BookMyShow announced that it has successfully migrated its existing mobile website to an all new Progressive Web App [PWA]. The new and improved version not only replicates the BookMyShow app design, but it is also much lighter, faster and user friendly. This has also made BookMyShow the first online entertainment ticketing brand in India to move to PWA.
With the new PWA, all BookMyShow users will be able to get the immersive app like experience on their mobile web browsers, including Chrome, Mozilla and Firefox. Even on slow networks, the BookMyShow pages will load more than 50% faster now, and users will also be benefited from reduced data consumption and increased responsiveness. The new progressive web app has already increased conversion rates by more than 80% as compared to the older mobile website.
On BookMyShow, almost 80% transactions are through our mobile platforms – which includes both app and mobile site. Recently after introducing our new app, we went back to the drawing board to develop an improved version of our mobile website.
The goal was to provide a user experience that was fast, responsive, reliable and engaging – all at the same time. With our new Progressive Web App, we are broad-basing our platform to include those users who either don’t have the space to download a new app or are looking for options that use less data and doesn’t require constant updates. We have already seen an exponential increase in conversion rates and expect our new web app to significantly contribute to reaching new users.
Specifications of BookMyShow Progressive Web App
BookMyShow has moved to a new Language Stack to accommodate the massive number of web pages served on BookMyShow; the code for the new progressive web app has been completely rewritten using React.
With the new design in place, the progressive web app is clutter-free and has similar look and feel compared to that of the native app, ensuring that the users can stay within their comfort zones.
Data consumption by the new PWA is substantially lower due to effective optimization; when a user requests for a particular page, only assets required for that page are loaded, thereby saving on data. Even on 2G networks, the initial load time is just 3.1 seconds and even for personalized movie suggestions, the new progressive app takes less than 2 seconds in subsequent loads.
To improve the overall performance and to increase efficiency and responsiveness, the new version consists of smaller progressive web apps that work together for better results.
Offline support has also been extended to movie listings and show time pages.
About BookMyShow
BookMyShow is India’s largest online entertainment ticketing platform that allows users to book tickets for movies, plays, sports and live events through its website, mobile app and mobile site. Founded in Mumbai in 1999 and launched in 2007, BookMyShow is now present in over 400 towns and cities across India, currently meeting the entertainment demands of millions of customers.
How many times have you been in a situation where you run out of cash and need some loan on an urgent basis. Personal loans, Education loans, Housing loans or any such loans [where the amount is huge] are mostly planned but there are cases where you might need an ‘unplanned’ loan. The loan amount in such scenarios might be such that banking institutions might not be able to offer that much loan. This is where ‘Alternate Lending’ can be of huge help where you can either take a loan from P2P platform in which case there is no intermediary financial institution [Both Borrowers & Lenders are individuals].
The other case is where you opt for a loan via a NBFC which acts as an ‘Enabler’ and bridges tha gap between the Borrower & the Bank. 2017 has so far been a very eventful year for Fintech Startups and Alternate Lending is being touted as one of the hottest sectors in 2017. There are couple of fintech startups addressing this problem where their major target customers are ‘Salaried Professionals’.
One such startup is Creditexchange that provides salaried personal loans of between 50,000 and 5,00,000 INR through Qbera Loans. Qbera provides borrowers a seamless, convenient experience with an unparalleled turn-around time of 12-30 hours [to loan disbursal]. Creditexchange is being developed in partnership with LendFoundry, a market-leader in the development of technology stacks for alternative lending companies in the US.
Today we have a chat with Aditya Kumar, Founder & CEO of Qbera, an alternate lending startup. We discuss about Qbera, the P2P lending market, opportunities in Fintech, impact of Digital India & much more. So let’s get started with the Q&A….
How has the online lending industry changed, or you foresee any changes after UPI was introduced ?
It’s been a year since Unified Payments Interface [UPI] was launched and has had a positive impact on the payments & collections space, in general. As a result of UPI, small ticket loans can be made, and repayments collected seamlessly, around the clock.
