ITV

Category: e-commerce

  • GOSF: Bringing out the shopping bug

    GOSF: Bringing out the shopping bug

    MUMBAI: The e-commerce sector is booming and how. The very purple patch, every now and then, gets a boost with OTT sale bonanzas.

    The addictive online shopping portals lured customers through Big Billion Sale or Diwali Dhamaka Week throughout this year, but the icing on the cake has been the Google promoted Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF).

    The 72 hour shopping festival was expected to bring out the crazy shopaholic within us all, and if stats are to be believed then it has succeeded in many ways. For instance, in  December LimeRoad, witnessed explosive growth that sent its implied revenue run rate shooting up to Rs 450 crore on the first day of GOSF 2014 – this despite the platform being only focused on women.

    Quick deliveries, cash on delivery, and big deals have made it hard for even non-shoppers to resist the temptation to shop online.

    The portals too are glad to have made the most of it.

    “Successful in creating a delightful shopping frenzy, Google Online Shopping Festival this year has witnessed a great response from the consumers. Three days of this shopping carnival is not less than some annual festival that customers await around this time of the year. On the first day itself, we have observed an extraordinary leap with our revenue rising four times compared to our sales on any regular day.  There has been a rise in revenue from mobile at least by six times as compared to the last GOSF.  Even the traffic from GOSF on the website has significantly risen by eight times as compared to the last year. This tremendous excitement shown by our customers has made us open doors to some of the best offers from exclusive brands like River Island, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and more. All in all, we are geared to double the excitement and make this festival bigger, better and brighter like never before,” said Jabong.com founder and MD Praveen Sinha.

    Added, LimeRoad founder and CEO Suchi Mukherjee, “Whilst the growth in sales is interesting and a reflection of our non-linear growth curve throughout the rest of this year, we are super delighted both at the scale and at the trajectory of our organic traffic.”

    Speaking about the response on GOSF 2014, CouponDunia.in CEO and founder Sameer Parwani said, “So far we have seen a very good response to GOSF. Our traffic increased 4X as compared to the daily traction on the website. There was a massive spike as soon as GOSF started during midnight however the traffic peaked the highest on the first day of GOSF during lunch hours.”

    However, he believes that GOSF 2014 was comparatively lukewarm if 2013 edition is taken into account. One of the reasons for this is the kind and number of deals merchants provided compared to GOSF last year or even for that matter deals during Diwali, a few months back. “GOSF 2014 deals were both, less in number and not providing as deep discounts as we’d expected. Also some of the bigger players, have already exhausted their best offers due to their own festivals like Flipkart’s Big Billion Day, Amazon’s Appiness day and Snapdeal’s ongoing 9am to 9pm shopping fest. Most of them have offered almost 40-50 per cent discounts on regular days or their special days, so they do not have anything bigger than that to offer at the moment.”

    He also added, “As a result of frequent online shopping festivals, these festivals are no longer a novelty factor for the consumer. They have higher expectations and expect the best from everyone and are not impressed easily now it is the e-tailer’s turn to come up with better and bigger deals every festival to meet these demands and expectations.”

     

  • India’s entrepreneurial arena touches new horizons with the Myntra Fashion Incubator programme

    India’s entrepreneurial arena touches new horizons with the Myntra Fashion Incubator programme

     MUMBAI: In a development that is expected to boost the growth of the thriving fashion industry in India, Myntra.com, today created history in the world of fashion by announcing the shortlisted candidates for the Myntra Fashion Incubator (MFI) program. Renowned designers from the fashion industry, experts in the retail industry along with Myntra’s leadership team revealed the shortlisted names after a rigorous selection process held at Crowne Plaza, Bangalore.

    Close to 30 promising applicants were asked to present their creative and scalable business ideas to the jury explaining their strategy on how their designs and ideas can be transformed into a sustainable business venture through the MFI platform. Live demonstrations of sample designs were displayed by the applicants for the benefit of the judges and audience. The judges–Wendell Rodricks, Rina Dhaka, Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna and Paras Bairoliya–analyzed each participant’s design concept and announced the best applicants in the evening. Industry officials like Anant Daga, CEO,TCNS Clothing company, Sandeep Mukim, CEO, Proline India Ltd, Simeran Bhasin, CMO, Wildcraft were also part of the jury.

