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Category: e-commerce

  • SoftBank invests $627 million in Snapdeal

    SoftBank invests $627 million in Snapdeal

    MUMBAI:  Seeking to tap into the growing e-commerce market in India, the Japanese telecom giant SoftBank announced a $627 million investment in the home-grown retailer Snapdeal, becoming the largest investor in the company.

     

    This is the largest investment made by a single investor in an e-commerce company in India.  Other existing investors have also participated in this round with a significant undisclosed investment.

     

    Through this strategic investment and partnership with Snapdeal, the telecom group aims at strengthening its presence in India and leveraging synergies with its network of Internet companies around the world, according to the press release issued by the e-tailer.

     

    While on the other hand, Snapdeal, will use the investments in expanding its chain of fulfillment centres. It will also look to make 3-4 strategic acquisitions in the coming few months specifically in the area of mobile technology and is planning to set up an incubation centre to hone and harness start-up businesses in the mobile technology space within next six months.

     

    Talking about the investment, SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said, “Since SoftBank’s foundation, our mission has been to contribute to people’s lives through the Information Revolution. We believe India is at a turning point in its development and have confidence that India will grow strongly over the next decade. As part of this belief, we intend to deploy significant capital in India over the next few years to support development of the market.”

     

    Adding to that, SoftBank’s vice chairman Nikesh Arora reckoned, “India has the third-largest Internet user base in the world, but a relatively small online market currently. This situation means India has, with better, faster and cheaper Internet access, a big growth potential. With today’s announcement SoftBank is contributing to the development of the infrastructure for the digital future of India. We want to support the leaders and entrepreneurs of the digital future; Kunal and Rohit are two such great leaders.”

     

    Nikesh Arora will also be joining the board of Snapdeal as part of this strategic investment by the SoftBank Group.

     

    Morrison & Foerster LLP acted as legal advisor to advising SoftBank on India law matters.

     

     “Our entire team at Snapdeal is thrilled and honoured to have SoftBank as a strategic partner. With the support of Son-san and Nikesh, we are confident we will further strengthen our promise to consumers and create life changing experiences for 1 million small businesses in India,” said Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl.

     

    Founded in 2010, the company also claims to have more than 25 million registered users and more than 50,000 business sellers. Earlier this year, Snapdeal had raised $133.77 million in a round led by eBay and $105 million from institutional investors including Temasek, Myriad, Tybourne, Blackrock Inc. and Premji Invest. Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata also made a personal investment into the company. 

  • E-commerce, the Santa Claus this Diwali

    E-commerce, the Santa Claus this Diwali

    With the festival of lights knocking at the door and gifting at its peak, the-commerce portals are raining flash sales, lucky draws, special portfolios and exclusive product launches. The season which kicked off the with the Big Billion Day by Flipkart to the week- long Diwali Dhamaka Sale from Amazon, the online buzz is getting louder each day.

    The portals, flushed with money from recent fund-raising efforts, are lining up steep discounts, exclusive merchandise, cash-back schemes, and other promotional offers for this year’s festive season, giving them an opportunity to sell more, gain market share and increase their valuations.

    According to Team Pumpkin co-founder Swati Nathani, the period of October till January is considered great for retail sales, starting with festive buying for Pujo and Diwali, to winter shopping in November, party shopping in December and then End of Season Sale in January. “The season sees an approximate 200-300 per cent increase from the average e-commerce sales. Obviously, post Diwali sales will not match to the level of Diwali, but on an average they are 20-30 per cent higher than average period sales,” said Nathani.

     

    Amazon India

    For the festive season, the e-commerce giant is offering discounts with minimum 16 per cent and maximum of up to 56 per cent discounts on products like laptops, mobiles, household items and home appliances. The e-retailer is giving up to 70 per cent discounts on home appliances, clothing & accessories, gifts, gadgets and jewellery along with an additional cash back offer on purchases made by Citibank cards.

    Talking about the Diwali, the offers and discounts, Amazon India country manager & VP Amit Agarwal said that the customers can look forward to Amazon.in as their one-stop Diwali shopping destination and that Amazon is offering its Indian customers great savings on thousands of products every hour through its discounts and offers.

    On 21 September,  Amazon.in kicked-off the 30 day online Shopping Dhamaka ahead of the peak festival season offering customers thousands of exciting new deals & offers on the hottest products; new store launches; first access to unique selections & premium brands,  exciting contests, etc.

    As part of the Online Shopping Dhamaka, Amazon.in hosted two major events including ‘Mission to Mars’ weekend between 4-6 October dedicated to the success of India’s Mangalyaan mission and the Diwali Dhamaka Week between 10-16 October.

