App only demystified

Is India ready to tread the app-only route that e-commerce majors are eyeing?

Introduction

The past few years have witnessed an explosion of smartphones. India and China, with their huge base, have transformed themselves into mobile-first market economies with m-commerce.

In a first, Myntra took a bold step to become mobile-only (app-only) business, foregoing a good chunk of revenue from its website (e-commerce). Flipkart, its parent company, wanted to follow suit and become app only in September, 2015. But the huge business risk coupled with negative comments over Myntra’s app-only policy on Twitter and on other social media made it review its stand and put the concept on hold. With Big Billion days around the corner, Flipkart wanted to bring app again into the foreground by limiting its most awaited sale to the app only. Amazon is also following the same strategy.

Advantages of app

In the startup world, customer acquisition and the cost associated with it are extremely crucial. Browsers and their associates source it with minimum effort, posing a potential threat to e-commerce startups. By going ‘app-only’, e-commerce companies can prevent browsers from analysing its customers.

Apps ensure targeted marketing based on customer tastes and needs. Companies can constantly engage and provide personalised notifications to the audience.

Most important advantage of the app is creating a captive market where companies can sell to customers without bothering about competition. This thwarts the operations of price comparison websites which improve market efficiency by web crawling or through feeds.

Apps’ statistics – Flipkart’s lead

A Nielsen report talks about a stagnant trend of around 26.7 apps used per month in US for the past three years. Which means, all the 1.6 million apps in Apple’s and Android’s app stores have to compete for that dream spot in 27 apps.

With such stiff competition, rapid smartphone adaptation and high traffic percentage from mobiles (75 per cent for Flipkart), there is a real need for any app/company to drive the consumer behaviour to use its app now. Flipkart, because of its inherent advantages, could take a huge lead as compared to its rivals Amazon and Snapdeal. It has high penetration (35 per cent) and engagement (60 minutes a month). Amazon has 17 per cent penetration and 37 minutes per month, whereas Snapdeal with 20 per cent penetration and 35 minutes per month take second and third positions.

So, Flipkart is in the ideal position to shift to app-only format and reap the benefits of first mover advantage in the long run. Amazon and Snapdeal cannot risk it because of three factors namely, less traffic percentage, penetration and engagement.

Every e-commerce firm’s dream

To obtain a stronghold in the newly shifting market domain, every e-commerce dream mission would be to find a permanent place in every smartphone in India.

In order to do that, Flipkart needs to be the pioneer in changing consumer behavior by instilling the habit of using its app among customers earlier in the game, thereby securing first mover advantage. Flipkart was ready (by trying to be app-only in September) to take the risk by foregoing present revenue from one medium (website), in order to gain future revenue from another medium (app) as a part of its long-term strategy.

Following can be some of the steps in order to achieve the mission:

Flipkart tried to shove the app down the users’ throats without their consent. With all the hue and cry around Myntra’s app-only strategy, Flipkart understood that stick approach wasn’t working. Soon it tried the carrot approach in terms of Big Billion Days, whereby it incentivises customers to turn to app. Effectiveness of this strategy is now under test with the ongoing BBD.

Future of app – cues from TV and real estate

The most important characteristic for the app to be successful is engaging. So today, if we are talking about a good app, it’s all about engagement, engagement, engagement! The good old analog cable TV was very similar in nature. We had the freedom to set the TV channels according to our priorities and interest, which are driven mostly by content and engagement.

Soon, as TV became one of the mainstream media, with highest engagement among all mediums, rapid commercialisation hit the TV industry. Even the TV channel numbers were monetised. So, to place a channel at a particular slot or channel number, broadcasters need to pay money to MSOs or local cable operators.

To benefit from its open source Android, Google pre-installed Google apps which cannot be uninstalled without rooting the phone, which will lose warranty in the first place. Most phone makers pre-install their own apps in addition to those of Google’s. Recently, OnePlus officially declared that pre-installing apps for companies can generate additional revenue apart from its core business.

I think it wouldn’t be long before some India-focussed smartphone manufacturer pre-installs Flipkart or any other e-commerce app on its mobile (I know some smartphones bought off Flipkart had pre-installed Flipkart app, but that’s very few). This strategy can contain low memory issues of smartphones and high uninstall rates of apps, which are persistent in Indian market.

In future, it’s possible to have fixed visibly prominent slots in your smartphones which can be monetised. Or just as there are corner houses and prime locations in real estate, there are home screen apps which are more accessible with a click of a button.