     As part of the one year Designer In Residence (DIR) Program, Myntra will provide the selected candidates necessary design and work infrastructure, capital support and mentorship from a team of acclaimed designers. The DIR Program would cover essentials like branding, consumer behaviour, product design & development, pricing, inventory planning, retailing and financial planning among others.

    The first batch of the incubator program will occupy the design space inside the Myntra campus by 15th January 2015 and work full-time on their brand. MFI will also provide these candidates an opportunity to showcase their brands in various platforms as well as to be retailed on Myntra.com. After completing one season, they can also pitch their fashion designs to MFI advisory board for investments to scale their business.

    Abhishek Verma, Sr. VP, Myntra Fashion Brands said, “We have been excited about this initiative since day one, and now as this program is brought to life with these finalists, we believe it is going to revolutionise the fashion industry and set a new hallmark.”  He further added, “At Myntra, we value and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit and therefore with initiatives like MFI, we aim to provide support to young talent and empower them to create sizeable indigenous fashion brands in the long-run. Through this initiative, we will also strengthen our commitment of building original, aspirational brands designed to be at par with latest global trends.”

    Myntra, of late, has strengthened its private brands portfolio and entered into exclusive tie-ups with designer and international brands. The company has furthered its vision to create great fashion experiences for consumers and help them look good with services like the Style Helpline, ‘LookGood’ blog and the ‘Customer Wow’ initiative to name a few.

     

  • Firstcry.com hits 100 stores in India

    Firstcry.com hits 100 stores in India

    MUMBAI: Firstcry.com, Asia’s largest online baby products portal today announced that it has now got 100 franchisees on board. As part of the vision to create the ultimate parenting eco-system in India, Firstcry now has a presence across Tier I, II and III towns. The 100 stores expand the retailers presence to a staggering 82 cities.

     

    Consistently growing at more than 100% growth rate, Firstcry.com had announced this year to reach 100 stores by end of December 2014. Not only has Firstcry achieved this faster than planned, it has also become the largest e-commerce player with an omni channel business model with a focus on mobile, physical store and web.

     

    All Firstcry.com stores are standardised and display more than 500 brands across 20 categories. The carpet area of stores range anywhere from 1000 sq ft to 2000 sq ft. There has been a franchisee investment of about Rs. 3,000 per square ft in store all across the cities. Continuing to keep the novelty aspect intact, ‘Kiosk innovation’ at Firstcry stores, is a unique concept which acts like a catalogue allowing customers to look through the 70,000 and above products on a 32 inch touch screen in stores, order online on spot, and find the product available at the store in 2-3 days. The Kiosks have enabled to increase conversions by 10% and now by default part of all new upcoming store format across the country.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Supam Maheshwari, Founder and CEO, Firstcry.com said “Owing to the outstanding success of our offline stores, we have extensively increased our offline presence. With 100 stores, we have crossed a milestone but we have considerable distance yet to travel.  At Firstcry, we believe in creating a seamless experience, offering purchasing flexibility for parents through the mobile, web and offline store formats. With the omni channel strategy, we are best placed to build the best relationship with the mother and bring her the largest and most appropriate range of products.”

     

    By making a strong offline presence in baby product market, Firstcry is consistently fine-tuning processes by studying purchasing patterns and demands of parents across all tiers. People in India and around the world display balanced buying behaviour in terms of online and offline. There is a huge opportunity in integrating the two, what is termed as O2O – online to offline or omni channel strategy – and is seen as a trillion dollar opportunity globally.

     

    Thus, holding a clear vision of reaching 400 stores by December, 2017 Firstcry.com aims to be the only one stop solution in this market of baby & kids products.

     

  • Mobile commerce: The key to impulse shoppers

    Mobile commerce: The key to impulse shoppers

    E-commerce industry’s success stories and reliability are the key factors determining its popularity. Customers have gained a new edge of convenience with products and services available at a click. Apparently, a new wave of innovation in the name of mobile commerce is gaining prevalence by driving new avenues for the e-commerce industry in India.