    “We are humbled by the tremendous response from customers to the Online Shopping Dhamaka and all events hosted as part of this.  The response from customers on the first day of the Diwali Dhamaka Week went beyond our wildest expectations as we surpassed our biggest day. Traffic on that day was 200 per cent more than that on our previous biggest day. We are seeing a massive interest from all over the country including tier 2 markets like Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Surat, Vizag, Coimbatore, Patna, Bhopal, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Lucknow,” said an Amazon spokesperson.

    “Our seller clubs that have Rs 1 million+ & Rs 1 crore+ weekly sales increased by 44 per cent & 26 per cent respectively during the Diwali Dhamaka Week and sellers received orders from 868 non-metro cities,” he added.

    Electronics and Kitchen product categories grew by nearly six times during the Diwali Dhamaka week. In addition, we have received an overwhelming response from customers to all the exclusive launches that have taken place on Amazon.in during this period.

    “We have sold over 130,000 Micromax Canvas Android One smartphones, over 100,000 Coke Zero cans within two weeks of its launch, the Blackberry Passport has gone out-of-stock and we have sold hundreds of audio products of House of Marley,” the spokesperson informed.

    They also launched special festive design packaging and introduced gift boxes and gift wrapping paper in colours that match with the artwork on the gift boxes for Diwali.

     

    Flipkart-Myntra

    After offering crazy massive discounts on the Big Billion Day, raising Rs 600 crore as well as sending an apology letter to all its customers, Flipkart seems to have toned it down a bit.

    However, the industry that is currently surviving on discounts, the home-grown e-tailer is giving offers on select products. The site is hosting an electronic mela, giving massive discounts on televisions, camera, Smartphones, home appliances and others. The portal is offering 45-50 percent on home appliances like mixer grinders and induction cook-tops.

    The e-retailer is also holding an App lucky draw, where the lucky ones can win 3 days/2 nights holiday packages along with an additional cash back offer on purchases made by an SBI card.

    The e-commerce portal recently acquired the fashion portal Myntra as well as raised funds worth $1 billion.

    “Our aim is to help our sellers provide the best possible shopping options to our customers such that both sellers and customers benefit,” said a Flipkart spokesperson, talking about the Diwali sales.

    While the Bengaluru based portal is being cautious, its acquisition Myntra is giving discounts like 30 per cent off on no minimum value, up to 60 per cent off on festive collection and launching new private brands, Indian as well as international etc. Myntra has launched an exciting Diwali campaign ‘Myntra Cracker of a Sale’ from 7 -25 October.

    Myntra chief operating officer Ganesh Subramanian said, “Diwali is a period of festivity and cheer, where all of us buy new clothes, and want to ‘Look Good.’ The ‘Myntra Cracker of a Sale’ boasts of exciting brand offers from over 500 marquee brands and will also include exclusive collections from leading brands and designers which will be available only on Myntra.com.”

    “At Myntra, we are not restricting celebration only to clothes, but have also extended a personalized style service, the Style Helpline, where Myntra’s expert stylists will be available to answer everything from simple style queries to advice on getting the perfect festive look,” he added.

    Talking about the sales target, Subramanian revealed, “We expect it to be a record breaking Diwali, with over 3X growth in sales as compared to last year.”

    The fashion e-tailer also designed a ‘Made for Myntra Collection,’ which includes over 5,000 exclusive styles and collections by some of the most respected designers and brands like FCUK, UCB, Elle, SuperDry, Biba, FabIndia and Antony Moratto.

    The company is offering every shopper with assured money back with every order – minimum Rs 100 up to Rs 1 lakh and five gold vouchers from Tanishq, to be won every day.

     

    Snapdeal

    All set to lure customers to its portal, Snapdeal is offering 50 per cent off and 1+1 offer on many of its products. The Delhi-based e-tailer is also offering 60-70 per cent discount on mobile phones and gadgets.

    “The intention is to try and cater to every single consumer. Because we are trying to cater to everyone, we have products for everyone. There has been a big ensemble of celebrities, who have come on board for the same,” said Snapdeal VP-offline marketing Maneesh Goel.

    “We are aiming to double our normal sales this festive period like last year,” revealed Goel who added that the company is already seeing a 30 per cent increase in its daily order and sales average. Snapdeal recently crossed $1 billion (over Rs 6,100 crore) in sales this fiscal.

    The portal is offering up to 50 per cent discounts on home appliance, up to 40 per cent on watches, around 50 per cent on gadgets along with 1+1 offers on ethnic wears, footwear, clutches etc.

     

    Google India

    Celebrating the occasion, the search-engine giant Google has launched ‘Grand Diwali Mela’ to cash in on the festival of lights.

    Google has also set up a ‘Grand Diwali Mela’ website, which provides two activities that Indians love to indulge in: shopping and entertainment.

