How Carousell became Singapore’s largest car platform – Wired PR Lifestyle Story

The year 2021 is almost over. As we greet the year, we also remember how the pandemic has changed the way we live our lives.

Without having to work more from home and go out on the street while living with the virus, we support online shopping for our needs: from home furniture, to found (home-based) hobbies, and even cars.

When I think of a store with a lot of products, it has to be the online market in Singapore Carousel. There, I can get a variety of answers to my supply needs, whether it’s finding great electronics deals, browsing and shopping for the bike I want, or looking for repair services within the same app.

While almost everything can be found in Carousell’s diversified market, we are not surprised that Carousell is also the largest car market in Singapore. In fact, it holds leading positions in categories such as cars, car rentals, car accessories, workshops and motorcycles.

In this “new normality” of limited travel and home stay measures, it seems that Singaporeans have shifted their attention to their love affair with cars. During the pandemic, there is a growing demand for vehicles in the country Higher than in January 2020, Before Covid-19 hit Singapore.

Also, as more people stayed home to shop for their needs, they did the same with cars. Carousell’s statistics revealed that there are more than 500,000 live listings in his car categories.

The number on the list is high considering that Singapore is a small nation – from 2020 onwards, there were only a handful of them 974,000 motor vehicles in the country, according to data from the Statista research site.

In Singapore, five out of 10 cars sold annually are made through the Carousell market, and more than half of Singapore’s vehicle owners use and use Carousell’s car categories on a monthly basis.

It’s not uncommon for a nine-year-old company to dominate much of the country’s auto market, outpacing marketers and network competitors. We’ll look at how Carousell built his credibility and how he expanded into the car space.

Becoming the largest car market in Singapore

In early 2016, Singapore’s peer-to-peer marketplace noticed that more people wanted to sell and buy cars at the site and decided to increase the offer in that department.

He bought Caarly, Singapore’s first used mobile car market and dealer platform.

“We took cars seriously when we bought Caarly in 2016 to lead the automotive segment. The car category was the first category in which we started making money from Carousell,” said Carjell carmaker Sanjay Shivkumar, adding that cars were a natural evolution of Carousell’s business.

“We started our journey when they were in school with our community of users (selling and buying textbooks and fashion articles). Then they began to enter new phases of their lives, such as starting their careers and working in their families. With higher disposable income, (they) were also buying cars and homes, ”he explained.

The growth and demand seen in the car segment prompted the group to acquire OneShift in 2018 to expand its automotive content and Singapore dealer network to its users.

Jumping into car e-commerce was a good move for Carousell, as this segment has grown to earn a third of Carousell’s revenue. It currently holds leading positions in the automotive markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

It has successfully evolved into a marketplace that sells more than just your general items. Within Singapore, they are like the categories of their cars cars for sale, car rental, car workshops and accessories and motorcycles, all make up the top categories of Carousell in terms of traffic.

For this year, Sanjay said Carousell will more than double its overall automotive business revenue, compared to a year ago, boosted by OneShift’s transactional business and Carousell’s advertising revenue.

Personalized and tailored experience for car users

Taking a look at the car section Carousell app, I realize why the group has grown so fast in recent years and has captured a large share of customers in the market.

On the one hand, the Carousell app is easy to navigate, and I can search for the car of my dreams and browse various tabs to see important cars for sale almost immediately when I open the app on my phone. There are also tools and services like “Determining Your Purchasing Power” to help new car buyers like me do research before buying our chosen car.

The “May Calculator” and the “Availability Calculator” help car buyers calculate their monthly car loan payments and search for vehicles within budget. These tools are on the same platform and can be easily accessed at the click of a button.

The chat feature allows buyers and sellers to discuss prices and car specifications. Best of all is its review feature, which helps buyers identify a trusted seller.

For existing car owners, there are more electronic services such as “Upgrade your COE” and “Trash / Export Your Car”. There is also Carousell Certified Cars service that offers buyers inspected cars with a maximum guarantee of 24 months. The purpose of this is to enable buyers to buy their cars in peace.

These many services make the user experience personal, personalized and tailored. It’s a serious difference compared to the past, where car buyers would have to go through the Ads section of the newspaper to look for second-hand cars.

“We facilitate the most direct transactions of Singapore owners and without intermediaries within the transaction, the direct owner generally takes a higher margin,” he added.

“The speed of a transaction varies depending on a number of factors: the type of car, whether the car already has a loan, whether the car seller has already acquired the next car, and so on. We’ve had users who have listed cars, made transactions, and transferred the car in a matter of hours. ”

However, he noted that most Singapore car transactions will take a few weeks from the time it is listed until the keys are delivered.

“This diversity and breadth of our products guarantees us to build deep value and stickiness, and we believe we are committed to being at the forefront of re-imagining the car market,” Sanjay said.

Getting the best price for vehicles on the market

When direct sellers list their cars in Carousell, one way to help them sell faster is through Carousell’s subsidiary platform. OneShift.

“When you list a car for sale at Carousell today, there is a one-click option if you want to send your car to bid on our dealership network. if you’re in a hurry, get a “buy price” from our dealer network, ”Sanjay said.

OneShift helps resellers sell their cars directly to their reseller network through a bidding process to get the highest price. There is also a “sell for me” service where the platform will help you sell the car on behalf of the seller.

The site also provides feedback on new cars and editorial content for car owners. Around 40 percent From the cars that are on sale every day at Carousell, they are sent to OneShift to bid, according to him.

Gone are the days when a car salesman had to call multiple sellers to try to negotiate the highest price they could sell or sell or sell. OneShift takes the step of automating this process by adding a competitive bidding item for car dealers to include certain bidders who may have a higher bid to include in their inventory.

As sellers consider joining Carousell, Sanjay said the business has the most direct car owners in Singapore and that the huge inventory speaks for itself.

“Dealers are always looking to get cars from the right owners and Carousell gives us that muscle against other competitors who would have to spend a lot more to get a car for sale,” he explains.

Carousell is taking further steps to provide financing capabilities to car buyers and sellers through Revo Financial and other banks.

“This allows us to be part of a car owner’s journey: we have categories like car rental or motorcycles when a consumer is not yet ready to buy a car, to buy or sell a Carousell car, to use our workshops or accessory categories. as a car owner, ”Sanjay added.

More personalized experiences for vehicle owners at work

Looking at Carousell’s journey, the decision to take cars seriously since 2016 has certainly borne fruit.

Its auto segment currently generates about $ 2 billion in gross commodity value each year, and is a major source of revenue for a growing startup.

With Carousell, customers have also been able to benefit from the fact that car buyers have a simple, easy-to-navigate app that meets the needs of many car buyers, and they don’t have to leave the comfort of their home in search of them. dream car. The ability to buy directly from sellers also cuts down on brokerage, reducing costs.

For car dealers, there are a number of options available – direct to the consumer, bidding through the dealership and selling to you – it’s convenient to list the car in the app with the confidence of a seller.

Going forward, Carousell plans to step on the gas pedal with its car plans to further enhance the consumer experience.

With a view to users, it will be launching a concept solutions garage by the end of December, where the service will offer personalized recommendations for the car owner’s car model type, such as getting car accessories and attending workshops.

If you want to buy or sell your car, check out Carousell here today.

This article was co-authored with Carousell.

Featured Image Credit: Carousell