     

    Accessing an e-commerce portal on desktops and laptops has never been a hindrance; however, accessing the same website on phones have bulged various problems because they were primarily designed for big screens. Considering the mounting usage of mobile phones over big screen computers, mobile commerce has emerged as a key to impulse shoppers.

     

    Mobile commerce offers dual benefit – ease of navigation tools and the flexibility to shop; therefore, attracting a large number of customers. Nowadays, more and more e-commerce websites have become mobile friendly, which has accelerated the footfall on such websites by a huge number. The trend is gradually catching up in India like our European counterparts.

     

    According to a study conducted by global financial group ING, Europeans are now shopping frequently via mobile phone, British being the most impulsive shoppers. India has adapted to this innovation extensively and is observing its acceptance from customers on a large scale. Currently, a major chunk of our tech savvy population is inclined towards mobile commerce. Various studies have shown that mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are leading to an increase in impulse buying among consumers. There is also a lot of scope for growth in this segment as only 40 per cent users make purchases using their mobile devices.

     

    Impulse shopping is triggered among consumers due to the availability of simple and easy to use technology that is used widely in m-commerce platforms. Its usage is rapidly increasing with evolution of mobile technologies. This innovative transformation is creating seamless opportunities for prospective businesses. While adding greater convenience to customers by providing more personalised services, mobile commerce equally benefits the retailers by reducing their cost of production.

     

    According to an independent study conducted by Manusis Technologies, 42 per cent purchases made on mobile devices are based on impulsive decisions. The attractive offers and discount coupons offered by mobile apps create a sense of urgency among buyers. Often, they make hurried purchases fearing an impending stock-out situation or rising prices of the commodity. Eventually, it positively impacts the store owners’ sale and revenues.

     

    M-commerce is a great opportunity for these retailers and e-commerce owners to tap impulse purchases from customers. Snapdeal, one of India’s biggest e-commerce stores, has witnessed an increase in sales via mobile purchases in the past year. Many of these purchases might have been made at the spur of the moment.

     

    (These are purely personal views of StoreHippo.com CEO and founder Rajiv Kumar and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views.)

  • Online shopper base in India to reach 100 million by 2016

    Online shopper base in India to reach 100 million by 2016

    MUMBAI: Convenience and variety is what today’s shoppers look for. And the platform giving them these both is e-commerce.

     

    As per Google in its annual online shopping growth trends report, consumer confidence to shop online will only continue to rise and India will have 100 million online shoppers by 2016.

     

    The report compiled by combining an extensive research conducted by Forrester Consulting and Google search trends revealed that India’s e-tailing market is at an inflection point and will see rapid growth to become a $15 billion market by 2016.

     

    The research conducted by Forrester Consulting by interviewing 6859 respondents covering both online buyers and non-buyers in 50 cities/towns, found out that online shoppers base will grow three times by 2016, and over 50 million new buyers will come from tier I and II cities.  The confidence to shop online was on the rise as 71 per cent non-buyers from tier I and II cities said they plan to shop online in next 12 months. The findings also revealed that women buyers in tier I cities were more engaged in online shopping, and outspend men by double. Women were also responsible for driving growth in categories like apparels, beauty & skincare, home furnishing, baby products and jewellery.

     

    Over 60 per cent respondents also felt that buying online was directly correlated with social status. Mobile phones emerged as an important access device for online shoppers with one out of three online buyers transacting on their mobile phones in tier I and II cities. In tier III cities, one in two buyers said they use mobile phones to purchase products online. This was also reflected in Google search trends with mobile phones queries growing three times in last three years. Today, over 50 per cent of shopping queries were coming from mobile phones; this share was as low as 24 per cent just two years back.

     

    Google India local and classified ecommerce industry director Nitin Bawankule said, “The consumer confidence to shop online has grown significantly in  last year and a half, and our objective was to understand the factors that are driving this growth and arrive at indicators that will help propel the Industry forward. As the report indicates, behavior of Indian online buyer is fast mirroring buyers in more developed markets as more subjective product categories have started to see significant growth. The e-tailing Industry needs to act now to cater to this strong user growth trend. Improved customer experience across all touch points, easy to use mobile apps can create a strong pull for non-buyers to shop online in tier I and II cities. Women buyers are set to become the most significant contributor to the growth of online shopping and there is a huge opportunity waiting to be unlocked in this user segment.”