There is a general question with lenders, what happens if borrower is not able to return the money. How is the lingering question of Credit Risk taken care of ?
There can be multiple repercussions of a borrower not being able to repay their loans. The defaulter will be reported to CIBIL [and the other credit bureaus] which will have a negative effect on a person’s credit score and significantly impact their ability to borrow in the future. In scenarios of repeated/willful defaulter, banks could also initiate legal action against the borrower.
Credit risk is mitigated by lenders in a multitude of ways. First, a person’s credit history is always checked to see if they have any history of default, or whether they have availed of credit responsibly in the past. Second, most financial institutions and online lenders alike ask for bank statements of prospective borrower to analyse income and expense patterns. Online and other alternative lenders also look at social data, mobile data, georisk, and other more ‘non-traditional’ sources of data to make a more comprehensive credit decision.
According to your data, which is the biggest category [buying house, repairs, wedding etc.] & customer segmentation [i.e. Age, City etc.] where borrowers require money ?
Salaried individuals typically borrow money primarily for : Personal exingencies, Refinancing credit card [or other] debt, or home improvement. Borrowers in the salaried segment typically reside in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities in India, and many are aged between 25 & 40.
There are growing number of Fintech startups into online lending, P2P lending, credit lines, etc. [eg. Capital Float, Lendingkart, Rubique, Faircent, MoneyTap, etc.]. What are some of the USP’s of Qbera via-a-vis other Fintech startups or what are some of the differentiating factors of Qbera ?
Qbera focuses on offering personal loans to salaried individuals working at over 700,000 employers. In addition to this, Qbera offers loans to individuals with incomes starting at 20,000 per month [net] and those who have never availed of any loan produt before.
Qbera also strives to approve loan applications which are filled through its portal, Qbera.com, in 15 minutes~4 working hours, and disburse loans within 24 hours thereof.
What is the TAM of the consumer debt market that Qbera is trying to address ?
Qbera is addressing a market of salaried individuals in the top 13 markets in India – with incomes of between 20,000 and 75,000 per month. The size of this market is likely more than 10 million individuals, with the current personal loan balances in these markets at 200,000 crores.
Apart from CIBIL score, Social score; are there other data points that Qbera has to evaluate members [borrowers] on Qbera ?
Other credit parameters, bank statements, demographic information, information about a borrower’s employer – 33 of these parameters go into making a credit decision on an application.
Few years back, there was a huge wave about MFI’s [like SKS Microfinance], in 2017 the wave is around Fintech sector [NBFC’s], what are your thoughts about the Fintech space in the coming years ?
The fintech space in India is still at a very nascent stage, compared to what it is elsewhere in the world [e.g. the US, UK and China]. Billions of dollars of disbursements have happened across unsecured and secured products in these markets through fintech companies, and, as such, Indian players have a long way to go.
What’s unique about the Indian ecosystem is how open Banks & NBFCs are to working with Fintech companies, which should help them evolve at a great pace. In the next few years, Fintech players in India will see tremendous growth, some degree of consolidation, as they play a larger role – especially in providing the underbanked and new-to-credit populations with access to credit.
Does Qbera only offer loans to salaried professionals [as mentioned it is minimum 20K/month] or is it open to entrepreneurs, freelancers [If not, any reason for the same and any tentative timeline when it might be open to non-salaried professionals]
Qbera has laid out its plan of action in a way that it is currently focused on the salaried segment and would use the learnings from the same to expand to self-employed professions, leading to self-employed non-professionals and businesses in future. Idea is to ensure operational efficiency in one segment and use this in the other.
Does Qbera have any e-commerce partners where customer on that platform can get short term loan from Qbera [for buying big ticket items, instead of opting for EMI or other payment mechanism] ?
No, we don’t.
Can you share some tips for building an effective team for startups [especially the initial core team] ?
Strike a balance between domain expertise, experience, passion and intellect and street smartness.
Take your time in putting the founding team together – they will become the bedrock of your organisation.
Work with people you get along with – you will be spending significant amounts of time with them.
