MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm, Watconsult is betting big on its newly launched service eCommencify and expects a revenue share of 20 percent from it by 2019. “We hope that by 2017 it would contribute 10 percent of our total revenue and by 2019 it would be 20 percent of our revenue,” said Watconsult CEO Rajiv Dhingra.
Spurred by the growing eCommerce market and the equally growing demand for brick and mortar businesses to adapt to the digital environment, especially in the goods sector, Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm, Watconsult has launched the go to market eCommerce solution eCommencify. The agency already has two clients in the kitty for this new service.
“eCommencify is a solutions stack by Watconsult that addresses the pain points of brands looking for eCommerce strategy on a medium and long term basis,” Dhingra said.
The need to expand services to cater to e-commerce businesses came from the industry projection that the market in India would quadruple to $60-70 billion over the next 5 years, driven by faster growth in goods than services.
“We believe that by 2020 most brands would have an eCommerce exposure, be it an FMCG brand or a chocolates brand or even a cement brand. The challenge is to make that exposure, whether through owned or third party platforms, a successful and fast growing one with robust business results.”
Explaining how the service works, Dhingra continued, “Watconsult’s solution in eCommencify looks to address this in a holistic way by being partners with brands that are looking to be committed to eCommerce growth over next 2-4 years. eCommencify looks at four verticals of solutions — around technology, digital marketing, UX and analytics. We also provide content cataloguing support from an execution perspective.”
To make the service holistic, Dhingra and his team had been hiring talent across levels as well as training their current teams to put this solution stack together. It will be available both as a standalone and as a package based on how deals are done with clients.
When asked what made him sense the need for the service, Dhingra revealed, “There is lack of clarity, confusion and a sense of uncertainty when it comes to eCommerce for brands. Some of them are totally against owned eCommerce strategies, while some feel that third party brands dilute their brand equity. Clearly with so much uncertainty comes an opportunity to invest in the right talent and technology to help our clients manoeuvre this challenging yet fast growing aspect of their business.”
The beauty of the new service is that it targets non-digital business and makes them inclusive of the eCommerce world. “It’s targeted more at brick and mortar brands that are struggling with their eCommerce strategy and need a long term partner who can think through business and brand strategy in collaboration with the,” concluded Dhingra while adding that apart from this, the agency also had a few more services for their clients in the pipeline.
