Finally! Internet start-ups log on to logistics to push
sales |
| Priya Srinivasan |
 |
| Mumbai:
The latest crop of Internet start-ups seem to display
a distinct leaning towards the click and mortar model,
with a rather strong accent on the mortar bit, unlike
the dotcoms of yester months which aimed to be more
or less pure Net players who barely made references
to fulfillment and logistics. |
| |
| Take
the case of music retailer Easybuymusic.com which is
slated to go live shortly, the company undertakes to
deliver to consumers anywhere in India within three
days. The promoters, Ultra Direct Group, happen to have
provided the backend support in terms of delivery and
logistics for the ATN teleshopping channel and are therefore
in a position to undertake delivery anywhere in the
country, according to Chris George who heads Easybuymusic's
operations. |
| |
| "We've
tied up with most music companies and plan to play the
role of order taker for all music catalogues" says George.
The site which has been incubated by Arthur Andersen
and has a strategic investment from Channel V plans
to offer royalty programmes, gifting options and various
other value adds apart from extensive information on
music, chat, online radio and of course eventually payable
music downloads. |
| |
| "There
is technology whereby you can ensure that music that
has been paid for and downloaded cannot be recopied
and once we have all of that in place we will be a full-fledged
online music store" explains George. But until such
time (which is also a function of home PC penetration)
the company plans to physically deliver music and pass
on distributor margins to its customers. "We believe
that much of the customer dissatisfaction from the B2C
sites arises from the poor quality of service and are
determined to set that right by investing in ventures
that will ensure efficient delivery to the end consumer"
explains Mahesh Murthy of Passionfund which is an investor
in a couple of ventures (including Easybuymusic) which
have undertaken the fulfilment role. |
| |
| Another
category which seems to have caught the fancy of the
brick and mortar brigade is the supply of non production
goods and services to corporates and institutions. These
include computer consumables, stationery, cleaning and
pantry services. Among the most recent entrants in this
arena are eOfficePlanet.com which has been started by
Shyam Gupta who was earlier with Indocean Chase and
IndiaConnection.com which has been promoted by a team
consisting of an NRI with a technology background and
former employees of Blue Dart and Cadbury Schweppes.
Both companies plan to turn full-fledged distributors
of these products and services and are putting inventory
and delivery systems in place. |
| |
| IndiaConnection
plans to exploit the Internet to deploy tools which
will ensure maximum economies of scale to the consumer
by rationalising buying patterns, detecting sporadic
buying behaviour etc. |
| |
| Yet
another and more obvious area for these hybrid businesses
is in the retail of FMCGs. Here, sites like Clicknorder
and Yourpriceindia in Mumbai have already begun operations.
Both players have delivery systems in place. While Clicknorder
has tied up with a suburban supermarket which delivers
throughout the city, Yourpriceindia is in the process
of setting up depots which will maintain an inventory
of products and has also put in place a delivery system
that promises to deliver within an hour to clients which
are covered in the radius of the company's existing
depots. |
| |
| Finally,
to complete the picture, there is Hamarashop.com, a
full fledged shopping mall which has tied in most of
Mumbai's leading names like Shoppers Stop, Groove and
Crossroads and undertakes to deliver their products
to your doorstep. "We cannot leave the delivery to the
merchant establishments, we have decided to control
the delivery and logistics process ourselves since the
site's reputation finally depends on the quality of
service" stresses Kiran Kulkarni of Hamarashop. |
| |
| Investors
like Venkat Subramaniam of Smifs take a slightly pragmatic
view of these businesses. "Undertaking logistics only
because there has been a problem with the last mile
delivery so far may be an interim arrangement, the companies
will have to integrate strong technology components
and ensure that they treat the net as an enabler which
will open up new markets, that is the key". Subramaniam
adds that the moment payment gateways and logistics
networks are in place, these companies may no longer
be required to take on the fulfillment role and then
it is only their strengths in the core Internet business
and scalability of the business model that will render
them successful. |
| |
| Geodesic
Mundu Corporate version can be installed and managed
at the corporate level for more control and security.
The client/server supports 128 bit encryption and supports
audit trails. The installation tools ease the process
for installation and configuration. Clients take only
a few moments to install and configure, and they can
be easily equipped with enterprise-wide buddy list and
form their own community if they wish. |
| |
| However,
given the poor track record of existing online shopping
malls when it comes to fulfillment, these companies
may just give the Indian shopper his first taste of
online shopping and may just kickstart a hitherto dormant
market. |
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| Finally!
Internet start-ups log on to logistics to push sales |
|
| |