    The powered by sponsor for the site is Amazon India while the presented by sponsor is Lakme. Other sponsors for the site include OLX, Fiat, Line messenger, Horlicks among others. It has also partnered with Shah Rukh Khan’s Happy New Year, which is set to release on the day after Diwali.  

    It allows users from across India to try out everyday products through samples at Re 1, play games that are in sync with the cultural moment, stream movies for free and watch great content from the upcoming film Happy New Year.

    At the ‘Grand Diwali Mela,’ consumers can also experience gaming via a platform called Centerstage Hungama.com. On this online ‘zone’, consumers can stream two Bollywood films of their choice. A game called Diwali Chakri has been launched exclusively for this occasion. In association with Rummy Circle, it allows users to play with other card game enthusiasts across the country. Gaming hour will be from 9-10 pm and prizes include online offers and merchandise.

    Last month, Google stated plans of launching a virtual shopping and entertainment platform by tying up with the media buying agency GroupM. While GroupM is responsible for bringing brands onto the platform, Google provides the technical support.

    The website, which will run live till 22 October, invites patrons to try samples for products across various categories at just one rupee each, and to play and win awesome prizes and a chance to hang out with celebrities.

     

    Other sites

    Riding high on the festive season, CouponDunia, has brought together the country’s most popular e-commerce stores to give its users 30 exclusive offers over the next 15 days as part of ‘Deal-Wali Diwali’. These offers include: Rs 250 gift card on Rs 999 shopping for Amazon, Buy-1-Get-1-Free in Dominos, Flat 33 per cent off above Rs 2999 in FabFurnish, Flat 45 per cent off on Hotel Bookings at Goibibo, Flat Rs 500 off on Flights at Yatra.

    Jabong is also offering huge discounts on lifestyle products. On purchase of two products of American Swan, one can get one product of the company free. Apart from this, one can book a home with just Rs 999 under ‘Living Room Bonanza’ and will also be entitled to 20 per cent discount on total cost.

    With the massive discounts offered and customers being treated as kings, this Diwali marks the growth of the e-commerce sector in India. So, shop till the discounts last and we at Indiantelevision.com wish you a happy Diwali and a fun festive season.

     

  • Shah Rukh Khan joins the e-commerce wagon

    Shah Rukh Khan joins the e-commerce wagon

    MUMBAI: From industry veterans to Bollywood superstars, everyone wants to be a part of the red-hot Indian online retail market. The latest to board the e-commerce train is the King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan who has signed on as the brand ambassador for the fashion e-tailer Yepme, which is his maiden association with an online commerce player.

     

    The brand will introduce the legendary actor who is often touted as the national style icon as its brand ambassador, through an extensive television campaign for its upcoming Autumn-Winter collection 2014.

     

    Expressing his excitement at joining hands with Yepme.com, the baadshah of Bollywood said, “This is the first time that I am endorsing an online fashion brand and I am very excited to partner with Yepme for this! For fashion to be impactful, it has to evolve with time and maintain freshness. Yepme, with its focus on fast fashion is an extremely innovative and fashion right brand, offering the most current fashion trends. I look forward to join the fashion revolution that they have started which is taking the youth across the country by storm!”

     

    According to media reports, the deal with the Gurgaon-based company is structured in a way that lets the actor pick up a stake in Yepme going forward.

     

    Speaking on the announcement, Yepme.com co-founder and COO Sandeep Sharma said, “We are thrilled to have Shah Rukh on board. This association will definitely help build a strong connect between the brand and his fans across the country. Shah Rukh commands a huge fan following across all age groups in India and abroad and his presence will drastically increase the aspirational value of Yepme.”

     

    “He is the King of hearts, extremely hardworking and well read and carries himself with a sense of style that is a class apart. His style is effortless and casual and that is what we, at Yepme are all about,” he added.

     

    Further it is also learnt that the four-year-old company has got on board Prasoon Joshi to work on the new campaign that goes live on 10 November. Their plan is to spend Rs 15-20 crore over the next three months on its multi-media advertising campaign featuring SRK in an attempt to fight its bigger rivals.

     

    Earlier this year, Yepme had signed some of the other known faces of Bollywood like Farhan Akhtar and Sonu Sood its brand ambassadors.

     

  • Celebrate ‘Deal-Wali Diwali’ with CouponDunia

    Celebrate ‘Deal-Wali Diwali’ with CouponDunia

    MUMBAI: Coupon code website CouponDunia has launched a series of campaigns this festival season. Apart from offering 30 exclusive deals on their website, they recently released two videos for their Diwali campaign; one called ‘Deal-Wali Diwali’ and another music video in association with East India Company (EIC).