     

    Amongst the challenges, 62 per cent buyers said they were not satisfied with their online shopping experience. 67 per cent buyers also highlighted that the current return process was too complicated and expensive. Trust was a major issue with non buyers, 55 per cent non buyers did not trust the quality of products sold online, 63 per cent said they were concerned about the safety of transacting online and 65 per cent said, they don’t feel comfortable sharing personally identifiable information online. 66 per cent of total respondents said that poor connectivity was also a major barrier for them to shop online.

     

  • From advertising to selling saris, Arvind Sharma turns entrepreneur

    From advertising to selling saris, Arvind Sharma turns entrepreneur

    MUMBAI: The e-commerce sector in India is going through a purple patch and the latest one to enter the bandwagon is none other than Arvind Sharma.

    After spending over three decades in the advertising industry, Sharma has been bitten by the entrepreneur bug. He along with one of the founding members of Yepme, Amit Gaur, has launched an online platform for the treasured Indian outfit – sari.

    The self-funded, Indiasarihouse.com, aims to enhance and simplify the sari shopping experience along with benefitting the weaver community.  

    “A sari is more than a piece of commerce.  It is the Indian women’s attire for every day and for special occasions. It represents the spinning, dyeing and weaving arts of India, nurtured by kings, queens, and princesses and perfected by India’s craftsmen over centuries. Each sari woven by a weaver’s family represents a piece of Indian history and culture. India Sari House aims to build a self-sustaining long-term channel directly between the weavers and sari consumers around the world. Amit’s wealth of experience in sourcing and e-commerce operations will help us hugely in our ambitions,” says Sharma.

    The platform has recruited textile and fashion graduates, who find and verify the weavers across 20 centers in the country.  From pure silk offerings like Kanjivarams, Dharmavarams, Banarasis to pure cottons ones like Ikkats, Mangalagiris, Tants and Kerala Cottons, the recently launched website has everything a woman would desire in her wardrobe.

    Apart from increasing the number of sari centers in the near future, the sari house plans to get some of India’s famous designers to each adopt a weaving center and help modernise the designs some of these centers produce.

    On funding the project, Sharma highlights that after three to four months he will start talking to the investors to raise funds for the platform and take it to the next level.

    Gaur says, “We are building a channel with quality and integrity. To deliver these to the consumers, we have deployed a team that visits and identifies weavers that India Sari House will deal with. They hand pick saris from these weavers. We have put together another team of qualified textile and fashion experts to examine each sari and rate it on 4F factors – Fabric authenticity, Fine workmanship, Fashion quotient and Fitness for occasions. Each sari we sell will come with a 4F certificate. Since, India Sari House buys and stocks all the saris it sells, consumers can be sure that all saris will be shipped to them within 24 hours.”

    Indiasarihouse.com is accessible to consumers around the world. However, initially it is being promoted in the US, Canada and the UK. Over time, it plans to cover 23 major countries of the world where there is a significant Indian diaspora presence.

    Currently, Resultrix is handling the digital promotions of the web store while Underdog is the creative agency for the account.

  • Yahoo homepage now offers access to Flipkart marketplace

    Yahoo homepage now offers access to Flipkart marketplace

    MUMBAI: Yahoo and Flipkart have announced a partnership to host a gateway to the Flipkart.com marketplace directly on the Yahoo India homepage. Users can now get easy access to the Flipkart shopping site while simultaneously consuming news and content of their choice on the Yahoo network.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Yahoo India managing director Gurmit Singh said, “Online shopping is seeing increasing adoption with users in India. People are spending a significant time on the Internet searching for products and deals. Flipkart is a market leader in Indian e-commerce, with a huge marketplace and an exciting range of products.  With easy access to Flipkart directly from the Yahoo homepage, we believe that the millions of users who visit the Yahoo network daily will now enjoy not only premium content, but also an exciting shopping experience.”