Bootstrapping vis-a-vis Institutional Funding, your views on the same ?
Both comes with their own set of benefits and perils. An entrepreneurial thought is often followed by a decision/desire to ‘bootstrap’ it before giving nod to institutional funding. It is natural to be possessive of one’s product/project and want to nurture their business idea on their own without taking investment from venture capitalists. Bootstrapping can put you in a straitjacket as far as fund for marketing and PR is concerned. External investments give you flexibility – but come with their own set of expectations.
Apart from Fintech, what are the next wave of startups that would excite entrepreneurs’ interest, VC interest ?
I think it would be Artificial Intelligence [AI]. In fact, it has already evolved into a group of inevitable technologies that entail machine learning and natural language processing.
There has been growing discussion about linking Aadhar to PAN number, in which case just providing Aadhar details help Fintech startups to verify customer’s financial credibility, can you share your thoughts on this move and whether it would be a boon for finance related startups [be it services, Fintech, etc.]
I think this is a much-needed positive move by the government as it helps them to monitor all taxable transactions and also prevents people or companies from owning multiple PAN cards. Citizens would be more educated about the benefits of paying taxes. It also saves tax payers the hassle of submitting their IT papers to the concerned departments. As far as alternative lenders are concerned, the most challenging aspect of the business is to assess credit worthiness of applicants accurately and make a fair decision. This will certainly make things easier for us.
Many startups/growth stage companies are now looking at unit-economics, how important is it to look at that factor early on in the startup’s journey ?
Unit economics have a huge role to play in the eventual success of any business, and one which investors are becoming increasingly paranoid about [and rightly so!]. If your business doesn’t have a clear roadmap to positive unit-level economics, you will never make money.
Some books that you highly recommend for entrepreneurs
If you’re involved in the fintech space – I strongly believe you are in the right place, at the right time. Be patient and enjoy the ride!
We thank Aditya Kumar for his time and sharing valuable insights with our readers! If you have any questions for Aditya about Qbera, Alternate lending, Fintech, scaling up, etc., please email them to himanshu.sheth@gmail.com or leave your question in the comments section.
Exotel, one of India’s leading cloud telephony companies announced the launch of their new campaign that focuses on helping ERP and Tax Accounting Software companies manage leads and make the process smooth and efficient.
As lawmakers are in process of clearing out decks for the rollout of GST, Tally along with 33 other companies has recently been appointed as GST Suvidha Providers to help businesses transition to new regime. According to industry reports, less than 10 percent of SME’s are in a GST-ready position, it is undoubtedly a busy time of the year for these companies. The one problem that these partners face right now is, missing out on potential customers due to missed calls or a busy tone.
Exotel’s cloud telephony services will help these companies manage the high volume of incoming leads from companies who would like to become GST ready.
Speaking about the campaign, Shivakumar Ganesan, CEO & Founder, Exotel, said
With the new GST rules rolling out, we anticipated that there will be disruption in businesses as many SME’s are unlikely to be GST-compliant and the ERP and Tax Accounting Software companies would be receiving numerous calls in a day. One of the critical things for any business is to not miss any leads, at Exotel, we wholeheartedly believe in automations being the best way to combat this problem.
Exotel’s cloud telephony
Enables efficient functioning – every customer who calls will be greeted with a professional IVR greeting, and connected to the right person, whether he is in the field or in office. The reseller’s service will be equivalent to a large company irrespective of the size.
Is economical – No capital investment. So no infrastructure or maintenance cost
Allows payment as you go – you can pay and use for however long you require the services
Ensures businesses never miss a lead – every single call you receive is captured by Exotel. No more missing out on a lead because of a missed call. The customer never hears a busy tone.
Facilitates easy IVR automation – You can set up a simple IVR greeting and a call flow in less than 15 mins.
Supports Click-to-Call feature – Now include click-to-call buttons in your website & email campaigns.
