All Posts by Himanshu Sheth

|In: India|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

National Instruments [NI], the provider of systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, today successfully hosted its 12th edition of NIDays in Bangalore. The event was attended by over 500 engineers, academicians and researchers who witnessed the launch of a wide range of products that are designed to revolutionize the Industrial Internet of Things [IIoT]

At the seminar, NI India launched the latest version of its flagship product – LabVIEW, with enhancement in speed and memory usage. NIDays offered 18 technical sessions and tutorials with over 30 products and application demonstrations. It allowed visitors to learn about the latest hardware platforms and applications in the industry.  Speakers and exhibitors from various industries including automotive, telecom, semiconductor, smart machines, aerospace and defense, etc. joined the event to discuss and discover how to accelerate productivity for software-defined systems in test, measurement & control.

Robert Morton, Vice President, EMEIA, National Instruments said

We are excited about using the Internet of Things in a way that benefits the society at large through connected devices and by incorporating the generated data into meaningful usages. We are investing heavily into technology that makes this process easier for scientists and engineers to not only rapidly prototype this but also deploy systems.

The conference also witnessed the launch of wide range of products which includes:

  • Highest Bandwidth CompactDAQ chassis to date, the new 14-slot USB 3.0 chassis, can stream measurement data at over 225 MB/s
  • The world’s first PXI chassis with PCI Express 3.0 technology can stream with system bandwidth of up to 24 GB/s each direction
  • The world’s first Intel Xeon-based 8-core PXI Express Embedded Controller can turn 24 GB/s of data into valuable insight
  • The newest Single Board RIO controllers based on dual core ARM processor and ARTIX-7 FPGA technology, which runs the new security enhanced distribution of NI Linux Real-time
  • NI Wireless Test System [WTS], which dramatically lowers the cost of high-volume wireless manufacturing test for the increasing number of things with a wireless connection, a high-performance

Jayaram Pillai, Managing Director – IndRAA at National Instruments said

We are extremely excited and motivated to witness the breadth and sophistication of applications that 2015 NIYantra participants have created. Aiding in improving the education system and providing hands on experience to students and engineers is a reward for the years of our efforts. NIYantra is committed to support and help these budding individuals with access to our technologies to create applications that can solve problems that humanity face as a whole.

Engineering Impact Awards

NI’s annual technical application contest – Engineering Impact Awards, enables NI customers to showcase innovative projects based on NI software and hardware. The contest this year had a total of 67 teams and the winners will get a chance to participate in the Global Engineering Impact Awards held in Austin annually during NIWeek. This year’s winners were ARAV Technologies for their vision based pre-dispatch inspection from the SME category, Mahindra & Mahindra for their automated infotainment systems testing solution from the Systems category, SRM University for their full duplex cognitive radio implementation using NI USRP RIO 2943 from the Academics category and Digilogic Systems for their portable DRFM based radar echo simulation system from the Alliance Partner Category.

NIYantra Awards

In order to foster the spirit of innovation in engineering students and expose them to the essence of experiential education through contest, NI hosted its annual Graphical System Design contest NIYantra. This contest helps undergraduate engineers to design their project ideas and convert them into working models using NI hardware and software over a period of six months. 

NIYantra 2015 witnessed abstract submissions from 204 teams spread across engineering colleges in India. The winners were from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, Mumbai for their project development of a scavenger bot which is an autonomous street cleaner and Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, NCR for the development of a smart bin which is aimed at being a solution to Swachh Bharat. The runners up were from Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore for the development of a tennis tutor.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Helpchat, the chat-based personal assistant app that helps you get more things done has recorded an overwhelming response to its ‘Festive Season Help’ feature. The service was introduced to assist Helpchat users in navigating through the many deals and discounts across online and offline retail channels during Dussehra and Diwali time. Helpchat processed more than 1 lakh consumer queries during this time.

Of all the request on the app, 60% were related to online shopping. 42% of the weekly request focused exclusively on the best e-commerce discounts and deals. The category that witnessed maximum traction is mobile phones wherein consumers posted several request regarding potential purchases via popular marketplaces such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal etc.