     

    With their new Diwali campaign – ‘Deal-Wali Diwali’, they are trying to capture consumer’s mindset on giving or even receiving gifts.  Within four days of its launch, the video received over 1 lakh views.

     

    Link to the Diwali Video:

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nq3V0_1OFY

     

    Talking about the ‘Deal Wali Diwali’ video, CouponDunia Founder and CEO Sameer Parwani said, “CouponDunia’s core brand value lies in helping consumers save money. Festivals and special days provide us an opportunity to make our loved ones happy. It is all about spreading happiness. Now with the online retail industry offering some great deals and discounts, gifting has never been easier. Through this video we have tried to showcase what each one of us feels even while getting a gift from a dear one?”

     

    While the first video deals with gifts and happy part of the festival, the other video addresses and voices the not so pleasant perspective of the common man on how festivals are being celebrated these days.

     

    As the country gears up for the upcoming festivities, people are already dreading the impending traffic jams, surging noise pollution, filthy streets and leftovers of celebrations everywhere.

     

     “I think it is a common problem that all of us our facing today. We all enjoy celebrating festivals but there is a different side to it as well. We loved the way EIC has tried to incorporate the concept of celebration through this video and hence are happy to partner with them in spreading this simple message,” Parwani further added.

     

    On associating with CouponDunia, EIC founder Kunal Rao said, “I’m glad to see corporates get involved in these matters. You could say they are performing corporate social responsibility through a sense of humour! We are glad CouponDunia sees the fun side of life and are very happy to be associated with them”.

     

    The video, a parody of Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’, is a light-hearted, good-spirited take on this problem includes many familiar faces like Suresh Menon, Ashwin Mushran, Gaurav Kapur, VJ Bani and Jose.

     

    Titled ‘Wrecking God’, the video is shot entirely on iPhone 5S and mixes smart humour with a social message.

     

    Link of the video:

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bOhjURZOeM&feature=youtu.be

     

  • Snapdeal takes the road less travelled…

    Snapdeal takes the road less travelled…

    MUMBAI: Be it acquisitions, deals or launches of products, Snapdeal continues to make headlines.

    While Amazon India is partnering with Future Group and Flipkart has acquired Myntra to boost the fashion retail section, Snapdeal is attempting to break the clutter by filling its basket with products from diverse categories.

    In the last few weeks, the e-tailer is ventured into selling homes, two-wheelers and four-wheelers, gourmet food. It has also inked some exclusive tie-ups with electronics retailer Croma and television manufacturer VU Technologies among others. Snapdeal is also one of the sponsors for the famous reality television show, Bigg Boss 8.

    “We offer a platform where anyone can come and sell or buy anything that can be sold. We are trying to replicate the offline market place in its most democratic manner possible online,” says Snapdeal offlibe marketing senior VP Maneesh Goel.

    “The intention is to try and cater to every single consumer,” he adds.

    Snapdeal, as a strategy, is trying to capture the entire wallet share of Indian customers and has been quite successful so far.

     “Snapdeal has been one of the sites which is constantly evolving with newer ideas both in terms of products on offer and marketing strategies”, says Team Pumpkin co-founder, Swati Nathani.  

    According to Trust Research Advisory CEO, N Chandramouli, “This approach is done to get involved in every aspect of a customer’s purchase. All products are the same in the purchase – one pays and the other sells but with the degree of purchase involvement and the price changes. If Snapdeal is successful in smoothly operating the entire purchase cycle, they will definitely grow in terms of the bond that they share with their customers and thereby increasing trust.”

    Snapdeal has managed to raise over $233 million (over Rs 1,400 crores) this year from investors including Premji Invest, Temasek and eBay Inc. Industry veteran, Ratan Tata also invested in the site, giving it his stamp of approval.  According to media reports, Alibaba is also said to have forayed into the Indian e-commerce space with Snapdeal as its partners.

    With its ‘bachate raho (keep saving)’ tagline and focus on unbranded products sold by small manufacturers and retailers, Snapdeal has established itself as a mass-retailer, with over half of these 50,000 merchants selling fashion and lifestyle products that account for 60 percent of its orders.

    “Most categories which are generally sold on the urban arena involve middlemen and hence their value is rising. With Snapdeal foraying into the sections, the involvement of middlemen is reducing leading to fall in their value,” Goel added.

    Snapdeal recently crossed $1 billion (or Rs 6,000 crore) in sales (called gross merchandise value in the online world) taking on rival Flipkart, which had achieved the target a few months ago.

    The new categories such as real estate, gourmet foods and automobiles are critical for the portal. For both Tata Value Homes and the new Mahindra Scorpio, the site let users pre-book online for an amount (Rs 30,000 Tata Value Homes and Rs 20,000 for the new Mahindra Scorpio) that is much lower than required through traditional mediums such as at a car dealer’s or property sales office.

