BigRock Launches DesignXchange, a Platform for Website Designers [Exclusive Conversation with Founder Bhavin Turakhia]

BigRock, one of India’s leading domain registrars and web hosting companies, recently announced the launch of a unique online marketplace for website design called DesignXchange. BigRock started out in India 2 years ago and have been very bullish. With DesignXchange, the aim is to help consumers choose a website designer in their city and in their budget. The DesignXchange platform, which is currently in beta stage, has already seen a very encouraging response. Over 1000 web designers have already registered themselves. We caught up with founder Bhavin Turakia who brings over 14 years of technology experience and over 9 years of Market knowledge to the Directi Group.

“The problem has always been there. SMEs want to build a website but finding the correct guy seems to be a hassle,” informs Bhavin from his experience. DesignXchange solves this problem by creating a two sided marketplace powered by BigRock where designers can sign up to showcase their services and where customers can browse these designers, view their work, and immediately contact those designers that most appeal to them.

So, who are these designers? 

“We’re into websites and have a huge database of designers who’ve worked with us in multiple ways via Directi Group. Now, we thought with the database we have, solving this huge existing problem is a definite must-do. We don’t charge from the designers and don’t intend to at this stage,” informs Bhavin. The designers are ranked on various parameters like the number of projects they’ve done successfully, how the customers have rated them and such metrics. They’re partitioned according to city and budget and a customer can choose after having a look at the designers’ work.

BigRock expects to enroll 5000 website designers by the end of this year to make this a truly pan-India initiative as well as add new features to the platform including better search and a customer review system. BigRock has aggressive plans to recruit designers on this platform and promote them across its customer base to drive value for BigRock customers looking for websites. Another incentive for web designers who sign up for the DesignXchange platform is that they become part of BigRock’s popular affiliate network. BigRock has created a dedicated account management team to work with designers to set up their presence on the platform.

Shashank Mehrotra, GM and Business Head, BigRock, added, “Fundamentally, customers care about four aspects when choosing a designer – location, price, quality, and reviews. On DesignXchange customers search for designers by specifying their budget and their preferred location. Designers, on the other hand, can provide samples of their work to allow customers to see examples of their past work. Our insights tell us that many Indian consumers are looking for skilled web designers in their city and DesignXchange is fundamentally built around this principle. At the same time the platform empowers designers from remote locations to be accessible by a larger audience.”