Ankur Singla, Founder and CEO, Helpchat said

We have received an exceptional response to our ‘Festive Season Help’ feature. It is exciting for us to see that in a short span of time, Helpchat has indeed become the default behavior of consumers. During the festival season, a very large number of users turned to our  platform for different kind of request, like from where to buy their Puja Samagri, the best deals on consumer electronics, top offline sales to the best location for a Ravan effigy in their cities. We are pleased to be the personal assistant of choice for the entire spectrum of our users’ needs.

About 50% of the request on Helpchat came from Tier 1 geographies like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune & Hyderabad. More than 80% of the users belonged to the age bracket of 25-35 years and almost 35% of them were female. Besides online shopping, the other areas that recorded maximum request during this festive season were offline sales [23%], apparel shopping [19%], help with choosing the best electronics and appliances [11%] & queries about local Puja shopping [5%].

About Helpchat

Helpchat [earlier called Akosha] launched it’s personal assistant chat app in January 2015 and raised Rs. 100 crores from Sequoia Capital in June 2015. It recently opened a Bangalore office to add more engineers and product people to its team. Be it anything, from recharging your phone to tech support, from travel booking to holiday guidance, from grocery to food ordering, from shopping assistance to finding deals & coupons, from finding gifts to suggesting the best electronic item, from doing a web check-in to getting your laundry done – Helpchat can get all of them done for you.

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

AHA Taxis [a division of WAAH Taxis Pvt Ltd], India’s leading online aggregator for outstation travel has raised an undisclosed round of angel funding from ah! Ventures, a startup focused growth catalyst bridging ideas and money. The deal was solely advised and syndicated by ah! Ventures and led to closure on its private equity investment platform, CLUBah.com

AHA Taxis was founded in April 2015 by Amit Grover [ex-Infosys, Asian Paints, Onida, IIT-IIM alumnus], along with Praveen Samariya [ex-Times Internet, IIT alumnus], Kunal Krishna [ex-Headstrong, Copper Mobile], Kumar Arayan [ex-Swiggy, Askmebazar, NIIT] & Shivam Mishra [ex-Crazzy, college dropout]. The team complements each other on several fronts of technology, operations and marketing, all of which are critical to success in the outstation taxi sector in India. Additionally, AHA Taxis has roped in marquee advisers including Puneet Gupt of Times Internet and Vikas Taneja of Games247

AHATaxis

AHA Taxis helps travellers save cost on outstation travel by charging only for actual kilometers travelled. Traditionally in Indian road travel, the taxi owners charge a return fare from customers even for one way trips, as they are not assured of passengers on return journey. AHA Taxis provides service in 100+ cities currently and is expanding to another 100 cities by mid-2016. Customers can book an AHA Taxi by going on the website as well as mobile app available on Android Playstore.

Amit Grover, Founder, AHA Taxis, explains

Very few of the present cab providers offer intercity ride, “AHA” being one of them. Having said that, the primary problem with a regular cab is that you get charged for the return trip too.  Here, “AHA Taxis” takes the lead by providing you the taxi and charging you only for the actual kilometers travelled. We are aggregating demand and supply using website and mobile app to make it a win-win situation for all stakeholders – taxi owners, customers, society and environment.

 AHA Taxis has served outstation trips across 100+ cities for thousands of happy customers. AHA acts as an online bridge between drivers and customers offering significant value addition – it charges the customers for only one way trips rather than double fare for pick and drops. The drivers get a matching customer for their journeys instead of going empty, which enables them to earn more without extra investment.

Amit Grover further elucidated

Taxi sector has been developing by leaps and bounds in India, with OLA and Uber serving local travel, we felt that there is a gap in outstation travel which needs to be addressed by using technology and marketing. Our brand promise is to make taxis affordable, easily available and focus on customer safety – something none of the past and present players have been able to solve simultaneously at scale. After last few months of discovering our product market fit, we felt the need for investments to grow and ah! Ventures has come in at the right time to support us in this venture.