References

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/dhritiman-hazarika/6-reasons-why-flipkarts-a_b_7800628.html (No need to refer in the article)

http://www.statista.com/chart/3570/app-usage-in-the-united-states/

http://qz.com/481830/how-will-chinas-fastest-growing-smartphone-brands-ever-make-money/

http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/t5ecA2Tf0iNzqaPQhtDC2H/Survey-shows-surge-in-use-of-mobile-apps-for-shopping.html

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-07/news/64178320_1_e-commerce-major-flipkart-myntra-mobile-app

Do offline bargains and customized experience have an opportunity in the season of online sales?

Yes it’s that time of the year again. The time when all e-commerce players in the country are waging their Twitter, advertising, and billboard wars. With app-only sales, new offers on an hourly basis, and offers catering to night owls at midnight, e-commerce platforms have mostly hit all the right notes to keep a variety of consumers and their sellers happy this festival season.

But how are the offline stores faring? Are these aggressive sales and festive tactics used by VC funded e-commerce stores affecting the business of offline or traditional retail stores? It’s a tough question. In one of the events at IIM-B Piyush Kumar Chowhan, Director Strategy, Analytics, Process Engineering Walmart Labs, posed a question to the audience:

“How many of you have shopped at Flipkart and Snapdeal? (There were close to 80 percent show of hands). Now, how many of you have shopped at a Big Bazaar or a mall?” The whole auditorium, including the e-commerce biggies raised their hands. A smug Piyush said, “That answers where we offline or traditional players are at.”

However, we cannot ignore the fact that online commerce and retailers have successfully been able to leverage discounting and reel in customers.

In order to get a clearer perspective, YourStory decided to hit the traditional retail lane of Bengaluru’s Commercial Street, which was choc-o-bloc with shoppers even on a weekday, to understand more from offline retailers.

“In the long run, this doesn’t matter. There are several aspects of online retail that aren’t addressed. There’s an issue of touch and feel, especially in cases of apparel. At Eastern Stores, we’re able to establish a human connection with the consumer, which an online player cannot,” says Faizan, owner of Eastern Stores on Commercial Street.

Commercial Street, Bangalore

According to a report by PwC, e-commerce retailers spend close to Rs 100 crores on advertising to ensure the success of their sale periods. “There are deeper issues that aren’t published. Deliveries get delayed and stocks issues crop up,” adds Faizan.

Being a part of the offline and traditional retail space for years now, Prashant of Jean Point, Commercial Street, says, “The online stores and their sales don’t affect us much. We sell jeans. As a product, one needs to try it on feel the material and then buy it, which is difficult with online shopping.”

According to Ankur Bisen, Senior Vice President Technopak Advisors, electronics and fashion contribute to USD 7 billion in 2015.

Laxmi Narayan, Suman Exports

Increasing the heat for offline retailers, Laxmi Narayan who is the store manager for Suman Exports says,

“Yeh online store dikhate kya hai dete kya hai! Inko band ho jaana chahiye, waste hai yeh (these online stores show something and sell something else! They should shut down).”

He vociferously states that sales and offers on online stores have affected his sales this Diwali season. “They’ve cut our sales by 30-40 per cent.” So how does he plan to combat it?

“There is always sale in our shops ranging from 10-35 percent. Moreover, we try to be as reasonable with our prices allowing customers to sometimes bargain. We also launch schemes like buy-one-get-one-free accompanied by fresh stocks weekly.”  

Exporting from cities like Indore, Mumbai, Jaipur, Tripura, and Delhi, the shop makes approx. revenues of Rs 25000 per day.

Rajesh, B.K. Enterprises

Rajesh, the owner of B.K. Enterprises, who have been in the business of selling home appliances for the last 40 years, says,

“If you ask us, yes we are threatened and losing out on our business increasingly. Why we don’t want to partner with online stores is because margins are pretty less and the rejections for products we send are really high. Moreover, there are companies which are supplying cheaper Chinese products on the platform.”

On asking him, what he is planning to do to get more customers on Diwali, he says,

“We are trying to put up banners and trying to educate customers more about the benefits of offline shopping. We are also trying to add home need products like ladders and lighting products which we get a lot of queries for.”

While there are still segments in fashion where business owners are really worried, Mayur Ashra who owns the All Silk Saree Emporium and is in the business for 48 years, says,

“Unlike online stores we don’t have discounts. Silk is such a thing you have to touch and feel to understand the quality. Like always, we will rely on word of mouth marketing for our sales this festive season.”  

