Bizbits

Expressindia.com gets good response

MUMBAI: Portal site Expressindia.com has increased the number of hits to its site by a record 1 million in a month. With a total of 7 million impressions in June, the portal is gearing up to offer online trade through Zeverat, its jewllery site.

The site is the only Indian company to have held online auctions. It has held auctions of packagesto the cricket World Cup ’99 in association with Thomas Cook, a press release from the company said. Auctions would hold a key position for business on the net, according to Expressindia CEO and director, Arvindra Kanwal.

The portal site follows an exhaustive 3C model based on the principles of content, community and commerce. Among the variety of services it offers are a latest news a new story every six minutes, travel information on India Ahoy! and a site exclusively for children, Cerfkids.com.

Hero Honda plans new models

NEW DELHI: Hero Honda Motors Ltd (HHML) has targetted to capture 40 per cent marketshare in the motorcycles segment in the next three years by launching new models and expanding its marketing network.

Hero Honda plans to launch two new bike models in the next few years and also plans to expand the number of dealers and service points by about 50 per cent. The company, a joint venture between Honda Motor Company of Japan and Hero Group of India to produce four-strokemotorcycles, also aims to increase its share by one per cent to 38.6 per cent during the current fiscal, officials said.

Morepen looks for OTC brands

NEW DELHI: Morepen Laboratories is on the lookout to buy over-the-counter (OTC) brands in line with its plan to expand its OTC range of products. "We will certainly examine any OTC brands which may be put up for sale," Manoj Pahwa, general manager (sales) and head of Morepen Laboratories’ newly-formed customer care division said. Morepen Laboratories was interested in brands with a longer life cycle which could be synergised with the company’s own portfolio, Pahwa said. Although the company was focussing on building up its own brands, it was open to the idea of purchasing existing OTC brands from other companies, he added. "We would, however, buy only those brands which have a strong brand equity in the market which can be further developed," he said.He added that Morepen was not interested in the muscle relaxant category and was looking atgastro-intestinal and lipid lowering OTC drugs.