This deal was concluded through ah! Ventures’ private equity investment platform, CLUB ah!. CLUB ah! is India’s first full-spectrum startup investment network and platform comprising of over 550+ investors, including some of the renowned angels and early-stage VCs.

CLUB ah! platform today has over 5000+ startups, 475+ seed/angel investors and over 75 VCs & institutional investors, making it one of the largest platform of investors and startups. The network also recently secured its first profitable exit from Ed-tech venture Harness Handitouch within 2 years of its investment. CLUB ah! has till date invested close to INR 60 Cr in over 20 startups spread across varied industries and domains, including AHA Taxis.

AHA Taxis plans to use the funds raised by investing equally in technology, marketing and operations. Having an asset light model, the company can efficiently scale up capabilities on consumer and vendor support side. Currently the company is clocking almost 100% MOM growth on all metrics, and with angel investors backing, aim to achieve 10x growth within a year. The company plans to expand to newer geographies, with a focus on tier 2/3 towns, and start coverage of non-tourism sector beyond usual routes like Delhi to Jaipur, Agra, Haridwar and Chandigarh. AHA Taxis intelligent technology coupled with human acumen will help the company cater to the long tail of the consumer demand. In long term, AHA Taxis’ vision is to provide an alternate to Indian Railways!

Giving an investors’ perspective, Harshad Lahoti, Founder & CEO of ah! Ventures, said

Taxi aggregators typically don’t own any cabs or employ drivers; they connect customers with drivers through a tech platform, the front-end for the customer being an app. This is the same asset-light model that AHA Taxis has implemented. Besides, big money is making its way into this sector.

According to the Association of Radio Taxi India, the taxi business in the country is growing at 20-25 per cent a year. The organised taxi sector accounts for just four to five per cent of the industry and totals $800 million. By 2020, it is expected to grow almost 10 times to $7 billion. Revenues for taxi service providers are expected to grow at a CAGR of about 25% during 2014-19. Also, over the last decade, the consumer base in India is moving from a price sensitive mind-set to a convenience-first mind-set fuelling further demand for such services.

Our Investment in AHA Taxis is at the opportune time as we believe strongly in the potential of the business in India. They are already clocking 100% MOM growth on all metrics. As such, we are extremely confident of the team led by Amit and had no second thoughts on wanting to be early investors in AHA Taxis. We are positive of their service offering & technology and also of their ability to create significant shareholder value.

AHA Taxis is ah! Ventures’ second investment in this month. Earlier this month ah! Ventures invested USD 250K in an online game-based engagement learning startup Shirsa Labs. Besides they recently closed two back to back investments of over 1M USD each in Origa Leasing and Ewya Media.

ah! Ventures is in the process of closing 2 more deals in the coming weeks

About AHA Taxis

AHA Taxis [a division of WAAH Taxis Pvt Ltd] is India’s leading online aggregator for outstation travel. They offer online taxi booking to customers for one way fares, return journeys and multi city booking. Their vision is to give freedom of choice to their customers worldwide for traveling safely where they wish to while saving costs and at the same time benefit the taxi drivers with increased profits.

[Image Credit* – AHA Taxis]

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

TechProcess Payment Services Ltd., India’s leading payment solutions company have announced a successful implementation of its mobile-first payment platform, Paynimo for Berggruen Group owned Keys Chain of Hotels. With this, the customers of the Keys Chain of hotels will be able to avail secure & convenient services such as online payments including hotel services at minimal taps.

Paynimo’s value proposition comprises harnessing the potential of existing payment methods in the consumers’ hands and facilitating cashless transactions. The platform operates independent of stashing cash in it. Thus both consumers and merchants can opt for a secured ecosystem to transact without cash.

 

Kumar Karpe – CEO, TechProcess Payment Services Ltd. said

We believe Paynimo will be an enabler for a seamless payment experience for Keys Hotels customers across India and serve a great purpose on enhancing customer experience. Our secured payment platform will act as a ‘Super Wallet’ and it will spur the activation of debit, credit and prepaid cards. We are delighted to partner with Keys Hotels, which has always been ahead of times in its approach to ensure customer delight.