However, we didn’t stop there, we went ahead to ask the fellow shoppers on Commercial Street to understand what they think about these retail wars.

(L to R): Keerthana & Rachita

Voicing their views about the ‘Big Billion Sale’ and why they would shop at Commercial Street, Keerthana and Rachita tell us that they prefer offline shopping for the bargaining.

“Online stores don’t provide that option. Moreover for women, apparel size is an issue. From an offline retailer, you get a customized experience where there is tons of variety to pick from, and alterations can be done in cases of a misfit. Hands down we would like to shop on Commercial Street rather than going to an e-store because of the competitive pricing these offline stores bring. But we think the e-stores have upped their game as compared to last year, which was a complete fail.”

While hurrying up to their next store, we caught up with Megha and Warisha, who are students and shared a similar opinion,

(L to R): Warisha & Megha

“We prefer e-stores mostly for buying electronic items. During festive seasons and these big billion sales, we obviously prefer shopping online. However, on any given day we shop more from offline stores. While shopping for women’s apparels online, you can’t really judge the quality of the fabric. Sometimes what we see can turn out to be completely different when you get it. Offline shopping definitely provides more options and is an experience by itself. It can be boring to shop online sometimes! ” 

While women think bargaining and the customized experience make them shop offline more, what is it that drives men? Online or offline?

Valentino Barboz, who works as an Engineer Officer tells us,

“They’ve their own pros and cons. While offline provides a better experience and more choices, online shopping provides some great deals. I think what offline showrooms should do is come out with better deals like these e-stores do.”   

Reportedly, close to 85 per cent of the market presently is offline in India Studies by marketsandresearch shows that consumers switch between online and offline before making purchase decisions. Certain categories like mobile phones, majority customers follow up their online purchase with a visit to the store for accessing related services like data transfer, screen protection etc.

In a bid to touch this issue, Snapdeal recently launched its omni-channel platform. The platform intends to create an ecosystem of leading brands, large format retailers (LFRs), small businesses and technology startups. The Mobile Store, Michelin, Shoppers Stop, and Luminous will be the first few partners for Snapdeal’s omni-channel initiative.

With retail wars being raged by multiple competitors in these spaces of offline and online, it is clear that both sectors need to join hands to usher the next phase of growth in the ecosystem.

Continuous evolution leads to a revolution

Amazon changed the way we buy things, Uber changed the way we go from one place to another and iPhone changed the way we use our mobile phones. These seem like revolutionary changes in consumer behaviour and as an entrepreneur, these stories inspire me to create my own revolution. Create a product that will change the way people live a core part of their lives. And by doing so, change the world. Sounds revolutionary? Here’s a little secret. If you create a consumer experience that is so revolutionary that it is nothing like anything users currently have, it will fail. For it to succeed, consumers must be able to relate it to a familiar experience in their life and then find your product better than that. The road to a revolution goes through several steps in evolution.

Before there was online shopping in the US, mail order shopping was a multi-billion dollar business. Consumers would receive catalogues in the mail, select the items they wanted to purchase, pay for shipping, mail a check or credit card information, and then wait for the products to be delivered at home. They would see the product for the first time a few weeks after the payment. Often times, popular products would run out before the order was received. If items did not meet expectations, they could be returned. Amazon made mail-ordering better: inventory was real-time, payments were online, paying for shipping was the norm and returns were entertained.

None of this existed in India. What we had was the concept of calling the local store and asking them to send stuff home – ghar bhijwa do. When the items showed up, consumers paid cash for what they kept and returned what they did not like. The purchasing decision was made at the doorstep after seeing the product. There was no question of charging for delivery. Online shopping needed free cash on delivery to survive. One of the earliest e-commerce websites of India during the late 90s was firstandsecond.com which used to offer cash on delivery. It was a necessary evil. Online shopping was an evolved way of saying ghar bhijwa do. It was okay to ask the delivery boy to come back if it was inconvenient. It was okay to send items back if you changed your mind. The consumer could not care less where the items came from.

Let’s take a look at another example – getting a limo in the US. Users would call the limo agency, provide the address and time, and the limo would show up. The driver knew that it was impolite to call and interrupt your privacy. Calling the user was the last resort. Users expected the driver to be there on the dot and they would. There were curbsides, driveways and demarcated places for limos to stop so the user knew where to look. Limo agencies kept credit cards on file and it was usual to put the ride on the card. It was either a fixed rate to airports or the user signed off on the metered charge. Uber let you do that through the app and then track the cab with an ETA to further improve the predictability that users had come to value. Of my hundreds of Uber rides in San Francisco, I do not remember ever talking to the driver on the phone before she arrived.

By contrast, calling a private taxi in India was a different experience. Users would call the agency and mention a time. There was no guarantee that the taxi would show up at that time. Users were advised to always have a backup plan. The way you would know that the taxi is going to arrive is when you would get a message with the phone number of the driver. You were expected to answer the phone call or call them proactively to give them last-mile directions. Addresses are harder to find in India and calling for directions is the norm. Culturally, interrupting conversations with countless phone calls is fair game too. Ordering an Ola was a better version of that experience. Drivers called the user as soon as they confirmed the ride, first to confirm that they were coming and second to get directions. First-time users used to call two cabs from different services and take the one that got there faster. In the early days, drivers would ask the user for their destination and then ask them to cancel the ride if they were not willing to go. Just as the user could reject a ride after it showed up, the driver could too. Users had a default expectation to pay by cash like their past behaviour with private taxis.

As I created and consumed early products in India and US, it was always interesting how the success of a product experience depended on its ability to map the existing consumer behaviour and then improve the key moments in the experience. Every time we took a blue sky or clean slate approach to conjecture how things should be, consumers rejected the solution. During testing, the uninitiated customers would say “oh, so this is like this” or “this is like that”. Consumers had a need to relate the new experience with something old and familiar. If the product makers did not pick the existing behaviour for consumers to relate to, consumers did it on their behalf while product makers were left shooting in the dark wondering who they were competing with.

Entrepreneurs trying to create a revolution should obsessively get consumers through a step in evolution, and then another step, and so on before they find themselves in a place that the world looks back at and finds revolutionary.

Courtesy : Yourstory.com

Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon have covered their bases, but will the sale-season be glitch-free?

It is that time of the year again when all our wallets get much lighter. Top e-commerce portals have begun wooing consumers with deep discounts and special offers as part of their pre-Diwali mega sales. Flipkart, Amazon, and Shopclues are among the marketplaces that are launching pre-festive season sales on Tuesday with discounts of up to 80 per cent. Snapdeal already had its Electronics Monday Sale on the 12th.

A similar sale last year was overshadowed by glitches. While Flipkart’s problems hogged the news cycle, Amazon and Snapdeal too faced issues especially with orders getting delivered. This time, all e-commerce marketplaces assert that they are better prepared and shoppers will have a smoother experience and that will lead to better sales performance for the sites.

Great expectations

Already Snapdeal has claimed, at the time of writing this article, that it is on track to reach $100 million in sales in a single day from its Monday Electronics sale on the 12th.

“Going by the customer response to the previous two events that we hosted this year, The Great Indian Festive Sale is going to be historic for us,” said Samir Kumar, VP Category Management, Amazon India. The Amazon sale is scheduled for 13th to 17th of October, the same period as Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale. “We expect millions of new customers to shop on the sale and experience Amazon.in for the first time.” Samir said he expects over 60% of the new customers to come from tier-II and tier-III cities and towns.

While Flipkart’s sale is only on the app, Amazon and Snapdeal have the same deals across web, mobile site, and app. Samir said he expects over 10 percent increase in the number of customers shopping on the Amazon mobile app. All three sites see mobile contributing over 50 percent of overall transactions, with Flipkart and Snapdeal claiming over 75 percent of sales through mobile. Flipkart has not shared its sales target, however, reports state that the company is expecting over Rs 3,000 crore. Its subsidiary, fashion retail app Myntra, is targeting to ship 600,000 packages during the period.

A Snapdeal spokesperson said the site would offer mega deals every Monday across categories but there will be deals throughout the month until Diwali. “We see a huge number of new customers adopting e-commerce each Diwali. Though one would expect, the demand to taper off after the festive season, but each Diwali sets a new normal,” the spokesperson said.

It is not just the biggies who have high hopes from the sales during this period. Cashback and coupons site CashKaro is expecting Rs 300 crore in Gross Merchandise Value or total sales between October and December—the country’s festive season. It has special offers between 13th and 16th to coincide with the sales on the marketplaces, with offers on over 800 sites.