About Exotel
Exotel is the most reliable and scalable cloud telephony platform in India. Founded by Shivakumar Ganesan, Ishwar Sridharan and Siddharth Ramesh in 2011, it powers voice communication for over a 1000 businesses including brands like Ola, Uber, Flipkart etc. Voice & Data picked Exotel as the Editor’s Choice Emerging Company of the Year 2014. Nasscom’s Emerge Product conclave picked Exotel as one of the top 10 emerging startups in India. For more information, please visit Exotel
Cricket, the game is synonymous across India and it is one game that is considered as a passion & religion by many of us! Be it the World Cup, Champions Trophy, the excruciating five days of Test Cricket or IPL – the latest sensation; we love following the game to the core. Though Cricket has changed considerably over a period of time with few new rules being added for the betterment of the game, changing temperament of the players, etc. the core and the passion still remains the same 🙂
If you are a 90’s kid like me, you would have grown up learning the nuances of Cricket by watching the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, our current Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team – Anil Kumble. Each of these players had different traits and one specialty, Sachin Tendulkar – Cover Drive, Sourav Ganguly- Offside stroke play, Rahul Dravid – Solid technique and determination, Anil Kumble – Flipper. Even though the T20 format of the game resulted in shifting gears, contributions by these players in One-day Internationals, Test Cricket and T20 format [where few of them played] would always be cherished.
There are some achievements in Cricket that leave a mark forever and one such feat is Anil Kumble’s 10 wickets in a Test Innings against our arch rivals – Pakistan. This is the reason why Kumble’s flippers, wrong one’s were very effective on any cricketing surface! Even Cricketers have other passions [apart from Cricket] which many of them pursue post-retirement.
Anil ‘Jumbo‘ Kumble who achieved this feat is currently the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team. It is fun to listen to stories on how sport-stars, particularly cricketers got their pet names and the story is no different for Anil Kumble. Though Kumble was a leg-spinner, some of the deliveries that he bowled were faster than a medium-fast bowler and that is also one of the reasons why he is called Jumbo. He is nicknamed Jumbo not only because of his deliveries, that, for a spinner, are as fast as a jumbo jet, but, also because his feet are quite big or Jumbo as observed by his team-mates [Source].
Apart from being an ardent servant of the game, Anil Kumble also has interests beyond cricket. He is also a motivational speaker, Fitness freak and above all a wildlife photographer. Kumble is a big lover of wildlife safari and enjoys mountain biking as well. He is very passionate about wildlife conservation and that is one of the primary reasons he setup the Kumble Foundation – Jumbo Fund. The fund primarily strives to raise funds and recognize the hard work of the people behind wildlife conservation! His passion for wildlife photography is visible from the work shared by him on his Twitter Handle.
Apart fromwildlife photography, Jumbo also captures Indian team’s recreational activities when they are on a tour. Being a cricket fan, this is something that each one of us would love to have a look at – life of cricketers off the cricket pitch and Kumble’s amazing camera work does wonders for us! That is one of the primary reasons he also doubles up as a ‘Team Photographer‘. Anil Kumble also dons the hat of an Author 🙂 He is the author of the book Wide Anglewhich is a journey through the Indian Cricket Team’s dressing room. The book takes us back in time with Kumble sharing his childhood pictures, pictures of him with other Indian cricketers particularly his other Karnataka players, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad. The book also captures off the pitch funny moments, dressing room pictures and particularly wildlife photography.
Anil Kumble loves to click pictures of animals in their natural habitat and as mentioned earlier, he shares his amazing photography work on social media. In a nutshell, Anil Kumble is a true all-rounder that champions the cause of wildlife conservation by being active on-field to drive that change!
However, like normal netizens, even cricket stalwarts face difficulty with inconsistent data speed. As mentioned earlier, Anil Kumble takes his passion for wildlife photography very seriously and that is one of the primary reasons why he also needs a consistent ‘Data Strong Network’. A network that allows him to upload his photography to his social media profiles when he is on-the-go, be it trekking or clicking pictures from his safari adventure!! Anil also endorses Vodafone which provides him service he can rely on for high speed uninterrupted connectivity whether roaming abroad or on his wildlife expedition!!