    Tying up with Tata Value Homes, the e-tailer announced 85 homes, worth Rs 40 crore, were sold in six days. It also introduced a new gourmet section on the site in partnership with Sanjeev Kapoor.

    According to Nathani, “Gourmet is the section which should bring the next level of revolution in the e-commerce space. After Books, Electronics, Fashion and Home, Gourmet has been one section which everyone wants to explore. The category has also been a little underplayed in the offline space and therefore, we think that this can be the game changer in the e-commerce space.”

    With Diwali coming soon, the online portal is planning a huge campaign for its customers. But more than that, they are concentrating on the marketing of it.

    “The campaign will last around 40-45 days. The intention is that, depending upon day to day we will be clocking around 1000-2000 ads slots everyday, the campaigns will peak on several days, overall targeting around 50,000-60,000 slots,” Goel reveals.

    “Intention is to double the revenue through Diwali sales,” he added.

    Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal.com, has recently reported a loss of Rs 264.6 crores for the year ended March, compared with a loss of Rs 120 crores in the previous year.

    “In terms of numbers and reach, currently we would say Flipkart is the winner but with its constantly evolving strategies, we will soon see Snapdeal getting into the top spot, “Nathani opines.

    The battle is a close one for now. The company is venturing into various brands from auto, electronics, mobile phones, home furnishings, kitchen appliances, beauty, footwear to clothing to get them online.

  • Timesaverz.com raises a seed round from leading angel and seed investors

    Timesaverz.com raises a seed round from leading angel and seed investors

    MUMBAI: Timesaverz, a GSF Accelerator company, is a “mobile first” marketplace that connects home service seekers with home service providers. It has secured a seed round of financing from a group of leading angel investors led Neville Taraporewalla, Senior Industry Leader in Consumer Internet, and by Rajesh Sawhney, Founder of GSF Accelerator and the GSF Superangels platform. The other investors include AshishJhalani (Founder at eTailing India), Nitesh Kripalani (ex-Digital Business Head at Sony Entertainment) and leading GSF Superangels like Dinesh Agarwal, Founder of Indiamart and Nish Bhutani, COO of Saffronart.

     

    Co-Founded by Debadutta Upadhyaya & Lovnish Bhatia in April 2013, the Timesaverz.com platform has built a strong network of 500 plus service partners over the last 15 months of operations.Each service partnergoes through a rigorous process before enlisting with the Timesaverz network, this includes – a thorough background check, verification of skill-sets and polishing of soft-skills. This network of skilled agents across Mumbai helps time-stressed Mumbaikars outsource their home service requirements in the area of cleaning tasks, handymen jobs, appliances repairs and errands coordination.

     

    It’s a very simple process.All the user has to do is – visit www.timesaverz.com online or through a mobile device, choose the task that needs to get done, select the date and time they want the job to be completed and pay up. Timesaverz then uses its proprietaryalgorithms to assign the right service partner to complete the job. Quality service delivery on time is ensured through LIVE tracking of the entire process from job request to job completion and feedback gathering through mobility solutions.

     

    Says Rajesh Sawhney, Founder of GSF Accelerator and GSF Superangels, “Timesaverz is a mobile first company. It is a unique mobile marketplace which combines “uberification of services” with a deep understanding of the needs and dynamics of Indian household. The seasoned leadership team of Timesaverz has curated a strong network of service partners and have built a scalable model of service delivery.

     

    Says Debadutta Upadhyaya (Nominated as one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs in the country by sumHR),  “Over the last 15 months, the Timesaverzteam has established a business around organizing a disorganized home services market through mobile technology intervention.At 33% repeat customers month on month and 10x revenue growth trend vis-?-vis’ last year, the business is now poised for ahuge growth. Not only that, the social impact of this model has seen job creation and supplementary income for individual skilled workers. The current fundraising will be used to expand into other cities and strengthen our mobile-first vision.”

     

    Although a new concept in Indian context, this genre of business has seen some robust funding in the developed markets in the likes of Thumbtack, Handy (previously Handybook) and Taskrabbit

  • And the e-commerce war continues…

    And the e-commerce war continues…

    MUMBAI: The day began with one of the most interesting ad wars on the front pages of leading newspapers of recent times and ended, on one hand with Flipkart apologising to its customers even after clocking $100 million in 10 hours while on the other hand Snapdeal, making a crore per minute, scoring its highest sale in a single day.

     

    Even though the fight for the market share between e-retailers has been going on for some time now, the day 6 October seems to have made history in the e-commerce space with discounts and deals never heard of and the impossible to miss marketing by the e-commerce sites. The day signals the start of a marketing war that is set to intensify in the months to come.

