Just Dial is an Indian internet technology company. It is India’s No. 1 Local Search engine. It provides local search related services to users across India through multiple platforms which include website, mobile website, Apps (Android, iOS), over the telephone and text (SMS). This is the method by which sellers of products & services gets connected with potential buyers/ users.
It has branches in 11 cities across India. The headquarters is located in Mumbai and the Technology operations centre is located in Bengaluru. Just dial also has offices across India in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Pune. It has 4,428 employees in tele-sales and 6,173 feet-on-street salesforce. The company has presence in 250+ cities in pan India, covering 11,000+ pin codes.
The company started in the year 1996 offering local search services under the Just dial brand, which is now the leading local search engine in India. As on 30.06.2022,Justdial has a database of approximately 32.8 million listings and 147.9 million quarterly unique users across web, mobile, App & voice.
Just dial started its business in1996 with an investment of Rs 50000 and rented PCs with just 5-6 employees. V.S.S.Mani is the founder of Just dial.
At the initial stage Just dial used a super easy number 8888888888. The two brand ambassadors are Amitabh Bachchan and Boman Irani.
Product & Services-
JD Mart- JD Mart is a B2B portal. It helps the customer in a wide selection of products to choose from, spread across millions of categories. The customer can get 24*7 support regarding Interactive content, cataloguing, communication tools, request for quotes feature (RFQ), Sellers tools, Analytics, certification & protection. This platform helps to equip with seller, gets them on board and run their business seamlessly. JD Xperts- JD Xperts is a one stop solution for users like Salon, repairs & services, plumbing, electrical needs, cleaning services, pest control service, fitness & yoga etc. The services can be booked using JD Xperts. Customers can book these services using call centre, Jd App, mobile site and website. The user can avail the option of prepaid/postpaid booking.
JD Omni- JD Omni is a cloud hosted solution. It helps the small and medium enterprises. JD Omni digitizes their business and helps them to go online by having their very own website. It supports both supply chain management and customer engagement.
JD Mobile-This service provides a fast way of searching for businesses, products or services. People get information regarding movies, restaurants, ATMs, Hotels, Doctors and much more. This service can be availed from both iPhone and Android.
JD pay- JD Pay is an online payment service which gained popularity with digitization. It gives the facility to do cashless transaction with either a Debit or Credit card, Net Banking or an online wallet. Payment can be done using QR code. The money can be transferred directly in few seconds and just with a click.
Other Services-08888888888 toll free number provides customer support 24*7. It receives 130 Million Calls every year. Just Dial provides free listing for business in India’s leading local search engine. It also helps the customers to place their Ads with Just dial.
Financial Snapshot
| (₹ million) | 1Q FY23 | 1Q FY22 |
| Operating Revenue | 1,856 | 1,654 |
| Operating EBITDA | 84 | -172 |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 110 | -104 |
| Profit Before Taxes | -598 | -44 |
| Net Profit | -483 | -35 |
For Q1 FY 2023, the Revenue is ₹ 185.6 Crores, increased 11.4% QoQ, up 12.2% YoY. Operating Revenue is ₹ 185.6 Crores, increased 12.2% YoY & 11.4% QoQ. Adjusted Operating EBITDA stood at ₹ 11 Crores. Net loss stood at ₹ 48.3 Crores. Deferred Revenue stood at ₹ 353.4 Crores increased 4.5% QoQ and 15% YoY. Cash and Investments stood at ₹ 3,739.6 Crores.
Operating Highlights
Total Traffic (Unique Visitors) for the quarter stood at 147.9 million, increased 19.1% YoY and 2.1% QoQ. Mobile platforms have a total traffic of 84.3%. 11.3% of Desktop/ PC and 4.4% on Voice platform.
Strength, Weakness, Opportunities & Threat
Strength- Business owners can enrol their businesses on the database for free. Provides fast and reliable response and details. It has a wide range of product mix. The company is a technological player and it strives to innovate.
Weakness-The business is only present in India. The revenue is solely dependent on India business. It has very little presence in rural areas.
Opportunities-To expand the business it should collaborate with more companies or service providers. It should also expand its business. Increasing of online services by customers will also enable Just Dial to provide new offerings to the customers.
Threat- Newly emerging competitive local search machines creating a threat for Just Dial. It should Improve its network system compared to its competitors. Increasing government regulations creating a barrier for these companies.
Industry Study- The local search engine industry in India still requires more development. There are very few players in this industry along with Just Dial. Due to COVID-19 people have stopped coming out from the houses. This was the main game changer. The local businesses men were more inclined towards digitization. The near me searches has increased tremendously during this time. The Search Engine not only increases website traffic but it also increases quality of the traffic. This increased highly qualified leads for business. One thing should be considered for local search engine that the customers encounter multiple times for selecting a product. So the main strategy here will be trust building and quality products.
Merger & Acquisition- Reliance Retail Ventures Limited has taken sole control of Just Dial Limited effective 1st September 2021. It acquired 1.31 crore equity shares of ₹10 each of Just Dial at a price of ₹1,020/- per equity share from the founder VSS Mani. Reliance Retail will now be the promoter of Just Dial post this deal. However V.S.S. Mani the founder of Just Dial will lead the business-to-business (B2B) search engine as its managing director and chief executive officer.
Major Strategies- JD Shopping has launched its business in three major categories. The first and the foremost thing are to onboard the vendors. The key USP will be delivery within next four hours after receiving the pilot order. The company is successfully achieving the target of 98%-99% cases here. For next quarter the company is targeting to broaden product selection across other categories. It will onboard vendors in other cities. The company is focusing more to add the product catalogue and increase service in more cities. It should cover all the metros.