     

    Added online marketing senior director Mausam Bhatt, “At Flipkart we are always looking for innovative ways of engaging the customer. Flipkart and Yahoo are both market leaders in their own space – and in a market where people are increasingly consuming content on digital platforms, a partnership like this helps bridge content and commerce to enhance the product discovery and purchase cycle for online shoppers.”

  • Snapdeal ties up with ‘Chaar Sahibzaade’ as an online partner

    Snapdeal ties up with ‘Chaar Sahibzaade’ as an online partner

    MUMBAI: E-commerce portal Snapdeal.com, has tied up with Harry Baweja’s latest production Chaar Sahibzaade.

    An animated film, Chaar Sahibzaade revolves around the Sikh Guru – Guru Gobind Singh and his sons. Paying tribute to the movie, the e-tailer will present an exclusive collection of interesting collectibles for fans. These include Kirpans, swords, art work, and armor sets replete with bow and arrow etc reminding audiences of Sikh heritage.

     Speaking on the occasion producer Harry Baweja said, “Chaar Sahibzaade is a movie that would give you a hangover of the rich heritage and culture that is imbibed in the Indian minds. The collection on Snapdeal.com is something that parents would feel proud to own and also buy for their kids to educate them and engrave rich Indian values.”

     The film will also features the portal. With this tie-up the brand will strengthen its antiques and collectibles segment, which has the maximum potential in the ‘hobbies’ category. In the past, the brand has associated with a number of production houses and movies such as- Transformers, Ninja Turtles and Spiderman.

    Talking about this initiative, Snapdeal.com vice president fashion Amit Maheshwari said, “We are constantly building on our existing categories as well as developing new segments, to provide consumers with a variety of choices.”

    “As a part of this endeavor we are looking at expanding our Hobbies category, which already has unique merchandise from various films, football and cricket collectibles, antiques etc. We are certain that our consumers will be delighted with the new range of merchandise from Chaar Sahibzaade,” he added.

    Consumers can buy unique merchandise such as Kirpan shaped pen-drives, rare posters from the movie, and unique memory games for children, pencil tops and key chains on the site.

     

  • Go Daddy shows importance of creating an internet identity

    Go Daddy shows importance of creating an internet identity

    MUMBAI: Technology provider GoDaddy.com has announced the launch of its latest integrated marketing campaign with the aim of educating India’s small medium businesses (SMBs) and individuals on the importance of creating an online identity.

     

    With the tagline, ‘Internet pe pehchaan banao, duniya ki dikhao’, the company will launch two television campaign. They are looking to accelerate the adoption of domain names, positioning it as the first step towards creating an identity online so that the SMBs and individuals can gain recognisition by showcasing their talent.

     

    In India, only 2 per cent of the overall internet users own domain names. This figure is significantly high in US (20 per cent) and China (13-14 per cent).

     

    Talking about the campaign, GoDaddy India MD and VP Rajiv Sodhi said, “As internet in India continues to grow, having an identity on the internet to showcase your business, hobby, and interests is gaining importance. Securing the right domain name is the foundation for building a compelling online presence and the first step to creating an identity on the internet.”

     

    “Our new campaign illustrates what having an online identity can do for you and your business, and at the same time stressing on the urgency of picking the right domain name for yourself before someone else does,” he added.

     

    Both the ads will be aired on channels both mainstream as well as regional from 4 November night. The company is focussing on channels from different genres including sports, news, movie, GEC among others.

     

    “We will air the commercial on channels like Times Now, Aaj Tak, Discovery, HBO, Star Movies, Set Max etc. The ad will also appear on regional channels especially key channels in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru,” revealed Sodhi.

     

    He also added that as of now the ads will not be converted in regional languages, only the text appearing in the ads will be.

     

    In the first commercial, a barber, named NutCutLal becoming famous for his signature haircut and people queuing outside his shop, but he realises that his fame might fade away and his talent is likely to go unnoticed, he gets an online identity. While the second commercial, is based on the insight that every Indian parent starts dreaming big for their child, even before they are born. The ad shows different fathers whose sons have the same name – Rajesh  Varma  talking about future aspirations or their son but only one Rajesh Varma can get a unique identity by booking a unique domain name before anyone else does.