     

    In a bid to differentiate itself, Flipkart launched the ‘big billion day’ sale along with a matching television ad campaign for the past two weeks. It was projected as the mother of all flash sales, with the aim of surpassing the turnovers of multiple day sales in a single day. Though it did not turn out the way it was supposed to.

     

    The sale not only affected the home-grown brand Flipkart, it also impacted its competitors like Amazon and Snapdeal majorly along with Indian retailers like Future group. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has also launched a probe into the sites and the government may also launch a separate policy for the sector soon.

     

    According to Trust Research Advisory (TRA) CEO N Chandramouli the Big Billion day sale was merely a catalyst to a situation that has already been simmering for a while. “It is essential that the government looks into the matter as with the absence of legislative measures the online retailers exist in a state of anarchy,” he says.

     

    Talking about the Big billion day fiasco, Chandramouli reckons, “The Big Billion day fiasco definitely has coloured the perception of people negatively. If this has not awoken all the e-commerce brands to ensuring they tighten their systems before embarking on such an offer day, then there will still be trouble.”

     

    “On the other hand, this fiasco must have also strengthened the resolve of competing brands to prove that they will stand true to their promises, ensuring that their promise to the consumers is always met,” he adds.

     

    Chandramouli feels that mature players like Amazon were the gainers in this fiasco backed by their years of experience and learning. “Everyone other than Flipkart has benefitted from this fiasco. The competition is being trusted more and Flipkart’s stranglehold is being broken, the consumer has got some good deals and they benefit too,” he points out.

     

    Team Pumpkin business head Swati Nathani has a different view. She says, “We did see complete social media backlash for Flipkart on 6 October and assumed that the e-commerce giant will definitely not achieve the targets set by itself. However, at the end of the day, we did see Flipkart breaking all records and emerging as a clear winner. Despite that, the co founders sent an apology note to all the customers. In our opinion, Flipkart has gained more than it has lost after the fiasco.”

     

    When it came to ads, none of the e-tailers were behind. With Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Day’ sale ads flooding the pages of major Indian newspapers, Amazon’s response alluded to India’s recent successes in space with its “Mission to Mars” campaign, while Snapdeal tried to play it cool with a pitch that ran with the tagline ‘For others it’s a big day. For us, today is no different’.

     

    The statistics show that a combination of #Flipkart and #BigBillionDay received approximately 57,600 mentions versus 15,000 mentions for #CheckSnapdealToday. #Flipkart and #BigBillionDay collectively received approximately 2,137 million impressions across Twitter, while #CheckSnapDeal received around 859 million impressions. Emotions favoured Snapdeal where it received only seven per cent negative sentiment mentions compared to 23 per cent for Flipkart. The conclusion could be that while Flipkart got the numbers, Snapdeal, even with the smaller numbers it could manage, kept customers happy.

     

    And now, even after the dust has settled on the 6 October fiasco, the ad wars continue.  As Amazon now comes up with its latest Diwali Dhamaka sale, Snapdeal continues with its trending #CheckSnapdealToday tagline. Full page back to back ads can be viewed in leading newspapers like the Times of India.

     

    Even as customers continue to shop with sites offering astonishing discounts, the retailers and the government have started expressing concerns over huge discounts being offered by e-commerce firms.

     

    While Chandramouli believes that there are only two possibilities in such cases, firstly that the offer is coming from manufacturers or the e-tailers are absorbing the losses of the discounts.

     

    “Either way, it is not sustainable. If the objective is to pulling in new e-buyers by offering them unheard of discounts, it will help, but it only builds the entire market, not loyalty to any particular brand,” he opines.

     

    Nathani reveals that the current focus of e-commerce players is more to gain the market share in customer mindsets rather than profitability. “Jabong has incurred a net loss of Rs 293 crore in the last fiscal year. So we would say that the e-tailers will even sell products at a loss to ensure that customers keep returning to them. Customers, therefore, are at the best spot right now in terms of advantages,” she says.

     

    But even with the losses, the discounts do not stop. “E-commerce is a rapidly growing sector and often due to the absence of a physical manifestation of the store, online advertisers tend to promise in superlatives,” says Chandramouli.

     

    Adding to the same, Nathani reckons, “Customers expectations have definitely risen in terms of discounts. For eg Snapdeal offered iPhone 5S for Rs 24,999 in its newspaper ad and now, this price has become benchmark for the customers who are looking out to buy the phone.”

     

    According to the pre-dominant consumer sentiment, Flipkart which holds 50 per cent market share in the Indian market may have to now work harder to get its back after the fiasco.

