Are you planning to jump on the ecommerce bandwagon? Have a look at Zepo.

Are you planning to jump on the ecommerce bandwagon? Have a look at Zepo.  

– By Prathamesh Patil

In order to cater to a growing generation of internet and ecommerce-savvy shoppers, businesses are rapidly going online; maintaining not just plain static websites but full-fledged online stores. And it’s not only the large financially well-off retailers or manufacturers. SMBs are not far behind in realizing that ecommerce has emerged as a wonderful channel of sales, to serve their existing customers better.

Ask a designer running a boutique in the Hauz Khas village in Delhi, if she had thought selling her dresses all the way to a customer in Chennai was possible before? With the growing usage of internet and social media, the far-fetched has become a reality now. It won’t be long before you find every business in the neighborhood handing out business cards with not just telephone numbers but their website address too!

Zepo, an ecommerce platform  based out of Mumbai, is playing its part in trying to facilitate small retailers and manufacturers across India, setup their own exclusive retail space on the web; their own online stores at literally half the cost. Zepo started with the mandate of equipping first generation entrepreneurs with the right arsenal to start selling online by giving them an easy interface, gorgeous storefronts and most importantly, the entire eco-system to help them sell online easily.

Like Madhavi Sani, a Zepo customer and an online jewelry retailer in Mumbai, says, “(Zepo) is definitely a blessing for the Indian e-commerce industry and entrepreneurs. Reasonably priced and easy to use interface which keeps getting better and better with new features and excellent team support. A match for the big daddy’s on the net!”

Powering over 900 online stores as of today, Zepo has seen an upsurge in the number of SMBs choosing ecommerce as another sales channel. They recently concluded an ecommerce census of the online stores operating on their platform, for the first two quarters of the 2013-14 fiscal year. The figures not only substantiate the claims that ecommerce is becoming a preferred point of sale among SMEs but also provides insights into the ecommerce trends of small businesses.

How are small businesses doing online?

All the online stores on Zepo, combined, managed to bill 245 million in sales in the first 2 financial quarters of 2013-14.

Furthermore, Maharashtra emerged the leader at embracing ecommerce, closely followed by Delhi. SMEs across states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are also rapidly going online with growing internet penetration and ecommerce awareness. Online shoppers across Maharashtra and Delhi contribute towards a large majority of transactions seen by small and medium businesses. But other states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are not far behind.

And as far as product categories go, the popular categories of clothing and electronics are predominant online, with 22% and 14% of online stores selling these products, respectively. But the more unconventional product categories like gourmet food, books and personal care products fast catching on.

Looking at the numbers and figures, it can definitely be said that ecommerce is for anyone and everyone with a product that can be sold. The time has gone when small business shied away from the web and stuck to conventional retail channels. With changing times, the consumer behavior is changing too. And it’s about time that small businesses took to ecommerce as another sales channel, like they started using a telephone to take orders in the 90s.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank a stepping stone for Indian Banking Industry

Bharatiya Mahila Bank a stepping stone for Indian Banking Industry

“The launch of Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) is not only a symbol of women empowerment but the substance of empowerment”  said Finance Minister P Chidambaram at the inauguration of India’s first women commercial bank – the Bharatiya Mahila Bank by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson, Ms. Sonia Gandhi in Mumbai last week.

Addressing a post inaugural press conference, the Finance Minister said only 26 percent of women in India have bank accounts and per capita credit for women is currently 80 percent lower than that for men.  He said, “there is deep seated bias, at the institutional and individual levels against women. Since fewer women have bank accounts, fewer women get bank loans. Hence, the need for a bank that caters predominantly to women’s needs”.  Mr. Chidambaram added that “the seed we have sown today,  when it branches out and flowers, it will bring enormous benefits to half the population of the country.”

Finance Minister stated that the Bharatiya Mahila Bank will be a universal bank which will establish branches across India and offer all banking products that a regular commercial bank offers.  He said that BMB would  design and offer special products tailor made to the needs of women.  It will cater to everybody from  self help groups to lower middle class women to high net worth individuals.

