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Security services provider Topsgrup, which entered ‘on-demand’ home services segment recently, is looking to add one million customers by the end of this calendar year.
‘On-demand’ home services include day-to-day solutions such as plumbing, electrical fittings/wirings, cleaning, carpentry, pest control, tutor and babysitting among others. The company has launched an app called ‘Cheep’ to help connect its consumers with ‘verified and properly screened’ home service professionals.
Professional service
According to Dewan Rahul Nanda, Group Chairman, , nearly 4 lakh people are currently using the app, since its launch about seven months ago. It currently has around 40,000 verified professionals on its platform.
“The demand for the app has been picking up in the last seven months. We hope to increase our user base to close to one million customers by the end of this year,” Nanda told BusinessLine . Through Cheep, the company offers around 23 services in 20 cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Surat among others. Plans are afoot to launch the services in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai.
According to him, the market for home services solutions is close to $20 billion, globally. Though the Indian market size is still not well-defined, the segment players include Urbanclap and Zimmber.
However, Cheep will focus mostly on day-to-day home maintenance solutions rather than salon, beauty and cooking services.
“Getting professional service providers for home maintenance in India is often difficult. We have identified the segment as a potential growth area for us,” he said.
Subscription charges
Consumers can sign up for various packages starting at ₹199 a month for home care; appliances care (under which the company will provide maintenance for appliances like television, fridge etc) for upward of ₹399 a month; tech-care (for laptops, desktops, printer etc) at around ₹300 a month and an all-inclusive premium package (including gardening, pest control, painting etc) at ₹4,999 a month, he said.
The company has already invested close to ₹20 crore on this new vertical and will invest an additional ₹10-15 crore this year.
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