An avid twitter user, Anil’s Twitter page is full of updates and pictures from his travels and #Wildlife tours and expeditions, his suggestions and feedback on various cricketing and social discussions. Anil loves to stay connected to his fans, friends, and colleagues on a regular basis and while he uses a DSLR Camera to capture some breathtaking pictures, he shares them through his data strong Vodafone network.
If you are on the Vodafone Network, please leave your experience in the comments section…
Verisign Distribution Denial of Service Trends, observed attack trends of January~March, the first quarter of 2017.These trends include attack statistics, behavioural trends and future outlook. Compiled on the basis of observations and insights about attack frequency and size obtained from mitigations on behalf of customers from Verisign DDOS Protection Services and insights from iDefense Security Intelligence Services.
57% of DDoS attacks in Q12017 utilized at least two different attack types
Number of attacks- 23 % decrease when compared to Q4 2016
Increase of 26% in average attack peak size compared to Q4 2016
Peak attack size – [volume] 121 Gigabits per second, [Speed] 90 million packets per second
Most common attack mitigated- 46% of attacks were user datagram protocol floods 57% attacks employed multiple attack types
Average peak attack size-14.1 gbps [26% increase compared to Q4 2016], 23% of attacks over 10 Gbps and 36% of attacks over 5 Gbps
DDoS attacks remains complex and unpredictable,and vary widely in terms of volume, speed and complexity. To combat these attacks, it is becoming increasingly important to constantly monitor attacks for changes in order to optimize the mitigation strategy. Verisign saw a 23 percent decrease in the number of attacks in Q1 2017; however, the average peak attack size increased 26 percent compared to the previous quarter. Attackers also launched sustained and repeated attacks against their targets. In fact, Verisign observed that almost 50 percent of customers who experienced DDoS attacks in Q1 2017 were targeted multiple times during the quarter. Every quarter since the first quarter of 2016 has had average attack peak sizes of over 10 GBPS.
Multi-Vector DDoS Attacks are the Norm – Verisign observed DDoS attacks targeting victim networks at multiple network layers and attack types changing over the course of DDoS events, thus requiring continuous monitoring to optimize the mitigation strategy. 57 % of DDoS attacks in Q1 2017 utilized at least two different attack types.
UDP flood attacks continue to lead in Q1 2017, making up 46 percent of total attacks in the quarter. The most common UDP floods mitigated were Domain Name System [DNS] reflection attacks, followed by Network Time Protocol [NTP] and Simple Service Discovery Protocol [SSDP] reflection attacks. While UDP-based attacks continued to dominate the types of attacks deployed, the number of TCP-based attacks increased. TCP floods, largely consisting of TCP SYN and TCP RST floods, were the second most common attack vector, making up 33 percent of attack types in the quarter.
Largest Volumetric Attack and Highest Intensity Flood
The largest volumetric and highest intensity DDoS attack observed by Verisign in Q1 2017 was a multi-vector attack that peaked over 120 Gbps and around 90 Mpps. This attack sent a flood of traffic to the targeted network in excess of 60 Gbps for more than 15 hours. The attackers were very persistent in their attempts to disrupt the victim’s network by sending attack traffic on a daily basis for over two weeks. The attack consisted primarily of TCP SYN and TCP RST floods of varying packet sizes and employed one of the signatures associated with the Mirai IoT botnet. The event also included UDP floods and IP fragments which increased the volume of the attack.
At approximately 90 Mpps, the speed of the attack was the fastest pps rate observed in Q1 2017. SYN flood attacks at such high pps rates can be disruptive and require a highly scalable cloud-based service that can quickly and effectively defend against such attacks.
