Online Firm Askme To Focus On Global Business Expansion And Recruitment


BENGALURU: Online question and answer based web site Askme is expanding its domestic and overseas business for next 12 months, to hire more number of employees in all its operating countries, the company has planned to invest $100 million worldwide, reports The Times Of India.

Currently Askme has around 2000 employees taking care of Askme.com and Askmebazar all over the world but with its new budget for next one year the company has planned to hire 500 employees.

The firm has already signed a contract with journalist Vir Sanghvi and Chef Vikas Khanna, however food experts Rocky and Mayur are also been signed for restaurant food reviewing. Reviewed videos will appear shortly in website with food ordering options.      

"With the kind of plans that we have made, Askme will be making an initial investment of $100 million within a year. We currently have around 2,000 employees, and to support expansion we will be hiring around 500 or more in a year or so across technology and sales," Askme Group chief marketing officer Manav Sethi told PTI.

With the intention of expanding E-commerce business, the company recently acquired BestAtLowest.com for $10 million, which is an online grocery store site. This new site runs under Askme along with Askmebazaar.com.      

"We acquired BestAtlowest.com and integrated it with Askme, where in Noida, Greater Noida and East Delhi you can order grocery. Now we get thousand orders a day with an average selling price of about Rs 1,200. We are going to scale this in entire India now. The scaler would happen in phases like in four quarters," Sethi said.

Currently the company has about 7 lakh products being sold through 30 thousand merchants.    

"By July, we are aiming about a million orders a month starting July end and if I can sustain that on an annualized basis then we can be placed among the top 4 or 5 e-commerce players in the industry," Sethi added.

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