Business Case Studies & Business Publications

UrbanClap: Market Place for On-Demand Se...

Abhishek, Mukherje...

Case

UrbanClap: Market Place for On-Demand Services (A)

Abhishek; Mukherjee, Saral; Patra, Yogita

IIMA-MAR0512(A) | Published May 16, 2020 | 23 pages Case

Collection: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

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Learning Objectives

UrbanClap was setup in October 2014 to address the opportunity of bringing the workforce from the unorganised sector into the mainstream using the power of technology. It was an on-demand marketplace for services available through a mobile app. In the initial years, UrbanClap, developed as horizontal marketplace, saw intense competition from existing and new players who were operating in the hyperlocal services space. It competed in the on-demand service marketplace by categorising its services into a lead generation business (where it connected customers with the service provider and charged a fee for matchmaking) and a fulfilment business (where UrbanClap took end-to-end responsibility for quality of service delivery). After three and half years of operations, the three co-founders wondered if it was time they moved out of lead generation and instead focussed on the fulfilment business.

Understanding the different kinds of value offered by on-demand marketplaces; Develop an understanding about marketing for marketplace startups; Understand the main challenges faced by marketplace with respect to supply-side of platform and the role played by standardisation.