Mitigations on Behalf of Verisign Customers by Industry for Q1 2017
IT Services/Cloud/SaaS – 58% of mitigations, 22.5% Gbps remains the average attack size
Financial – 28% of mitigations, 1.7 Gbps remains the average attack size
Media and Entertainment content – 6% of mitigations, 0.63 Gbps remains the average attack size
E-commerce and online advertising – 4% of mitigations, 32.6 Gbps remains the average attack size
Public Sector – 2% of mitigations, 31.9 Gbps remains the average attack size
Telecommunications and other sectors – 2% of mitigations, 0.51 Gbps remains the average attack size
Attacks against Financial Sector Increases
The financial sector continues to be a constant target for DDoS attacks. In Q1 2017, Verisign’s financial sector customers experienced the second highest number of DDoS attacks [28 percent] of any industry sector within Verisign’s customer base [a large increase from only 7 percent during the prior quarter]. IT Services/Cloud remained the sector with the largest number of DDoS attacks in Q1 2017.
Combining technology and the human element to mitigate DDoS attacks
In Q1 2017, Verisign observed that 57%t of DDoS attacks against its customer base utilized multiple attack vectors. As DDoS attacks increase in complexity and size, combating them becomes more challenging. In response, organizations not only need the right technology capable of meeting this growing threat, but also the right human element. Technical staff with DDoS expertise working in tandem with technology is highly beneficial in keeping networks and infrastructures available during an attack.
The Technology
Various on-premise firewalls and dedicated DDoS appliances are intended to preemptively stop malicious traffic before it reaches a network. The appliances can be configured with countermeasures or rules to block traffic to certain ports or traffic in a non-compliant format. When configured properly, the associated malicious traffic will be effectively blocked and dropped before it reaches the intended servers.
These appliances are adept at handling simple attacks such as SYN floods and UDP floods, allowing some of the processes including detection to mitigation to be automated. However, in order to fine tune attack countermeasures and respond to changing attack tactics, it is important to have the right people working behind the scenes to most effectively combat a wide variety of attacks.
The Human Element
Attackers are using multiple tactics and adapting them midstream to impact their designated target. For example, Verisign observed that many Layer 7 attacks are regularly mixed in with Layer 3/Layer 4 DDoS flooding attacks. Volumetric flood attacks are easier to defend against than Layer 7 DDoS attacks, which pose a different challenge because it is difficult to distinguish legitimate human traffic from bot traffic. In such cases, a highly trained DDoS team with years of experience and expertise is needed to continuously monitor and adapt a mitigation approach to effectively differentiate bot versus human traffic.
As per a report released by Economic Times, the unused goods market is likely to cross Rs. 115,000 crores. As per Assocham, whether consumer goods like electronics, durables or automobiles – used cars, or the industrial machinery in the capital goods sector the options of re-usage are being considered more actively than ever before. Also, it was indicated that Stocking items is very prominent among Indian households [Source]. With the increased penetration of 4G, falling rates of smartphone [at least before GST goes live], increase in disposable income, etc. more & more Indians prefer the online medium for shopping. This is mainly due to the hefty discounts offered by online retailers, ease, convenience and experience associated with online shopping
Along with Tier-1 cities, e-commerce growth has also been observed in Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities mainly due to growing aspirations & limited access to brands. When it comes to used goods marketplace, the biggest testimony of the market was when Amazon forayed into the used-goods market [via Junglee] thereby allowing individuals to sell their used stuff on Amazon. Though there are couple of players in the used-goods marketplace, there is not a single marketplace for selling Industrial goods, Jewelry & gems, musical instruments, etc.
Currently sellers don’t get enough Ad displays despite paying for Premium ads due to very high volume in paid category as well. These are some of the lingering problems that Zamroo, a startup in the C2C segment aims to solve. Zamroo is to a one stop shop for buying and selling used products where practically anyone can trade anything, anytime, anywhere in India.
Today we have a chat with Rakesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO of Zamroo. So lets get started with the Q&A…
How did you come up with the idea of venturing into used goods marketplace ?
I came up with this idea while I was working in Australia, for example if you wish to change a car, or replace your existing furniture in Australia, it just takes less than 24 hours to sell yours and buy new one by using similar platform like Gumtree and it was unbelievable simple and straight forward. We had huge number of professionals which were on the move, for them buying new products was not making sense, hence they can buy everything which a typical household needs in fraction of the original cost and they resell it again when they are leaving. Another fact of C2C space is in the western world 60% of the population uses these platforms on the monthly basis, that shows the importance of these platforms.
