The Need for E-commerce related Services will Continue to Grow

  • Interviews
  • Jul 07,14
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The Need for E-commerce related Services will Continue to Grow

E-commerce is gradually expanding its reach across India and the success stories of such online verticals as Flipkart and Snapdeal are now making even traditionally managed companies realise the importance of using the virtual space to spur business potential. In this interview, Manish Patil, Business Head at Ecommerce24, talks about how his company is playing a major role in taking the online movement further.

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Ecommerce24 is India's first end-to-end e-commerce solution company, powered and promoted by the E-commerce wing of the trusted electronics brand, Mitashi Group. It was started in 2012 with the sole aim of providing advanced e-commerce solutions and specially customised for the needs of businesses in India, and all this under one roof. The platform brings in latest technology and services from in-house resources and third-party integration to provide a single platform that meets the needs of small or large companies alike. In an era where technological convergence is the norm of the day, E-commerce24 aims to bring 'convergence' for all start-up needs. Excerpts from the interview:

What led to the idea of setting up of Ecommerce24?

E-commerce has been active in India since the 90s and e-commerce companies such as Bazee.com (which is now ebay.in), Indiaplaza.com and Rediff.com have been doing good work since then. For brands or retailers the concept of selling online was totally new and there were hardly any e-commerce solution providers available in India. Today a number of companies are providing e-commerce solutions but most of these companies focus on providing technological solutions whereas e-commerce today is not just about technology, but also about operations, marketing, customer experience, and a lot more.

With the fast-paced transition from traditional trade to online trading, most of the brands and retailers do not have an in-house expertise for establishing their e-commerce business vertical. As a result most of these companies end up hiring technological companies as their solution partners who fail to provide solutions beyond technology. Our parent company, Mitashi, has been a very active player in the e-commerce space right from the inception of e-commerce revolution in India. We have been one of the first brands to have own e-commerce store and one of the first brands to sign up directly with major e-commerce marketplaces and online retailers as a supplier.

Over the last 15 years we have developed expertise in each and every arena of e-commerce business, including website development and management, operations, logistics, digital marketing and financials for the e-commerce business model. Having all the resources and expertise made perfect sense for us when we decided to start a company, which would justify being India's first end-to-end e-commerce solution provider. We have successfully developed the Ecommerce24 platform into a complete ecosystem for individuals as well as brands to set up their profitable e-commerce business in India.

What are the activities of the company?

We understand our clients' business in detail and craft a feasible and apt solution accordingly. Primarily we specialise in providing complete online business solutions for brands that need to set up an online sales vertical; retailers looking at expanding their business using the online medium; and aspiring entrepreneurs with unique business ideas striving to convert their business ideas into a successful venture. Our services include e-commerce website design and development; warehousing and logistic services; payment gateway services; digital marketing; product sourcing for multi-brand e-retailers; online business strategy and consultancy; and call centre for e-commerce business. How do you go about helping companies get into online marketing and sales?

The Ecommerce24 platform comes integrated with various marketing tools and applications that help increase sales and visibility. Tools such as automated SEO, Google, Bing and Yahoo help enhance visibility and get organic traffic from search engines. Tools such as abandoned cart recovery, integration with marketplaces such as Amazon, Ebay, and integrations with price comparison websites help in boosting sales. Apart from these tools and applications we also work on custom digital marketing plans for businesses. We also ensure promotions for the client's website on our premium affiliate networks wherein product promotions can be done to the customers and employees of various banks.

How many clients has the company worked for till date? Could you name some of them?

As of now we have around 40 clients from various sectors all over India such as Harsha India (P) Ltd, which is a chain of mega electronic stores in South India; Arkray, an international brand for medical devices; FoodAbhi, a start-up by two young entrepreneurs which is an online marketplace for tiffin services in Mumbai, etc. We have also provided our services to brands like Eureka Forbes.

What is the average cost for a company to go online?

With the Ecommerce24 platform on an SAAS model, the average cost for a company to have its full-fledged website live would be as low as Rs 1,500 a month. The average cost of setting up an entire online business that includes website and other services offered by Ecommerce24 such as shared call centre and catalogue management services would be around Rs 10,000 a month. There would be an average of Rs 15,000 as a one-time cost for a complete customised design. However, we have a wide array of free template designs to choose from if a company does not wish to spend on customised designs.

What is the scope of this business in India?

Only 12-13 per cent of India's population has access to the internet and this number is growing every month. Today businesses have started realising the need to set up an online business vertical. With more than 8 lakh SMBs in India and the youth taking the entrepreneurial route, the need for e-commerce related services would continue to grow at a much higher rate in India.

Can you cite a couple of success stories of companies that have achieved impressive numbers with e-commerce?

Flipkart.com, ranked as India's number one online shopping website for almost anything and everything would be a prime example. From apparels to computer electronics and stationery, the website today has a registered user base of 14 million people serving more than 1,00,000 orders a day with a 20 per cent market share; achieving a turnover of USD 1 billion in January 2014. Flipkart.com started off as the Indian version of Amazon.com with books for sale and only five employees. Today, in just seven years from 2007 the result is in front of you! Another example is of Snapdeal.com that started in February 2010 as a daily deals' platform and expanded in September 2011 to become an e-commerce company via a marketplace model. With 25 million registered users, Snapdeal is one of the first and largest online marketplaces in India offering an assortment of 4 million+ products across diverse categories from over 20,000 sellers, shipping to 4,000 towns and cities in India. That's the magnitude of e-commerce that we are looking at.

What are the technological and other challenges in providing this service?

The logistic service has always been a major challenge as e-commerce is highly dependent on logistics. Moreover, in India the logistic network and infrastructure is extremely poor as compared to other developed countries. Large numbers of failed transactions by payments gateway providers is another major challenge in terms of technology; however a few of the players have developed effective and efficient technologies to address these issues.

What is the company's growth plan for the next two to three years?

While Ecommerce24 is an end-to-end e-commerce solution provider, the SAAS platform is one major area since most of the businesses would want to start with an e-commerce-enabled website. We wish to establish in the top five SAAS service providers by the end of FY 14-15 and gradually be amongst the top three players in the next three years. As an end-to end e-commerce service provider we don't face any competition as there is no company providing the services that we do but we are sure that a few of the existing players will expand their horizon and enter into this segment considering the ever increasing market demand. We are well prepared to keep Ecommerce24 as the number one player in the industry in the years to come. Quality is the only inspiration to keep us going and not lucrative numbers to sustain business. In the next three years we wish to establish Ecommerce24's SAAS-based service in various countries like Central America, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

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