skills and enhances their portfolios for university applications abroad. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, we adapted quickly and started offering online programmes as well. Now with the world opening up again, we are offering hybrid programmes that can be delivered online and on-campus. As the business expands across the Asia Pacific, we will be expanding the team in India and globally,” Rajesh Panda, founder and managing director, Corporate Gurukul said. CG plans to expand its workforce across customer success, project, product development, marketing and support teams at all levels from fresh graduates to experienced senior management interested in joining a fast-growing ed-tech company. “We’re looking at expanding the market and venturing into the US and other countries in Africa. We are also firming up partnerships with Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University, besides looking at similar partnerships with Cambridge and Oxford. In line with this, we plan to expand our solution offerings and grow our workforce in the next six months.” Panda added. CG claims to focus on applied experiential learning programmes for high school students and undergraduates. Since its inception, the company through its short-term upskilling programs with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore claims to have trained and mentored over 150,000 students across 21 countries over the past 15 years. Currently, the company claims to about 2,000 students graduating from its various courses every year and aims to grow this number to 5,000. India accounts for nearly 40% of the overall business and the company achieved a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 150% over the past five years. Read also: iSchoolConnect introduces iSchoolPrep to help study abroad aspirants prepare for entrance exams [ad_2] Source link

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[ad_1] A shale booster shot: 'Re-fracs' rise as cheap way to lift U.S. oil output [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Share Market News Today | Sensex, Nifty, Share Prices LIVE: Dalal Street continued its up-move on Monday’s opening bell. S&P BSE Sensex opened more than 600 points or 1.2% higher, breaching 53,300 levels while NSE Nifty 50 index was up 190 points or 1.21% just shy of 15,900. Bank Nifty was also up with gains, crossing 34,000 and India VIX regained 21 levels. Broader markets followed the up-move. Tech Mahindra was the top Sensex gainer, up 3.47%, followed by HCL Technologies, Infosys, and Larsen & Toubro. Nestle India was the only Sensex stock in red with minor losses. The battle with inflation could be a prolonged one, according to deputy RBI governor Michael Patra. On Friday, Patra said that retail inflation will likely get back to the mid-point of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) medium-term target of 2-6% in two years, given the raft of measures initiated by the monetary and fiscal authorities. Retail inflation slipped to 7.04% in May from a 95-month high of 7.79% in April this year. The fall in inflation came as price pressure across core and food products moderated, partly aided by a somewhat conducive base. Earlier this month, MPC noted that inflation is likely to remain elevated for the first three quarters of the current financial year and projected inflation for the year at 6.7%. [ad_2] Source link

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[ad_1] China's industrial profits slump for second month in May [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Prices of metals are falling fast on rising fears of a recession in the world’s top industrial economies, especially the United States, as central bankers tighten monetary policy to fight inflation. The Bloomberg Commodity Index has trended down from levels of 134.9 on April 18 to 121 late last week, a correction of about 10%. Last Friday the IMF slashed its growth outlook for the US but said the country would ‘narrowly” miss a recession. Fears of a weak property market in China have dampened the demand outlook for metals in that market; prices of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) are down 36% in the past two months. Prices of steel (HRcoils) are ruling at around $1,120 per tonne, down from $1,540 /tonne in early April, while zinc is trading at levels of $3,485/ tonne compared with $4,563/ tonne in mid-April. Bloomberg reported on June 23 that copper, an economic bellwether due to its use across sectors, as also other metals have slumped this month on the prospect of weaker demand following a global economic slowdown. Copper has dropped more than 20% from its high in March and is trading at a 16-month low. Last Thursday, copper futures on the LME slid as much as 5% to $8,338 a tonne, the lowest since February 2021, while tin dropped more than 11% before paring losses, Bloomberg correspondents wrote. While prices recovered slightly thereafter, commodity experts believe there is room for a downslide and forecast another 20% fall. The correction in global prices of metals has impacted stocks of metals producers back home. From its recent peak of 6,755.55 on April 8, the Nifty Metals Index fell to 4,490.75 on June 22, recovering slightly to 4,596.6 on June 24. That’s a steep drop of over 30%. With prices of aluminium having come down sharply, analysts have pruned FY23 Ebitda estimates for makers of aluminium anywhere between 3-18%. They have said producers would be hit not just by lower realisations, but also the higher cost of coal. Analysts at Nomura wrote earlier this month that since the imposition of export duty on steel on May 22, prices of hot rolled coils have already fallen by roughly Rs 8,000/ tonne, compared with their estimate of a maximum decline of Rs 9,800/ tonne. Hot rolled coil prices are ruling at around Rs 61,400/tonne. “End-user industries for steel, both in domestic and in export markets, remain on the side-lines amid weak economic demand and expectation of further decline in steel prices,” they observed. [ad_2] Source link