That’s where we got the idea and felt that it is a necessity of having similar platform in India and we started working on the same and build Zamroo ground up taking into account Indian behavioral eco system. Indian C2C market is still at nascent stage as even today we have less than 4-5% of population using such systems due to limited number of platforms and the awareness of such platforms especially in Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities
Can you share some details about the team behind Zamroo ?
Zamroo team are a tight knit group of business leaders, techies with average experience of 20+ years globally.
How much is the overall market size of used goods marketplace ?
USD 75 billion as per KPMG report.
What are some of the items that can be sold on Zamroo ?
‘One can sell from needle to aeroplane on Zamroo’…thats you can find in our tagline “Everything Sells”.You can download the Zamroo app from Google Playstore or Apple store here and here
Zamroo is a very different name, can you let us know how did you come up with that name and what are some of the options that were considered in naming the startup.
Finalizing a name took us more than 2 months of extensive research as we wanted a name which is short, distinctive, easy to pronounce, easy to memorize & should be easily convertible into foreign languages. Lastly it should be capable of legal protection and registration.
On all these parameters set by us….Zamroo name fits perfectly.
Snapdeal acquired used goods marketplace Shopo couple of years back, but the idea did not take off. What according to you are some of the USP’s of Zamroo from other such sites like Ebay, Greendust, OLX, etc.
There are couple of unique buying and selling patterns of Indians, for e.g. They want to sell 4 Lac rupees item [eg. Car, etc.] but do not want to spend 2 minutes in Ad listing which is very unique to Indian consumers. To address these concerns we have build our mobile apps uniquely i.e. They can Post Ad in just less than 30 seconds while we capture all the possible information from the seller which are likely help buyers to make a deal. Additionally we are working on few unique features for safe buying and selling and to build trust in Zamroo community.
What are some of the mediums i.e. WhatsApp, Twitter, etc. via where sellers can sell/post goods [for sale] on Zamroo ?
Currently sellers can post their listings via Web, iOS app and Android app….that too in less than 30 seconds however they can share their listings via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Whatsapp in one single click.
Rakesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO – Zamroo.com
Can you stress on some of the steps taken by the back-end team to ensure that high quality products are sold on Zamroo ?
Zamroo has built the automation system which ensures that unauthorized listings are not published, we have a quality control team which reviews these listings and based on its credentials either it is rejected or approved. All these listings are reviewed individually.
Who are the logistics partners of Zamroo and how do you ensure that the ROR [Rate Of Return] is kept to the minimum in order to maximize revenues ?
Zamroo is online marketplace for used goods, if buyer is interested they can connect with sellers directly over phone, email, SMS and decide the next course of action i.e. They can have the negotiations among them and Zamroo is not involved in that discussion. Zamroo does not charge any fees either from the buyers or the sellers.
Please walk us through funding of Zamroo [Self/Angel/VC] and are you looking out for external funding ?
Currently Zamroo is self funded by the promoters as we believe that India has huge market for such product, hence promoters not only infused the funds but also invested three years of their time to build the world class product.
As Zamroo is now expanding, we are seeking Series-A funding from Investors.
Many e-commerce companies are now pushing for omni-channel presence, does Zamroo also have plans to enter into offline as well [especially for big ticket items like Fridge, Washing Machine, Laptops, etc. or other items that require touch & feel] ?
Yes, Zamroo also has plan where sellers can leave their product and buyers can view that item in that shop/warehouse and if they liked the product they can buy the product then and their itself. With this approach sellers and buyers are safe and it will be hassle free for both the parties.
We would like to understand the customer [i.e. Age, Cities Tier-I,Tier-II, etc.] as well item demographics on Zamroo i.e. Which items sell the most on Zamroo and where does the major chunk of active customers come from on Zamroo.
