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.
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