Apart from the Nariman Point branch, Bharatiya Mahila Bank has six other branches at Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Guwahati.  Two other branches in Delhi and Jaipur would be inaugurated in December, after the conclusion of state assembly election process there. By the end of the financial year, the Bank plans to open at least 25 branches, eyeing a presence in every state capital. The bank network will be expanded in subsequent years to reach 770 branches by 2020 covering Tier II and III cities, rural areas and unbanked areas. The Bank has drawn up an ambitious business plan to touch Rs 60,000 crores total business (deposits + advances) by 2020.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank, headquartered in New Delhi is headed by Ms. Usha Ananthasubramanian, a Public Sector banker with 31 years experience.  The Finance Minister also announced the 8 Member all women Board of Directors of the Bank.  The other members on the board include Chhavi Rajawat – an MBA and a sarpanch from Rajasthan, Nupur Mitra – former CMD of Dena bank, Renuka Ramnath of Multiples Alternate Asset Management,  Tanya Dubash (Godrej)– Executive Director and President (Marketing) of the Godrej group, Kalpana Saroj – CEO of Kamani Tubes and government nominee Priya Kumar.

In the Budget 2013-14, the Finance Minister had announced setting up of all-women bank with an initial capital of Rs 1,000 crore.

Can Indian entrepreneurs build the next Google? Yes, says Eric Schmidt

 Can Indian entrepreneurs build the next Google? Yes, says Eric Schmidt

– By Prathamesh Patil

India’s entrepreneurial innovators have the potential to build the “next Google” if the country “plays its cards right” and ensures Internet access for millions of its citizens, Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has said.

In an essay written for the book ‘Reimagining India: Unlocking The Potential of Asia’s Next Superpower’ edited by global consulting firm McKinsey, Schmidt dubbed India “an Internet laggard” saying he feels Internet in the country today is like where it was in America in about 1994 — four years before Google was even born.

He said India must increase its Internet penetration across towns and cities, a move that will have a positive impact on its economy and society.

The former Google CEO said he witnessed the creative potential of India’s people all around him in Silicon Valley where India-born entrepreneurs account for 40 per cent of start-ups.

“Just think what will happen when India’s entrepreneurial innovators are able to create great global companies without leaving their country. They will change the world. Hundreds of large firms focused on the Internet will be founded and will succeed by focusing purely on Indian consumers, Indian taste, Indian style, Indian sports.

“Can anyone of those companies ultimately become the next Google? Of course.”

“That may not happen for quite a few years. But if India plays its cards right, we will soon see Indian engineers and small businesses tackling Indian problems first, then exporting the solutions that work best,” Schmidt said.

With a total population of 1.2 billion, India has over 600 million mobile phone users but only about 150 million people regularly connect to the Internet.

In 2011, India’s Internet penetration rate was 11 per cent, “far below” that of developed nations where penetration rates average 70 per cent.

India’s Internet penetration rate is less than a third of China’s penetration ratio of 38 per cent and less than half of those in developing countries, which average 24 per cent.

“By any reasonable definition, India is an Internet laggard… In spite of its well deserved reputation as one of the world’s leading IT and software development hubs, India is far from being the connected society many foreigners imagine,” Schmidt said.

The number of India’s broadband users, 20 million, is even smaller, Schmidt said however adding that India is on the cusp of a connectivity revolution.

“I believe India has the chance to leapfrog its current connectivity challenges, bring Internet access to a majority of its citizens — and even raise its penetration ratio to 60 or 70 per cent within the next 5—10 years,” he said according to a PTI report. 

A glance at Accel and Helion backed Product Discovery Platform MySmartPrice

A glance at Accel and Helion backed Product Discovery Platform MySmartPrice

– By Prathamesh Patil

Product discovery and price comparison portal, MySmartPrice.com, is making its foray into the world of fashion with its new section – MSP Fashion. Founded in 2011, MySmartPrice is currently funded by Accel Partners and Helion Ventures Partners, the website sees a monthly traffic of over 7.5 million visitors.

MSP Fashion aims to bring all e-commerce stores and products on a single platform, which gives shoppers a wider choice of products when looking for merchandise online. The fashion segment is one that is vastly different from electronics, and with MSP Fashion, MySmartPrice is looking to tackle the issue of product discovery while making it easier for users to identify the latest trends. This is being done through a user-driven product curation mechanism which automatically identifies trending items based on user activity.