Paynimo powers a consistent user experience across different platforms, channels and devices. The platform also gives a single dashboard view to the hotel industry enabling them to look at all reservations on a single view. Its superior payment checkout experience enables an end consumer to complete transactions securely, and with minimal taps.

Key Features of Paynimo

  • Customers of 25 hotels across 14 cities will now be offered more than 170 payment options including – card payments, Net-banking, NEFT/RTGS, IMPS, e-wallets etc.
  • Instant and simultaneous payment confirmation to the Keys Hotels and its clientele
  • Safe and convenient transactions, friction-less checkout, auto pre-fill of OTP and complete in-app payment flow
  • Converts an existing smart phone into Virtual MPOS
  • Enhanced reservation experience and seamless payment
  • Single Dashboard view for the Keys Hotel to keep a track on all the reservations

It is India’s first truly revolutionary payment gateway that allows both offline and online businesses to collect e-payments. Paynimo converts regular SMS and email reminders into actionable payment links, allowing merchants to e-collect from consumers. With ready-to-use APIs, it can be instantly integrated with billing systems for quick go-to-market!

About TechProcess Payment Services Ltd

TechProcess Payment Services Ltd. has been pioneering electronic payments in India since 2000 by setting up BillJunction, India’s first electronic bill presentment and payment service. TechProcess has been building, managing and servicing the e-payments ecosystem through its innovative cloud based payment platforms which have been adopted by leading brands. The service offerings cover the entire gamut of non-cash modes of electronic payments such as card payments, Net-banking, NACH, NEFT/RTGS, IMPS, e-wallets and the like. For more information, please visit their website

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Goodbox, a conversational-commerce mobile app has raised $2.5 million from Nexus Venture Partners. Goodbox allows businesses to create a commerce-ready store within minutes that provides seamless discovery, ordering and payment. Consumers can buy from their trusted stores across multiple categories without having to download multiple apps.

The company had earlier raised seed funding from the Manipal Group, Aprameya Radhakrishna [co-founder, TaxiForSure] and Charan Padmaraju [co founder, redBus].The current funds will be used for merchant acquisition & building the team.

Goodbox allows businesses to create a store on the Goodbox app that resembles the physical environment where the merchant can chat with their customers, upload their product/services catalog for search and discovery, take orders, accept payments and get logistics support. Most customers and merchants already use generic messaging apps to place an order over a message. Goodbox significantly improves the customer experience by integrating e-commerce capabilities with messaging and with time saving features for quick or repeat orders. Customers can buy from and pay their trusted businesses through one window and reduce app fatigue of having to download multiple apps for multiple things.

Goodbox is operational in Bangalore with over 1200 merchants already signed up, including supermarkets, restaurants, laundry chains, rental providers, movers & packers, canteens, salons and thali services. The company’s mission is to get every business to create their store on the app and make that their primary way to interact with consumers.

Sandeep Singhal, Co-founder & MD, Nexus Venture Partners says

Goodbox is empowering businesses by getting them online and helping them engage with their customers. We are excited about partnering with a team that has great product thinking and proven operational strengths.

Abey Zachariah, Co-founder & CEO, Goodbox said

At Goodbox, we are committed to enabling businesses with technology by giving them a ready store on our app in a matter of minutes. We wanted to partner with someone who believes in our vision and is willing to support us in accomplishing the gargantuan mission we’ve set for ourselves. We found such synergy of thought with Nexus Venture Partners. The funds will be earmarked for our expansion in the coming months.

Goodbox has been co-founded by Abey Zachariah [ex-redBus core team], Anand Kelaginamani [IIM-B], Charan Raj [ex-Accenture), Mahesh Herle [ex-National Instruments], Mayank Bidawatka [ex-redBus core team& co-founder The Media Ant], Mohit Maheshwari [IIM-B] and Nithin Chandra [NIT-K & IIM-B].

