Infibeam Incorporation, India's first listed e-commerce entity, is preparing to venture into the fast-growing education-technology sector that it expects will be a reservoir of loyal customers.
The company plans to provide a wide range of services, including customized facilities, to educational institutions under this venture. It will be powered by DRC Systems, a provider of enterprise resource planning technology that Infibeam acquired this month.
“With India getting digitalized, education would be one of the primary sectors where digitalisation will speed up.Thus, (there exists) a huge potential to tap the burgeoning education sector during this transition phase,“ said managing director Vishal Mehta. “We will be a single vendor for educational institutions, providing them everything under one roof.“
Many educational institutions that are digitising their operations approach multiple merchants in the absence of a single vendor to cater to all their requirements, which makes digitising expensive for them, said Mehta.
By addressing this gap, Mehta expects, Infibeam will be able to tap into the ever-growing needs of parents and students. “Parents spend on their children irrespective of the economic condition as it is need-based consumption for their children's future,“ he said.
The global e-learning or education-technology market is about $100 billion, according to Infibeam's due-diligence report. India's e-learning market is a fraction of that, at $1billion, but is estimated to be increasing at an annual growth rate of about 20%, according to the report.
The education venture represents the next stage of growth for Infibeam Incorporation, the parent of online marketplace Infibeam and e-commerce enabler BuildaBazaar. The company's strategy for this phase is to focus on potential repeat customers, or need-based customers, such as students and their parents, said Mehta.
Source : http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/infibeams-next-big-bet-is-the-fast-growing-ed-tech-sector/57906525