The beta version of MSP Fashion launched a month ago, and currently boasts over 15,000 users, with more than 2,000 products being added to users’ collections on a daily basis. The site consists of over 200,000 products from over a thousand brands. The listings include items from over 20 e-commerce retailers in India, ranging from Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong, Snapdeal and HomeShop18 to niche sellers like Bewakoof, FabFurnish and Happily Unmarried, and is expected to include 50+ stores in next 2-3 months.

Online e-commerce in India has seen a huge surge in recent times, and has witnessed the rise of many new retailers catering to the fashion segment. This has led to a new problem for users, where they have to go to different e-commerce sites to find the product they are looking for. MSP Fashion aims to solve this issue by letting users browse catalogues from various stores through a single location.

For instance, users looking to buy a shirt online have to resort to visiting retailers like Myntra or Jabong, and viewing the products on offer there. Instead, users can navigate to MSP Fashion and discover trending shirts on both sites, along with listings from a host of other online retailers. Once they find the shirt they are interested in, they would be able to purchase it by clicking on the ‘Buy Now’ button, which would then redirect them back to the e-commerce site.

In addition to browsing products across categories, users have the ability of adding items to their own collections by logging in through Facebook and creating an account, as well as browsing other users’ collections. Adding an item to a collection is as easy as clicking on the ‘WoW’ button. These collections can then be shared with friends through the Facebook Share button.

Other features that will be added to the site include the availability of content from more e-commerce retailers, with over 50 stores targeted to be fully integrated within the next two to three months. Additional sections will also be available to users in the near future that include deals, offers and sales from a host of e-commerce stores. This offers section would serve as a single location from which users can browse the latest deals and discounts across stores, brands and categories

Olacabs raises Series B funding led by Matrix Partners and Tiger Global Management

Olacabs raises Series B funding led by Matrix Partners and Tiger Global Management

– By Prathamesh Patil

Matrix Partners India recently announced that it has acquired a significant minority stake in Olacabs, India’s leading aggregator of car rental and point-to-point cab service operators. Matrix along with the existing investor Tiger Global Management, co-invested in the second institutional round of equity funding for the Company. Olacabs will use the funds to expand its operations to newer markets and to deepen its technology and analytics expertise.

“We are excited to bring Matrix Partners India on board along with Tiger Global as key investors. Matrix as a partner has a portfolio of high pedigree investments and rich experience in emerging markets. Combined with the rich global expertise of our existing investor Tiger Global, this partnership gives us the support and resources to grow rapidly at the pace we intend to. We will continue to create substantial value for our customers in terms of the Ola experience, as well as for our drivers and operators by helping them buy their own cars and improve business for them, thereby nurturing micro-entrepreneurship.” said Bhavish Aggarwal, co–Founder and CEO of Olacabs.

“Ola is leveraging technology to revolutionize ground transportation and is aggregating the highly fragmented cab and car rental market – one of the large travel verticals yet to be organized in India. It is our privilege to be associated with Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, the co-founders of Olacabs, who have built a scalable platform for online cab bookings. This platform provides a public utility by allowing Indian consumers to experience a safe, comfortable, standardized service offering at transparent and competitive prices.” said Avnish Bajaj, co-Founder and Managing Director, Matrix India.

Founded in January 2011 by two IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola aims to change the largely fragmented and inefficient car rental market by integrating technology both at the supply as well as demand side, in order to offer a seamless and predictable travel experience. Ola is the first service to offer an iPhone and Android mobile app that not only books a cab, but also helps customers track their cab in real-time.

Currently, well over 30% of Ola’s bookings come through its mobile app.

The Olacabs app for drivers acts as an in-car navigation cum fare device. On the supply side, the Company deeply analyses GPS / customer travel data and uses complex algorithms and analytics developed in-house, to derive consumable information that is used for inventory management, demand estimation and route planning.

Ola conducts regular car audits, driver training and sensitization sessions to ensure standardized service delivery and customer delight. Olacabs currently has over 6500 cabs on its platform and operates in 5 cities – Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai.