This Startup Is A B2B Marketplace Connecting Manufacturer To Direct Retailers Or Businesses: UcliQ

• BySheetal Sidhu     |    August 25, 2021

“Learn from your mistakes and keep going and growing instead of giving up at the slightest glitch in your path.” Sameer Malik, Founder, Ucliq in an interesting and elaborate interview with Startup Story shared snippets from his journey and shared some of his secrets on how to successfully run a startup!

About The Founder

Sameer completed his B.Com (Hons) from Delhi University followed by MBA in Finance and Marketing, apart from his education he has a good understanding of the B2 B industry as has some work experience in the area, and He is also quite familiar to the hospitality industry. While working there he got a fair share of understanding about food, meat and FMCG. Simultaneously, he was also associated with social work, helping in an NGO. Sameer has himself been responsible for making a number of deliveries for Ucliq, so that he could understand the process better, which says a lot about him as a founder. 

The Inspiration Behind The Startup, Ucliq

Sameer told Startup Story that he originally started Ucliq as a B2C hyper local startup, he came across the idea of Ucliq when he was working at a firm and would go to have lunch or pick up his lunch at that point of time he came across swiggy and zomato who were still in their initial stages of growth, so on similar grounds they launched Ucliq. They were delivering products to the doorstep of their customers, whether it was groceries, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meat etc. But while working in that area they faced numerous challenges, the consumer expected high discounts and free or no delivery charges which acted as a difficult hurdle, Apart from that they also had competitors in every department that they covered this competition were fast growing brands in themselves including Bigbasket, Grofers, Ubereats, Swiggy etc. On the other hand while dealing with local retailers they faced huge challenges in terms of price disparity. They were also having trouble with supply chain and so looking at these various issues they decided to switch to the B2B industry. They started their operations technically in December 2020 and it has been roughly eight months since completion. The startup is headquartered in Delhi.

Progress Report

They have closed 30 lakhs GMV, on boarded more than 400 seller in four categories including fruits, vegetables, meat, grocery and FMCG products, currently focussing on the meat industry reason being  the meat industry is highly unstructured. They are majorly focussing on the meat category and are a marketplace connecting manufacturer, producer with direct retailers or businesses by eliminating the middleman to ensure higher profits, larger market, and wide range of product availability, proper logistics and secured payment with trusted quality of product. As for the manufacturer, he will enjoy equilibrium demand, higher prices at the same time Ucliq helps them understand how to make their produce better, maintaining a proper quality. 

Sameer also brought the fact into light that most of the farmers do not have a digital footprint and this is the change Sameer wants to bring about through Ucliq. So that they can be efficient in operations and the amount of meat and meat products going waste can be avoided. 

What Do You Understand By The Name?

As for the name Sameer said that it was a fun and simple name, Ucliq helps “You” connoted with “U” with a simple “click” connoted by “cliq” that is how the name of the company was formed as Ucliq is a platform connecting and helping businesses connect directly to the manufacturer. 

What Does The Future Look Like?

On being asked about their funding plans, Sameer told Startup Story that they are in talks with some investors and incubators and are positive about its outcome. They are planning to target 20,000 retailers and sellers and bring them on their platform. They are also planning on launching their application soon expanding with it. They are currently dealing in Delhi NCR and some portions of Haryana. In the next 12 months they plan on scaling at least 24 districts and 4 states. They are more focussed on expanding within north Indian in the beginning because the supply chain of these products is in high quantity, as the demand of these products is continuously rising. Also, considering the amount of means being exported from India they also have plans to go global in the later years. 

Operations During The Pandemic And Customer Review

Sameer told us that during the pandemic they experienced a higher demand. Sameer told us that to ensure the customer understood the idea completely and to connect with them they would directly meet with them and explain the entire idea. 

The Team 

Unfortunately Sameer’s Co-founder had to take a back step from the venture and Sameer now deals with the operations on his own. As for the team Sameer introduced some of the members on his team including Rahul Negi who manages the tech department, Ashif who looks after the operations, Twinkle who manages the HR department. Apart from that they also have a number of interns who are working under them roughly making them a team of 15 people.

Challenges Faced And Countering Them

Recounting a few instances, when Ucliq faced some issues with the delivery of products Sameer said, in some cases there were issues with the payments. At other times some people reported an issue with the quality of the product which on being checked turned out to be a false accusation. They also faced some challenges in convincing customers to go digital. 

To counter these issues they have taken precautions by securing 20-10% payment before the delivery is made. Next, they are also confirming the quality of the product as soon as it is delivered so that complaints are not received later. 

 

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