The sale period and the festive season is not just about offers and deals. “This particular festive season is going to be a very important milestone for all e-commerce players,” said Arvind Singhal, Chairman of retail advisory service provider Technopak. “For the big players in marketplaces—Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Paytm, and Shopclues—this season will determine who is really the number one and who is gaining the market share and who is losing. None of these players would want to seem like they are losing market share.”

Will the festive season sale change this ranking, decided by YourStory readers?

How prepared are the sites?

While last year, Flipkart and Snapdeal claimed to have clocked Rs 600 crore each in sales in a day, tech glitches and delayed deliveries resulted in negative publicity and angry customers. The marketplaces seem to have learned from last year’s experience. Flipkart has set up additional data centres, has seen a 3X increase in capacity in the past six months and got additional call centres on board to handle additional customer service calls. It is also offering additional services to employees to ensure smooth shopping experience. The move to spread the sale across five days is seen as a smart move by merchants. What is more, the company is staggering deals on certain categories to ensure the numbers on the app are more manageable.

Snapdeal has had sales on and off most months during the past year. This should have helped them test out their systems. The company said it has worked closely with its sellers to help them with inventory planning for the festive season, including enabling them to access working capital loans through their Capital Assist platform. The Gurgaon-based company has also invested heavily in logistics. It announced a $20-million investment into e-commerce logistics player GoJavas earlier this month. The company said it has invested $100 million in the last six months to improve its delivery timelines.

Amazon too has invested in its last-mile capabilities. It recently launched eight new Fulfilment Centres (FCs), as it calls its warehouses. It now has 21 such centers in 10 states, covering a total area of over two million square feet with a storage capacity of over five million cubic feet.

So will things be perfect this year? Technopak’s Arvind’s answer: “I am sure there will be glitches this year also, because e-commerce is still work in progress.”

Courtessy : YourStory.com

FreeCharge launches a top-up facility for smart card users of Mumbai Metro

Snapdeal owned digital platform for recharge and utility payments FreeCharge launched a top-up facility for smart card users of Mumbai Metro. With this new integration FreeCharge will enable Smart Card recharges on its website, Android, iOS and Windows app allowing users to recharge on the go, it said in a statement. Like any other payment of utility bills or recharges, commuters can recharge their stored value card where they only need to enter their unique smart card number which will lead to the payment gateways.

Once the recharge is successful the user will receive a message or mail. “We believe that this expansion is being leveraged by thousands of FreeCharge customers making their daily commute hassle free. We are looking forward to add new users to our database”. FreeCharge has recently launched a 100 per cent cashback offer for commuters wherein every recharge of Rs 100 and above will get Rs 100 cashback.

Mumbai Metro and FreeCharge aims to further promote the use of smart card for ease of life and commuting by launching many more exciting offers. FreeCharge facility is used for mobile prepaid, postpaid recharge, DTH and electricity bill payments for numerous utility service providers in addition to leading online and offline merchants. FreeCharge has 29.8 million registered users, and over 90 per cent of its transactions originate from mobile.

Freecharge is known for it’s growth story. Alok Goel, former CEO of Freecharge had said, “As a team, we are really proud that we could execute the largest M&A in the country and made FreeCharge a household name with millions of users who were not ‘recharging’ but ‘FreeCharging’.”

Flipkart to pamper employees for smooth ‘Big Billion’ sales

Flipkart is unleashing its five-day pre-Diwali ‘Big Billion Days’ sales tomorrow and it is not just online consumers who are being pampered. Bengaluru-based Flipkart has taken measures to ensure that its employees, who are the ones who will ensure that the sales happen smoothly, are taken care of and are at the top of their game throughout the sale period of five days.

The company shared that it is offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and all-day short eats on all five days. Employees, many of whom will be in office round-the-clock, will have sleeping and shower facilities. They will also have shuttle service till 7pm; vehicles for pick-up and drop. Security personnel will accompany women employees travelling after 8pm.

This is not all—there is even 24X7 ambulance service for those who find the stress a little too much and masseurs on-call to soothe tired muscles.

These are just some of the steps Flipkart has taken to ensure that the problems of last year are not repeated this time around. Last year, Flipkart had a single-day ‘Big Billion Sale’on October 6. It hit sales of $100 million; Snapdeal, which also had a sale, declared similar sales numbers. But snags, site collapses and other issues on Flipkart overshadowed the sales.

The deals stopped within seven hours—by 2pm—as the traffic was too huge. About 3,00,000 orders were placed in the first six hours, but social media was flooded with complaints of the website crashing, and prices being raised to make the offers look better. Beside the technical errors, many products being out of stock disgruntled consumers. Flipkart’s Founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, in fact, tendered an email apology to its customers the next day.

This time around, India’s top online retail site is not taking chances. An executive, who did not wish to be named as he is working closely on the sales, said additional data centres have been set up to ensure that the app—this time it is an app-only event—stays up. “We have learnt from last year’s experience. We did $100 million in one day and would have done more if there were no issues. Considering the preparations, the mood in the office is very upbeat,” said the executive.

Among the preparations are initiatives meant for sellers participating in the sales, like helping them hire trained manpower and providing training to manage high demand. Flipkart has also invested heavily in logistics in recent months. It opened a five-lakh cubic feet warehouse exclusively for consumer electronics and durables earlier this month. “With Flipkart Big Billion Days just around the corner, the new warehouse will help us improve the productivity and meet the anticipated demand during this period,” Binny Bansal, COO & Co-founder of Flipkart, had said at the time of the warehouse’s launch.

The merchant and employee support Flipkart is providing shows that the over $15-billion valued Unicorn means business. Tuesday will show how truly well prepared Flipkart is.

Shipdesk is using technology to make logistics simple, scalable and smart

E-commerce logistics has been growing in sync with the online retail industry in the country. It is estimated that online retail will be an USD 18-billion industry in India in 2018 and e-commerce logistics will be a USD two-billion industry in 2019.

In the logistics segment, companies have been experimenting and bringing new methods and technology to make the process smoother. Logistics is always a sub-segment in e-commerce and fraught with inefficiency, but Shipdesk claims it is all about efficiency of logistics through technology.

Launched in December 2014 by Lipjo Joseph and Sree Krishna BV, Shipdesk is a logistics marketplace providing online merchants with a cloud-based shipping solution. It’s using technology to aggregate demand and services on a real-time basis.

“When an online merchant makes Shipdesk its partner, all the information regarding the online orders placed with the online merchant is made available in their cloud and they immediately dispatch their team for shipping. It simplifies shipping and accelerates profits for merchants,” says Lipjo, adding that they offer the cheapest shipping rates..An easy plug-in integrates with marketplaces and e-commerce platforms to allow order, tracking and fulfillment data to populate in real time across all systems. This solution helps companies save time and money on shipping while reducing postal errors and keeping buyers informed, yielding loyalty and better seller feedback.

The platform claims to have more than 550 users and the number is increasing with around 150 merchants being added every month. Its clients include marketplaces like Zingohub, Frekart, Budli.in, among others and e-commerce sites such as Dailycatcher, Nivysfashion, Kamalsbotique, Zarasbotiques and online sellers who sell their products in various online channels. The company has been growing at the rate of 40 percent month-on-month.

An investment of around Rs one crore has been made into the venture. The capital was spent mostly on resources which includes sales, marketing and technology. Its focus is presently on online resellers and it would be addressing the SME segment soon.

The platform works on two revenue models, namely margin on shipments and subscription revenue. “So far, our annualised revenue has reached more than Rs one crore as we are yet to complete a year,” says Lipjo.

Challenges and growth prospect

Capacity, lack of uniform demand and inefficiency are some of the major challenges in the logistics industry.  However, optimisation and reducing manual intervention can solve many of the problems. “We are continuously investing in these areas and our growth adds credibility to the solution,” says Lipjo.

On growth prospect, he adds there are more than 10 lakh online sellers in India and each is a potential market for Shipdesk. This solution can be expanded beyond the country in other geographies. Besides, there is huge untapped SME segment where unorganised logistics players play a big role. All these markets can be tapped for the growth.

Market and competition

According to a recent logistics report by Singhi Advisors, a city-based boutique investment bank that focusses on deals on the space, the logistics industry has been growing at a CAGR of over 16 per cent over the last five years, despite it being highly fragmented with organised players comprising only six per cent. Globally, the report says the logistics industry was a whopping USD four-trillion giant in 2013, representing 10 per cent of the global GDP.

The players in the segment includes logistics companies like Fedex, Bluedart, Delhivery, Ecom Express etc., marketplace logistics companies like eKart, Gojavas, among others and many localised courier companies.

On competition, Lipjo says that since this market is evolving there is room for every competition. The growth of this industry ensures that each player needs to pick his/her core area and works towards improving the same. He has a roadmap to address these challenges and any new competition would make this industry more stable.

The platform has recently come out with mobile app, and analytics will be playing a big role in its product roadmap.