     

    Though, she clearly believes that In terms of numbers and reach, Flipkart is the clear winner currently.  “But with the constantly evolving strategies, they see Snapdeal getting closer to the top spot soon.”

     

    But with Diwali coming near, it would now be interesting to see how the #bigbillionday fiasco will or will not affect the sales of the portals and how prepared they are to give their customers a good time. But till they #happyshopping.

     

  • IndianRoots receives the Emerging Concept of the Year Award

    IndianRoots receives the Emerging Concept of the Year Award

    MUMBAI: IndianRoots has received the prestigious Emerging Concept of the Year Award at the Star Retailer Awards 2014 hosted by Franchise India. The Star Retailer Awards, now returning in its 9th year, is considered the market benchmark for retail success in India and continues to be a unique celebration of the very best of retailers who provide their customers a complete experience. With an outstanding performance in a time span of one year, IndianRoots was recognized for its achievement in the e-commerce industry. An NDTV e-commerce venture, IndianRoots was able to achieve sales of over Rs 2 crores during this festive week.

     

    Accepting the award, Rahul Narvekar, CEO of NDTV Ethnic Retail Limited said, “The e-commerce space in India is crowded. We pushed ourselves to carve a space for IndianRoots and attempt a business model that has a long-term vision. Building on the core value of the NDTV Group, our focus was to build a brand that our customers could trust. We are humbled by the acknowledgement we have received from Franchise India for our efforts and we thank our customers, who have pushed us to serve them better.”
    The festive season being a key factor, visitors to IndianRoots have increased by 101 per cent with an increase in page views by 191 per cent. With a substantially positive beginning to the festive season, IndianRoots has reported a significant growth in revenues.

     

    Executive Director of NDTV Ethnic Retail Limited, Shyatto Raha said, “The festive season has had a successful start for us. The sharp jump in consumer traffic and a 200 percent increase in our average order value gives us immense confidence that we are being able to meet our customers’ expectations. In a highly competitive and rapidly growing industry, we are happy that IndianRoots has been able to carve out a niche for itself.”

     

    IndianRoots represents over 60 designers such as Sabyasachi, RohitBal, Anita Dongre, Neeta Lulla, PranaviKapur, Rajesh Pratap Singh among others and carries products from almost 500 brands. Its daily inventory offers close to 1,10,000 products to visitors from over 200 countries, with orders being shipped globally.

  • CarTrade.com raises Rs 185 crore

    CarTrade.com raises Rs 185 crore

    MUMBAI: Online auto classifieds platform CarTrade.com has raised Rs 185 crore to diversify and strengthen the portal’s offerings for consumers and dealers.

     

    The infusion of capital was led by an affiliate of Warburg Pincus along with participation from existing investors Canaan Partners and Tiger Global.

     

    Speaking about the fund raising, CarTrade.com founder and CEO Vinay Sanghi said, “We are extremely happy to have Warburg Pincus on board as a partner. The funds raised shall be employed to further expand our services to help us offer our consumers and dealers a seamless online experience.

     

    “We also plan to focus significantly on the mobile space and provide products and services, which will be best in class and in many cases the first of its kind,” he added.

     

    CarTrade offers a selection of over 100,000 listings, price information and certification for used cars. For new buyers, it offers reviews, on-road prices, car comparisons and latest auto news.

     

    Warburg Pincus is focused on growth investing and has over $ 39 billion in assets under management spanning over 125 companies.

     

    “We see tremendous potential in the Indian automobile market. CarTrade is one of the most innovative platforms in the online auto sector, and has shown strong growth momentum in the last couple of years. Warburg Pincus is excited about the opportunity to partner with a very talented team to further build on its position and to accelerate its growth plans,” commented Warburg Pincus India managing director Nitin Nayar.

     

    CarTrade is promoted by former head of Mahindra First Choice Sanghi and Nirvana Venture Advisors ex-managing director and eBay India former country head Rajan Mehra.

     

  • Future group inks pact with Amazon India

    Future group inks pact with Amazon India

    MUMBAI: Future Group has entered into a strategic partnership with the online retail giant Amazon India under which the e-tailer will sell the retail group’s products online.

     

    The deal will leverage the product knowledge, brand portfolio and sourcing base of the Future Group, and the e-commerce platform, customer base and reach of Amazon.in.  The deal comes soon after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos visit to India during which he met Future Group group CEO Kishore Biyani.

    Talking about the collaboration Biyani comments, “The bottom line in each of our retail success stories is ‘know your customer’. Insights into the soul of Indian consumers – how they operate, think, dream and live – helps us innovate and create functionally differentiating products and experiences. Partnership with Amazon, which obsesses to be earth’s most customer centric company, will enable us to leverage their strengths, investments and innovations in technology to reach out to wider set of consumers across India.”