About Goodbox

Goodbox gives an app presence to businesses. It enables a business to create a storefront on the Goodbox app. Businesses want to adopt new technologies such as being on app, having a storefront and being able to interact with their consumers real-time. However, creating or maintaining an app is a very costly and complex affair. Goodbox enables SME businesses with an app presence within 5 minutes at an unbelievably low price, along with a payment gateway. Businesses can host their menu on the app and create their business profile as well. Every business can now be on the Goodbox app and start conducting commerce with their consumers. Goodbox app for Android can be downloaded from here

|In: Events|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Accenture, in partnership with Yahoo, announced the winners of the fourth season of Innovation Jockeys, The Hunt for India’s most Innovative Minds in a glitzy award ceremony held at Ritz Carlton, Bangalore.

This year’s contest focused on the concepts of disruptive technology innovations related to the themes of Cognitive Computing and Internet of Things & Digital Application Marketplace. It aimed to discover bright, young, home-grown innovators who could conceptualize ideas that would help businesses and governments create personalized customer or citizen experiences.

The participants hailing from under-graduate as well as post graduate courses submitted innovative ideas for using technology to transform India through a micro-site developed for the contest at InnovationJokeys. The winners were announced under the following categories: Grand Prize, Cognitive Computing & Internet of Things, Digital Application Marketplace and Jury Award.

The grand prize was awarded to Team Fuzz which comprised of Akash Kumar, Akash Kumar Singh, Amit Kumar Singh & Abhishek Kumar from IES College of Technology, Bhopal, for developing Seva, Connecting India Healthy India, an application aimed at digitizing healthcare services and offering a one-stop solution to tackle long queues and unnecessary delays in providing medical care. The app is programmed to provide quick service and help the patient reach their nearest hospital in order to ensure timely treatment in case of emergencies. As a part of the award, winners will fly to Silicon Valley to experience the frontline of technology at AccentureTechnology Labs.  In addition to this, they also won a mentorship session with Nandini Vaidyanathan, CMD, CARMa Venture Services.

In the Cognitive Computing & Internet of Things category, Neeraj and Akshita Sachdeva who represented Team Eyeluminati from Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad were awarded the prize for Manovue, a wearable voice-controlled haptic device that aims to help the visually impaired by using natural language processing to provide voice-enabled guidance and vibrations.

The winning entry in the Digital Application Marketplace category belonged to Team Fivido. The members were Bhavesh from Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology and Abhijit, Gaurang who belong to the Delhi Technological University. They developed Navishoe: The Navigator on Feet, a shoe-based navigation system that relays data such as the user’s location as well as sends out distress messages without the need for a smartphone.

The Jury Award along with mentorship from Accenture was presented to Team Phoenix whose member Krithika from Amrita School of Engineering, Madurai developed the application Innovative divide & conquer for novel purpose. The application used machine-learning techniques to develop a cognitive system that attempts to grade short answers and aids candidates to learn faster.

The entries were rigorously evaluated by the panel of judges comprising the following:

All category winners were awarded trophies and tech gadgets such as iPads and Pebble Smartwatch. The top five popular entries walked home with Amazon kindles. The entire awards ceremony was also live tweeted using #InnovationJockeys for all parents, college team mates and other contestants. For more information, please visit InnovationJockeys

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Inspire your child with the all new Swipe Junior, the safest, reliable and most immersive smartphone for kids with stacks of security features pre-installed for parents. Swipe Technologies, India’s leading Mobile Internet Technology Company on Children’s Day announced the launch of its long awaited product Swipe Junior, a smartphone built specifically for kids at an astounding price of Rs. 5999 only.

Swipe Junior will be a perfect companion for the kids in the age group of 5-15 years. It will not only enhance their creativity but also make learning fun without compromising their safety and security.

SwipeJunior

Swipe Junior comes loaded with 5 exclusive features that clearly differentiate it from the competition. These features include:

  1. Parents Operated Control System – This specialized feature is designed for Swipe Junior enabling the parents to keep a check of the “contact list” their kids are connected to, control/limit the time spent on internet browsing, games or any other apps. Swipe Junior grants extreme flexibility to have SOS emergency dialing facility with just one click.
  2. Equipped with powerful Geo-positioning – An amazing technology and first of its kind to control the Kid’s movement, limiting them to be within defined Geo-Fence area. Parents can monitor the phones location through GPS and can also set “safe” and “danger” zones for their child.
  3. Customize UI for kids – Parents can customize the wallpapers that their kids find attractive and set ringtone that are soothing for their children. Kids can enjoy the pre-loaded apps that are fascinating for them and can also ignite their imagination with interactive story books.
  4. Shockproof & Durable design – Considering the fact that kids drop the devices, the device has a specially designed shock & break proof body made with food grade material.
  5. On Cloud – An all-time real cloud connectivity makes Swipe Junior world’s only unique cloud connected mobile for kids.