     

    “While NutCutLal aims to establish the importance of an online identity among small business owners Rajesh Varma is focussed on creating a need for domain names among individuals,” added Sodhi.

     

    The company will also offer new users services like creating webpage for a cost of Rs 99 per month. They are also offering domain names for 1,2,3,5 and 10 years.

     

    GoDaddy claims to help 12 million customers worldwide who work with SMBs to help them create a one-of-a-kind digital identity enabling them to reach customers globally.

  • Amazon.in launches India’s largest Kannada Books, Movies and Music Store

    Amazon.in launches India’s largest Kannada Books, Movies and Music Store

    BENGALURU: Lovers of Kannada literature, movies and music now have a new destination to shop! Amazon.in on the occasion of the Kannada Rajyotsava Diwas announced the launch of its Kannada Books, Movies and Music store with a wide selection of more than 7300 books, 4700 movies, and 2500 music albums available at great prices and convenience of shopping online; making it thus the largest selection in India.

     

    “The Kannada Rajyotsava is the time when the entire state celebrates the legacy of its rich culture,  festivals and architectural elegance. To commemorate this day, Amazon.in has launched the new Kannada books, movies and music store on its marketplace. This new store provides an easy & convenient access to literary works, music and popular movies in Kannada for our customers across India who need not feel deprived of enjoying them from anywhere in India,” said Samir Kumar, Director Category Management, Amazon India. 

     

    This veritable paradise of Kannada books, movies and music store offers a wide selection ranging from classics, literature, fiction, biographies, business and finance, self-help, cook books and children’s books – from leading publishers and bestselling books by extremely acclaimed authors like S L Bhyrappa, Ravi Belagere, Kuvempu, Girish Karnad, U R Ananthamurthy amongst others will be available for readers. Additionally, readers can get their hands on Kannada translations of English best sellers. The store also offers has a wide selection of books for customers who wish to hone their Kannada skills or learn other languages like English, Hindi etc. with instructions in Kannada

     

    Kannada movie aficionados can add to their collection by choosing classic as well as modern Kannada movies that have enthralled them all these years – movies of Dr. Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Puneet Rajkumar and other veterans, as also recent famous actors and  blockbuster movies. The collection offers a vast selection of movies from various genres like action, adventure, romance and drama by popular directors like Yogaraj Bhatt, Dinesh babu, Puttana Kanagal and others.

     

    In the Amazon.in Kannada store, Kannada classical and popular music lovers can now pick up their favourite albums by Harikrishna, Hamsalekha, Ilayaaraja and others. The collection spans across all genres- Kannada Folk music, classical, devotional, harikathe and also film albums.

     

    The store has been curated in order to help modern Kannada speaking Indians who find it difficult to source books, movies and music for their family and themselves, especially if they do not reside in their state. Now shopping for their language products has become easier than ever before.

     

    Consumers on www.amazon.in and Amazon’s mobile shopping application can shop anywhere with ease and confidence from over 18 million products across a broad range of departments including Books; eBooks & Tablets; Movies & TV shows; Kindle Devices, Computers & Accessories; Mobiles & Accessories; Consumer Electronics; Toys & Games; Baby Products; Health and Personal Care products; Watches; Fashion Jewelry; Home & Kitchen products; Beauty Products; Video Games; Music; Luggage & Bags; Handbags & Clutches; Sports, Fitness & Outdoor equipment; Shoes; Men’s, Women’s & Kid’s wear; Pet Supplies; Gift Cards; large Appliance store and now Gourmet & Specialty Food store and Kids Party Supplies store. Consumers across several cities in India are increasingly enjoying Amazon.in’s guaranteed next-day delivery on nearly 400,000 products fulfilled by Amazon.

     

    All Consumers on www.amazon.in benefit from a safe and secure ordering experience, convenient electronic payments, Cash on Delivery, Amazon’s 24×7 customer service support, and a globally recognized and comprehensive 100% purchase protection provided by Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee.