ITV

Tag: E-commerce

  • Quikr Collaborates with Blind Relief Association to Empower the Blind

    Quikr Collaborates with Blind Relief Association to Empower the Blind

    MUMBAI: Quikr, India’s number one online classifieds company and Blind Relief Association, Delhi (BRAD), a premier NGO serving in the field of education and training of the blind, today announced a long term collaboration to support the visually impaired people by offering them training opportunities with Quikr.

     

    According to the agreement signed on the World Sight Day, the selected trainee-agents will contribute to the company’s day to day operations.

     

    The 10 visually impaired trainee-agents inducted will perform assigned tasks for Quikr. They will be trained to verify ad listings posted by the customers on Quikr, to ensure that the data and information listed is confirmed and accurate.  The Quikr team is working very closely with the Blind Relief Association team to ensure that they are well trained and equipped to understand this rapidly evolving category and can add value in ensuring a high quality of listings on the site.

     

    Commenting on this initiative, Founder and CEO of Quikr Pranay Chulet said, “Quikr is honoured to enter into this alliance with the Blind Relief Association of Delhi. We recognise that there is a prevalent notion that blindness and vision impairment rob people of their self reliance, and on the occasion of World Sight Day, we seek to change that mindset by bringing out the potential of these individuals. With the correct training, we will provide them with job opportunities which will build their confidence by working with a fast growing internet company.”

     

    Talking about the partnership, Hony Executive Secretary of Blind Relief Association Kailash Chandra Pande, said, “It is a privilege for us to be associated with a company like Quikr which is such a powerful brand in the online space. With this opportunity, we are providing these individuals with quality training and work experience which will hone their capabilities. This is a great way to give these youngsters the confidence and skills required to navigate in the workforce.”

  • Kenstar Ties up with Flipkart.com to launch Oxy Fryer; ropes in SRK to promote

    Kenstar Ties up with Flipkart.com to launch Oxy Fryer; ropes in SRK to promote

    MUMBAI: Adding another brand in the list, Kenstar has now roped in Shah Rukh Khan to promote its upcoming product range.

     

    The company announced that it will be launching a slew of new products in the home appliances segment soon. As a first step towards the same, it launched Oxy Fryer today, which would be exclusively available on Flipkart.com.

     

    Speaking about his association with Kenstar Shah Rukh Khan said, “Kenstar has a tremendous heritage and goodwill across the country and offers consumers’ international quality products. It is an honor to be associated with brand Kenstar.”

     

    The Bollywood star will play a pivotal role in the brand and product communication across media platforms. Following this announcement, Kenstar will also run an extensive 360 degree marketing campaign with Shah Rukh Khan to promote this innovative product, the press release said.

     

    Commenting on getting SRK on board, Kenstar COO small home appliances Arun Pal said, “We are proud to announce our association with Shah Rukh Khan to promote Oxy Fryer. Like him, the Oxy Fryer is versatile and exemplifies star like characteristics.”

     

    Talking about this exclusive launch, Flipkart SVP retail Kalyan Krishnamurthy reckoned, “We are happy that Kenstar partnered with us to introduce their new range. At Flipkart our aim is to provide our customers with the widest range of quality products. Healthy living is something we all aspire to and we are expecting a great response to this product.”

     

    Oxy Fryer enables oil free frying, while keeping the food healthy and tasty. Oxy Fryer aims at revolutionising healthy cooking by using a simple yet innovative mechanism, which helps it to fry food with fast circulation of hot air.  The company aims to sell 1 lakh units of Oxy Fryer in the first phase of the launch.

     

    Talking about the product Pal added, “We observed that there has been a surge in demand for appliances that enable healthy and hassle free cooking. 

     

    Understanding this requirement we have launched Oxy Fryer, which not only ensure Oil Free Frying, but is also safe and convenient to use.  It is tested that food when cooked in Oxy Fryer is healthier as compared to the traditional method of frying.”

     

    Oxy Fryer will be priced at Rs 7990 and can be purchased exclusively from Flipkart.

     

  • Snapdeal, now bringing shopping to the small screen

    Snapdeal, now bringing shopping to the small screen

    MUMBAI: Looking at the growth of e-commerce sector in India, shopping at a click of a button seems to be the favourite pastime of the millions in the country.

     

    To make the most of it, e-retailer Snapdeal has gone a step further and formed a 50:50 joint venture with Den Networks to extend its reach to television home shopping audiences.

     

    The entities are together setting up a TV channel, which will be used as a marketplace platform for facilitating the sale of branded and unbranded merchandise and services, including vouchers offered by third-party sellers on Snapdeal.

     

    A source from Snapdeal says, “Snapdeal is not only trying to provide for consumers in the metros but also for people in tier II tier III cities and beyond. The current retail environment doesn’t cater to the smaller cities.”

     

    “Digital marketing can really bring a lot of depth in our plans and communications when it comes to top few tier cities but when you really want to go deep down in community, to the next round of cities, television is a medium to choose. Digital is definitely going up and providing great reserves, but television still remains one of the primary mediums,” the source adds.

     

    Snapdeal, which currently has over 30,000 vendors on its platform, will get direct access to millions of households in one go through this collaboration.

     

    Based out of Delhi, Den Networks reaches an estimated 13 million households in over 200 cities across 13 states in the country.

     

    Speaking about the reason behind its association with Den Networks, the source states, “They are the best partners for us in terms of ideation, speed of moving ahead and also the kind of household that they had, so all of that fell in place perfectly for us.”

     

    A separate team is taking care of the channel, which will be headquartered in Delhi. The channel will have full-fledged distribution across the country in the coming six to seven months, adds the source.

     

    After raising $12 million in its first round of funding in January 2011, the company has so far raised $340 million from PE firms. Started in February 2010 by Kunal Bahl along with Rohit Bansal, the company witnessed phenomenal growth in 2013-14, growing 600 per cent, making it one of the fastest growing e-commerce companies in India.

     

    Snapdeal’s rival HomeShop18.com, part owned by media major Network18, has a combined reach of over 250 million consumers coming through its integrated television, internet and mobile device channels.

     

    HomeShop18 recently filed its prospectus to raise a total of $75 million through a listing on the New York Stock Exchange including an offer for sale by some shareholders such as its CEO and parent Network18.

  • Tangerine Digital launches content solution for e-commerce brands

    Tangerine Digital launches content solution for e-commerce brands

    MUMBAI: Tangerine Digital, a digital content solutions provider and part of To The New group has launched a customised content solution for brands in the budding e-commerce sector.

     

    Tangerine Digital chief operating officer Seeraj Katoch said, “As digital increasingly drives every aspect of the consumer’s life, we have observed that the digital consumer today prefers purchasing online after evaluating the product. With this unique solution, we are confident we will create content that is engaging, trend based, informative, visually attractive and well packaged that will help drive engagement this festive season. This could be in form of top quality videos, classic photo-shoots, engaging descriptions and so on!”

     

    Cashing on the festive season in India, e-commerce players have increased their marketing budget to persuade consumers to buy everything online. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) 2014 report states that the corporates are planning to spend about 25-30 per cent on advertising in this festive season as compared to the last year in consumer durables, electronics and auto taking the lead, but this change is expected in the e-commerce space ranging from higher sales in mobile telephones, shoes, apparel, gifts and electronic gadgets. 

     

    The e-commerce content solution by Tangerine Digital will enable brands to provide their customers with customized content, aggregated content and crowd sourced content that can help brands to communicate with their audiences’ at all possible digital touch points. The content solution is supported by analytics that can help brands monitor the effectiveness of their content. The solution can help brands serve the right content at the right time.

  • Flipkart joins hands with PC Jeweller

    Flipkart joins hands with PC Jeweller

    MUMBAI: Continuing the string of announcements, Flipkart has now joined hands with jewellery retailer PC Jeweller to create a platform for online jewellery shopping, reported PTI. “With the aim to revolutionise the trend of jewellery buying in India, this partnership will provide an online go-to platform for the shoppers,” both the companies said in a statement.

     

    The focus will be on the replicating the comfort, convenience and brilliance that is associated with shopping at a PC Jeweller’s large format showroom online on Flipkart, it also added.

     

    PC Jeweller executive director and chief operating officer RK Sharma said, “We are focussed on our online jewellery brand WearYourShine by PC Jeweller and going forward, we would also like to work with Flipkart towards creating a seamless offline-online integration wherein customers get a flexibility to buy online and exchange or return offline across over 46 showrooms of PC Jeweller.”

     

    “We see online jewellery sales becoming a huge market in the next few years, contributing a good share to our business,” he added.

     

    Flipkart’s deep data analytics and online cataloguing assistance will further refine the online shopping experience.

     

    Flipkart retail senior VP Kalyan Krishnamurthy said, “Our access to the country’s largest customer base allows us to predict market needs and list new products on our site that we feel will cater to current customer demands. We are confident that precious jewellery, as a category, has huge potential if done right.”

     

    “The association of Flipkart and PC Jewellers, both names that are trusted widely by customers, is well positioned to take online jewellery shopping to the next level,” he added.

  • Celebrate ‘Mission to Mars’ with Amazon.in

    Celebrate ‘Mission to Mars’ with Amazon.in

    MUMBAI: In celebration of India’s successful Magalyaan mission, Amazon.in, has announced the launch of ‘Mission to Mars’ weekend for customers in India from 4th-6th October 2014. The Mission to Mars weekend will see out-of-the-world deals and great saving for customers in addition to the everyday great deals & savings that are ongoing as part of the Online Shopping Dhamaka on www.amazon.in this festive month.

     

    “We are very proud on the successful completion of India’s Mars mission. It is a great achievement for India and we are celebrating this success by hosting a ‘Mission to Mars’ weekend between October 4th -6th for our customers,” says Amit Agarwal, Country Manager & VP, Amazon India.

     

    The ‘Mission to Mars’ weekend will begin on 4 October offering customers a weekend full of out-of-the-world deals that will add immense excitement to their festive shopping.

     

    “We have witnessed a fabulous response in the first week of our Online Shopping Dhamaka. We wish to make Week 2 much more exciting by offering customers great deals and savings every day during the festival shopping peak. There has been a 250%  increase  in the number of customers who have taken advantage of the deals on the Amazon.in in the last one week.

     

    The Top 5 categories of last week were Customer Electronics (including PC), Books, Home & Kitchen, Health and Personal Care and Baby. The Micromax Canvas A1 was one of the top selling products last week. Amazon.in is on track to selling 100K units of the device in less than two weeks of its launch and is by far the best selling phone on Amazon.in. Amazon.in also sold more than 75 thousand cans of Coke Zero in less than a week of its launch; iPhone sales witnessed a 5x jump in sales while customers bought twice the number of books during the 1st week of the Online Shopping Dhamaka.

     

    As the Online Shopping Dhamaka enters its 2nd week, customers can save big everyday and get great deals on thousands of top-selling products. Customers can enjoy –

     

    •             Flat 40% off on branded watches

    •             Flat 50% off on movie titles

    •             Flat 50% or more off on Shoes

    •             Flat 30% off on Pet Supplies

    •             Flat 30% off on Diapers

     

    Customers will get to enjoy exclusive access to new brands and products that are set to launch on Amazon.in this week. In addition, customers can benefit from several cash back offers.

     

    Customers can find more deals on http://www.amazon.in/Gifts-Store which has huge savings across a variety of Amazon.in categories – i.e home décor, electronics, kitchen appliances, video games, apparels, jewellery and more.

     

    Customers 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. Customers across several cities in India are increasingly enjoying Amazon’s guaranteed next-day delivery on more than 325,000 products fulfilled by Amazon.

     

    All customers on www.amazon.in benefit from a safe and secure ordering experience, convenient electronic payments, Cash on Delivery, no-risk hassle-free returns policy, Amazon’s 24×7 customer service support, and a globally recognized and comprehensive 100% purchase protection provided by Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee.

  • We obsess about customer, not competition, says Jeff Bezos

    We obsess about customer, not competition, says Jeff Bezos

    MUMBAI: With the battle brewing in the e-commerce segment, the sector is making headlines every day; the latest being of Amazom chairman Jeff Bezos’s four-day visit to India.

     

    To make his business intentions in India clear, Bezos, who is on his second visit to India, carried out a road show on a supply truck at the premises of a shopping mall in Bangalore on 28 August handing a $2 billion cheque to Amazon India VP and country manager Amit Agarwal. This is by far the biggest expansion money from overseas that has come from a multi-national.

     

    According to the media reports, while handing the cheque, he said, “Amazon has unveiled a $2 billion investment in the country … we’ll work to better what Indians love most in shopping — vast selection, competitive pricing and fast delivery.”

     

    Amazon had announced a $2billion investment in India barely a day after homegrown Flipkart raised $1 bn from private investors.

    As per the reports, Bezos added that the cash pile will be spent on building performance centers, upgrading logistics services, developing the mobile platform and new tools and techniques to help the small and medium businesses.

     

    Amazon’s interest in the small and medium enterprises has been echoed by several homegrown e-tailers. While Snapdeal recently announced that it was inching close to the 100,000-seller mark, Flipkart has been tying up with industry bodies like FISME and NCDPD to penetrate the SME clusters.

     

    In an initiative called Amazon OneonOne, Bezos also had luncheon with about 100 customers on 28 September in order to find their views and opinions about the site and if there were any recommendations.

     

    According to various media reports, Bezos also indicated that policy hurdles in India is not impacting the company’s investment plans for the country. India is yet to allow FDI in online retail. Another issue is lack of clarity in tax laws that are impacting the company’s functioning in various states.

     

    Amazon’s main rivals in India are Bangalore-based Flipkart and Snapdeal, the Delhi-based company that counts eBay, Azim Premji and Ratan Tata as investors. Together, they have sold goods worth more than $4 billion, with Flipkart alone estimated to have crossed $2 billion. Alibaba, too, is keen on India, and the Chinese company has the money, experience and ambition to succeed here.

     

    Talking about the competition, Bezos also reportedly said, “We have a long history of obsessing over customers rather than competition.”

     

    With revenue of nearly $75 billion in 2013 the giant online retail site has a market value of $150 billion. It also runs a fast growing cloud computing business called Amazon Web Services and makes Kindle tablets and Fire smartphones. Bezos, in his personal capacity, bought The Washington Post newspaper last year. In India, Amazon started its technology operation first and employs a total of about 12,000 staff at offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi.

     

  • Tata Group to be the ‘Alibaba’ of India?

    Tata Group to be the ‘Alibaba’ of India?

    MUMBAI: The multiple investments made by its chairman emeritus Ratan Tata in e-tail and the steep rise in the e-commerce industry seems to have inspired the Tata Group too, which is now reportedly planning a big entry into the e-commerce space with a marketplace-based model.

     

    The Economic Times reported that the site will be headed by its subsidiary Tata industries and that Tata is modeling its business on Tmall.com, which is the marketplace in the Alibaba Group.

     

    The new marketplace business, modelling on Alibaba’s Tmall.com, would allow third-party sellers on the platform. It would help generate revenues by charging a fee or commission from merchants, who will use the platform.

     

    The yet-to-be-named venture is likely to be rolled out in 2015, and will initially showcase Tata’s existing retail chain brands such as Westside, Croma and Star Bazaar. Tata is also planning to tie up with its partner Zara, which only sells online through its own sites.

     

    It will also allow other merchants to sell alongside Tata’s various units. The group has already reportedly begun enrolling vendors and hiring people, the report added.

     

    Tata already has a substantial presence in real-world retail, including joint ventures with Britain’s Tesco, Spain’s Zara and coffee chain Starbucks. Last month Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, bought a stake in Snapdeal and online jewellery retailer Bluestone.

     

    India’s e-commerce market has been booming in recent years with market leader Flipkart clocking a valuation of $7 billion in a July funding round when it raised $1 billion from a clutch of existing investors and a day later, Amazon announced plans to invest $2 billion in India.

     

    Also, India’s online retail business is expected to surge to between $19 billion and 38 billion, from about $2.3 billion in annual sales now. Enticed by the potential, other business houses like Reliance Industries and Aditya Birla Group have reportedly been hinting at forays into the e-commerce space but have not revealed any concrete plans so far.

  • Junglee.com 2.0: From a comparison site to a marketplace

    Junglee.com 2.0: From a comparison site to a marketplace

    MUMBAI: Growing at 30 per cent since FY09 and aiming at becoming an $18 billion industry by FY15, the e-commerce players have been making non-stop headlines for quite some time now.

     

    With the steep rise in online usage, Amazon is now focusing more on its first entry into India, Junglee.com. Launched in 2012 by the global e-commerce giant, Junglee.com provided price comparisons for consumers. However, things have changed now.

     

    The site has now turned into a marketplace offering services like ‘Buy on Junglee’ and ‘Sell on Junglee’. The site has also launched an app to provide easier access to customers.

     

    Explaining the origin of the site, Amazon India VP and country manager Amit Agarwal says, “In the fast growing online shopping market, the profusion of options led to a need for a shopping guide that can help online shoppers navigate through the maze of options. To bridge this gap, we launched Junglee.com in 2012.”

     

    “Junglee enables customers to find and discover products from online and offline retailers in India. Junglee organises massive selection and multiple buying options from hundreds of sellers, and leverages Amazon’s proven technologies and millions of customer reviews to help customers make smart purchase decisions,” he adds.

     

    The portal offers customers access to more than three crore products with over six crore customer reviews and thousands of seller reviews. It has more than 2,300 online shopping sites and 1 lakh offline stores listed.

     

    Talking about the new features, Junglee.com GM Mahendra Nerurkar says, “With ‘Buy on Junglee’, we are helping sellers and customers improve their engagement with each other further and help convert leads at the time of intent.”

     

    He also added that Junglee had rebranded its Product Ads service to ‘Sell on Junglee’, earlier this year. It was particularly targeted at smaller retailers, who would get a chance to list their products on the site.

     

    Agarwal reckons, “Statistics say that 25 per cent of all online shoppers first visit comparison sites. 45 per cent tend to buy from offline stores after comparing online. This is what has driven offline stores to aspire to be on Junglee.com.”

     

    Besides, the site also allows consumers to sell their old and used products through its tie-up with Quikr.com.

     

    “Through our tie-up with Quikr.com, we also introduced product listings from offline store as well as across pre-owned products,” Nerurkar reckoned.

     

    Currently even though listing products on Junglee is free, they charge a fee per transaction for products that are bought using ‘Buy on Junglee’ facility. It is estimated that Junglee will be charging a flat rate of 5 per cent as part of a promotional offer that lasts till 31 May 2015. Rates will vary from five to 15 per cent after that.

     

    These features make Junglee a marketplace, along with a comparison site, and it is this strategy that will help Amazon India have an edge over its rivals. However, players such as Flipkart and Snapdeal have not yet listed themselves on Junglee.

     

    In addition, they also recently announced the launch of Junglee mobile app for android smartphones. This launch makes it convenient for customers to check prices of over 3.1 crore products anywhere through the easy to use app. 

     

    “The app enables shoppers to search across online and local sellers together as well as compare prices across new and used products, all in one place. It also includes an auto-suggest feature, filters to help refine results by brand, price, item condition, discount, average customer review and more attributes,” says Agarwal.

     

    Adding to that Nerurkar reveals, “The app has started trending on Google Play among apps from all categories. Within a month of launch, the app has been downloaded by over two lakh customers. We will continue to add new features to the app and help more customers check prices from anywhere using the app.”

     

    On an average, the site witnesses about 15 million sessions per month.

     

    Talking about future plans,  Agarwal comments, “Our vision for Junglee is to enable customers to determine where to buy anything, anywhere (online or offline, within or outside India). It’s a neutral and unbiased platform. At one place, customers can find the best offers on leading online e-commerce web sites such as Amazon.in, Jabong, HomeShop18, Indiatimes Shopping, Infibeam and hundreds of others.”

     

    Junglee.com has emerged as the number one search and comparison shopping site in India as per comScore and has occupied the top position on comScore charts for eight quarters in a row starting September 2012.

  • Myntra signs up with iProspect Communicate 2 for GAP

    Myntra signs up with iProspect Communicate 2 for GAP

    MUMBAI: Myntra has teamed up with iProspect Communicate 2 to become the first brand in India to sign up for Google Analytics Premium (GAP).

     

    For years, Google Analytics has been a digital marketer’s best friend, providing them with data driven insights into the target audience, allowing them to narrow in on the customer path and tailor the campaigns, according to the user. Google Analytics Premium offers all these features plus those additional aids that marketers have been dreaming of.

     

    GAP is more powerful, provides deeper insights and ensures complete support to brands. iProspect Communicate 2 has a team of trained and certified experts who are dedicated to offer complete GAP support in terms of implementation guides, training and audits. This will be exceptionally beneficial to a huge e-commerce site like Myntra.com with a registered base of 10 million and growing.

     

    iProspect Communicate 2 MD Vivek Bhargava said, “We were the first Google Analytics Certified partners in India six years ago. Quite naturally, Google thought we would be the best company to be their first Analytics Premium partner, as well. Companies like Myntra that garner a huge amount of traffic, need an enterprise version of Google Analytics. Our data led approach to digital marketing has always delivered superior ROI to our clients and I believe this development will continue and grow with Myntra as well.”

     

    The same enthusiastic approach was shared by Myntra chief revenue officer Prasad Kompalli. He was quoted as saying “Over the past few years, the number of users choosing to shop online has shot through the roof. This being said, the sheer volume of data that is generated is unimaginable. We need to segment our traffic in greater detail and this is where Google Analytics Premium will help us. We have multiple marketing channels like Adwords, Doubleclick, GSP, TV etc. With real-time data updates and easy ways to analyse multiple channels of data, Google Analytics Premium will help us to come up with innovative data insights. We feel we can offset the higher price of the tool with the savings we will be generating.”