    According to the joint statement issued by the companies, the partnership will initially focus on the Future’s Group fashion brands and will subsequently cover all other categories. The company’s current portfolio has over 40 brands and around 10,000 unique styles that will be exclusively retailed online through Amazon.in platform. Once operational, customers on Amazon.in platform can buy Future Group’s fashion brands Lee Cooper, Converse, Indigo Nation, Scullers or Jealous21, among others.

    Moreover, Amazon India will also assist Future Group in accelerating new product development in categories that are currently not served by traditional retailers.  

    Commenting on the latest alliance in the e-commerce space, Trust Research Advisory (TRA) CEO N Chandramouli reckons, “Today the e-commerce space is no longer limited by geographic boundaries in a sense as fixed as it used to be a few years ago. With its current offering Amazon already caters to a massive Indian.

    “Future group which has been a leading retailer in the country understands the soul of Indian consumers. As one of India’s retail pioneers with multiple retail formats, they connect a diverse and passionate community of Indian buyers, sellers and businesses. The collective impact on business is staggering: Around 300 million customers walk into Future group stores each year and choose products and services supplied by over 30,000 small, medium and large entrepreneurs and manufacturers from across India, so with the Amazon tie up, this number is set to grow and venture into the on line spectrum,” he adds.

    Partnership between the two organisations will bring together the best of consumer insight from the online and offline world and create the omni channel approach to serving customers, according to the company statement.

    According to Team Pumpkin co-founder Swati Nathani, “The partnership is definitely a win win situation for both the companies. Amazon will get the support of millions of Indian consumers who have already trusted Future Group brands and Future Group will foray into e-commerce space again, but this time with the support of global leaders in this category. This partnership will not only lead to more people to purchase their favourite brands online, but will also get another door for Future Group to generate  .”

    “This definitely calls for more competition and harder marketing techniques. Future Group has been at the forefront of offline retail in India and its presence on amazon.in shall definitely be a cause of worry to some other leading e-commerce players,” she adds.

    Amazon.in will also collaborate with Future Group brands in promoting the existing and new brands in markets, explore co-branding opportunities and accelerate new product development in categories which are currently not served by retailers. The companies will also explore synergies in areas such as distribution network, customer acquisition and cross promotions, the statement added.

    Commenting on the new partnership, Amazon India vice president and country manager Amit Agarwal said, “We are excited to collaborate, leverage each other’s unique strengths and serve customers across India. The product portfolio of Future Group, their innate understanding of the Indian consumer mind set and our ability to serve and deliver a convenient, easy, trusted and reliable delivery experience to a nationwide set of customers is a win win for all.”

    Amazon.in started its Diwali sale on 10 Oct, but did not go with the kind of heavy discounts that Flipkart and Snapdeal did last week.

    “This is the coming together of two trusted brands, Amazon and Future. Even more, they are in complementary spaces of businesses which is bound to create a strength much larger than the sum of the individuals. Not only will Amazon get leadership due to the extremely well oiled supply chain, but Future will get a business outlet, that may be larger than many of its retail stores together. I am sure the competition is beating themselves as to why they didn’t think of this one,” Chandramouli comments.

    “The partnership must not be seen as an attempt at ‘indianisation’ of Amazon. It is much more than that – this partnership stands on extremely strong business logic,” he adds.

    Future Retail is the flagship company of Future Group and owns the Big Bazaar chain of retail stores. Future Lifestyle Fashions has a portfolio of over two dozen fashion and lifestyle brands.

    Biyani recently criticised Flipkart and other e-commerce retailers in India for the deep discounts they offered during a promotional sale for the festival of Diwali, saying it would hurt other retail channels.

    “Kishore Biyani reportedly lashed out against Flipkart.com, due to selling of goods below cost price, which according to him was unfair. He doesn’t seem to be against the e-commerce concept per se. Future Group already had its own portal www.futurebazaar.com, which was one of the first online e-commerce portals in India, “Nathani opines.

    The Future Group’s electronics store, Ezone, already has an online presence and adopts a hybrid approach to sales involving both online as well as traditional brick and mortar stores. The group has also been speaking about ramping up its presence online.

    In September, Tata Group Company Infiniti Retail, which operates consumer durables and information technology (IT) retail chain Croma, and Snapdeal.com also announced a similar strategic partnership through which goods available at Croma stores were made available for purchase through Snapdeal.com.

    Amazon chief Bezos, during his visit to India, spoke about the potential he saw for the fashion industry in the online space and the deal with Future Group could help boost its battle against Indian competitors like Flipkart that acquired online fashion retailer Myntra. Amazon is also reportedly in talks to acquire online fashion retailer Jabong.