Swipe Junior Device Specifications

Powered with 1.3 GHz Dual Core Processor, the device has 512 MB RAM and a 4GB ROM that enables the device to run at a blazing speed. The 4.5” IPS display makes watching cartoons and educational shows a real delight. Animated movies, educational films and loads of informational apps can be stored on its 4 GB memory. Swipe Junior also has a 2 MP rear camera and 0.3 MP front camera which helps the kids to capture their imagination. The long lasting 1900 mAh battery keeps the kids occupied and entertained throughout the day. The device is also enabled with a 3G dual SIM slot.

Shripal Gandhi, Founder & CEO, Swipe Technologies said

It’s no secret that kids are using technology more than ever before. We saw an opportunity to create a device just for kids that provides them with an intuitive, fun and kid-friendly user experience filled with rich, interactive content and at the same time provide the parents an upper hand in keeping a control over kid’s activities. Being the first Indian Brand to cater to this segment, we are extremely excited to launch Swipe Junior.

Swipe Junior is available in two colors – blue for boys & pink for girls. Swipe Junior can be ordered from all leading online portals like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Paytm and other e-commerce platforms along with company website, it can also be booked on cash-on-delivery by calling on 8793-038-038. Free Subscription for Parental Control and Geo-Tracking Services is available for the 1st year.

This exclusive offering is for parents who are looking for perfect introduction to a smartphone for their child, with the best safety features available today, expandable parental controls and access to a vast selection of content that delivers life-changing learning and development.

Let your kids start exploring the world today !

About Swipe Technologies

Swipe is an innovation-centric company with a vision to empower India to be one of the top nations in the world in terms of availability of new Tablet technologies and innovative solutions. Swipe was started in India to bring exciting devices to market and today we are a leading consumer brand with key innovations across product, pricing and support. In November 2012, Swipe Telecom was awarded the “Most Innovation driven Company in India by World Brand Congress.” In December 2012, Swipe Telecom was also recognized in ‘CNBC Young Turks’ for its breakthrough strategies and innovation. For more details visit Swipe Telecom

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 2 Comments

From exclusive mobiles to laptops, apparels to toys; every category of item is available online. Discounts, Cash back and Easy Buy & return policy is driving the growth of e-commerce in India. Not to forget, exclusive tie-ups that brands have with e-tail companies which becomes a unique proposition of the e-commerce company.

However, when we think about e-commerce, only B2C companies like Flikpart, Snapdeal, Paytm, Amazon etc. comes to mind. Either you have Horizontal Players [as mentioned above] or Pure play vertical players like FirstCry, BabyOye etc. that cater to the ever expanding B2C segment.

Just imagine this random scenario – You as a Business owner want to buy a particular product in bulk but via the online route ? The options that come to your mind are very less & the resistance shown would be enormous since the capital required to buy in bulk would also be more !!! In a nutshell, in order to buy in bulk; you require higher capital, greater risk appetite & need to have faith on the seller/re-seller and the distribution model.

A typical B2B distribution model can encompass as many as half a dozen channels – distributors, resellers, retailers, in-house sales, dedicated agents and representatives, and independent agents. And, in many cases, can have as many layers – the publisher or manufacturer may distribute to a bevy of national and international distributors, who supply regional distributors, who provide product to independent sales agents, who service accounts that may have their own distribution systems to service the end buyer [Source – DigitalRiver]

However in the year 2014, IndiaMart – the undisputed leader in the B2B segment came up with the idea of Tolexo to solve this important problem for businesses. Tolexo is India’s online store for Business & Industry. It has the largest collection of products for offices, factories & businesses.

Tolexo is an IndiaMART Intermesh Ltd subsidiary that aims to leverage it’s expertise in the B2B segment by connecting buyers with sellers and providing supplementary services like Marketing, Brand Building, Product Fulfillment, Shipment etc.

Tolexo : Products Catalogue

Tolexo is the ultimate destination for Business Goods & Supplies, which transforms the way businesses buy these products. It offers consumer shopping experience for the largest collection of products needed by businesses, factories, offices and laboratories.

Tolexo has already served customers from more than 800 cities & towns across India. In order to maintain high level of customer satisfaction, Tolexo has rightly invested into it’s back-end infrastructure which has ensured friction-less e-commerce 🙂 E-commerce eco-system comprises of Buyers, Sellers [Merchants] & Products. Tolexo has more than 10,00,000+ essential products for business and industry, with more than 5000 sellers & 7500 brands.

Tolexo also provides Last-Mile delivery to it’s esteemed customers and has a very friendly ‘Cancellation & Refund Policy’.

Some of the prime categories on Tolexo are listed below:

[Source* – Tolexo]

Tolexo : Product Fulfillment

When we purchase any product online, one thing which we are concerned about is the timely product delivery. As mentioned above, risk becomes much higher in the B2B segment. Tolexo not only bridges the gap between the Buyer [Business Owner] & Seller [Merchant on Tolexo] but also provides supports to the merchant via Packaging, Logistics  etc. which play an important role in customer retention [apart from quality product :)].

To achieve this, Tolexo does inspections, ensures quality packaging and it has partnered with most of the top courier and logistics partners and communicates shipping status to customer at each stage of shipment. It’s logistic partners are FedEx, Gati, Blue Dart and Delhivery.

When me & my wife started selling Home-Made chocolates online, we gave prime importance to product packaging since that plays a crucial role in the product life-cycle.

Tolexo : Customer Service

Like other e-commerce companies, once the order has been placed customer can track of the product online as the updated status of shipment at its each stage from order is placed to processes to ready to ship to dispatch to deliver.

Tolexo_Customers

For this review, we called up Tolexo Helpline Number – 91 8282 8282 82 & the response was immediate. We asked them queries about certain factory products and posed questions about bulk-buying etc. The customer-care department did not disappoint us 🙂 Similar queries were sent to Tolexo Customer Support email which were answered in less than 24 hours.

Tolexo : Cancellations & Refund

At numerous times, we place an order for a product but plan to return the product due to some un-solicited reason. This is where the “Cancellation & Refund Policy” plays a very important role in ‘Customer Retention’. As per Tolexo’s Cancellation & Refund policy, it guarantees 100% MoneyBack if the issue not resolved in maximum 30 days via same mode.

Tolexo allows return of products for 3 days from delivery in all the following cases:

  • Product is used/worn or altered
  • Physical damage to the box or to the product
  • If sealed package of branded products is open
  • The packet was empty / some item or accessory was missing
  • The product was defective,
  • Significantly different from the description given by the merchant [wrong size, colour, quality or material related issues]
  • You changed your mind due to any other reason

Customer Testimonials section does indicate that they consider Customer Service, Last Mile Deliveries, Ease in Refund etc. core to their business !!

Tolexo : Design, Interface

Tolexo website has an simple & intuitive design. Searching for products across any category was very easy & we did not encounter any issue. The page-load time was also very less. It is also available on Play Store that ensures that it does not loose it’s customers and they can buy products in bulk even when they are on the go 🙂

The entire buying process was seamless which was a delight for us. They have a rigorous merchant selection process which ensures that they have the best merchants on their platform.

Closing Thoughts

Our overall experience on Tolexo was good. As mentioned by Sahil Barua, co-founder, Delhivery in this interview “B2B is an entire different ball-game and requires Logistics expertise”. Considering that the big-daddy of e-commerce – Amazon also ventured into B2B segment via AmazonBusiness [Source], Tolexo needs to pull up it’s sleeves & fill in the gaps where-ever required 🙂

If you are a business owner & have used Tolexo, please share them in the comments section !!