Till recently our majority of the visitors were coming from Tier-1 cities however we are seeing increase in traffic by 30% from Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities since last 2-3 months as acceptance of digital platforms got the boost after demonetization. Most of the customers visiting Zamroo are less than 35 years old.
Does Zamroo also provide ‘Try & Buy’ facility for it’s customers especially items like clothing, shoes, etc.
No, Zamroo doesn’t offer any such service as most of the products sold on Zamroo are used products.
Is Zamroo a pure C2C [Peer-To-Peer] marketplace for used goods or you also stock fast-shipping items in the warehouse ?
Zamroo is pure C2C marketplace for used goods; we do not stock any item in the warehouse whatsoever.
There is growing competition in used-goods marketplace where there are vertical marketplaces like Droom [Automobiles], GreenDust [Electronics], GoZefo [Furniture], etc. and horizontal marketplaces like OLX, Quikr, Kraftly, etc. how does Zamroo ensure that it stays ahead of the growing competition in providing excellent service [goods] at competitive pricing ?
Zamroo platform is already ahead of the competition, we are continuously innovating new ideas and our team is working hard to ensure that we stay ahead of the curve in terms of technologies, customer service and innovation.
2017 so far has not been good for e-commerce with Snapdeal laying off employees, funds drying up, huge cash-burn; how according to you should entrepreneurs deal with such adverse situations.
There are serious flaws in various business models especially in eCommerce [B2C] space which looks very attractive on papers but actually they are not; typical examples are Flipkart, Snapdeal. More importantly we feel they have excess manpower, hence you are seeing those corrections at the moment.
Media to some extent has been responsible for rise of entrepreneurs, but they focus on valuations whereas there are many bootstrapped entrepreneurs who are not looked on, any tips on how media can do a better job of focusing on right stuff ?
Yes, we agree. Media plays a big role in the rise of entrepreneurship but they are just focusing on valuations rather than the product or it’s potential. For example, in India in C2C used goods space we only have OLX & Quikr and India needs at least 6~7 more credible players to address the market requirements as on every 20 million population one such platform is needed.
Online commerce has been so far about discounting, customer acquisition, etc. how do you see 2017 panning out for the online commerce, hyper-local & used goods marketplace sector ?
Let us give you our view point on each of these sub-verticals individually
Online Commerce – We need more online commerce players as we still have less than 10% online users visiting these platforms. If they promote their products in Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities their volumes can grow by 25-30% YOY.
Hyper-local – It’s not taking off as most of these companies are engaging the local service guys to provide service, they need to change the strategy for e.g. They should provide training to these service providers on regular basis, get the security checks done for them and also provide them the training to enhance the skills, than only they can maintain the quality.
Used goods marketplace – There is huge potential in this space as we still have less than 5% Internet users using these platforms, despite we have only 5% users using these platforms they are oversubscribed. For example, If you post your Ad on top two platforms, your Ad will be on 4th or 5th page in less than 15 minutes, which reduces your chances of selling. This even applies to Paid Listings, so the sellers are looking for more alternatives to list their products that’s where Zamroo perfectly fits in.
Initial customer acquisition is mostly built on discounting model, any other methods that entrepreneurs can follow to gain more customers keeping the burn-rate to the minimum [ensuring that transactions are repetitive instead of one-time].
As Zamroo is an online marketplace for used goods and transaction is happening between buyers and sellers directly, hence discounting doesn’t apply to us. Zamroo has more than 38,000 sellers signed up on the platform, primarily by social media and SEO only and we haven’t burnt huge cash as competitors did to attract customers as we believe in quality of our product and need of the market.
There has been lot of hue & cry about capital dumping, can you share your views on the same [and how fierce competition is necessary for the upliftment of the online sector] ?
We don’t think Indian companies are used for capital dumping, in our view investments by foreign investors should be used for building world class product and taking it to global level. We can also build another Microsoft & Google if investors are little visionary.
As per your entrepreneurial experience, when should an entrepreneur look out for external funding ?
The right stage for external funding is when the company is in early stages of revenue growth.
Some books that you highly recommend for entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs you highly admire and some traits of their’s that you would like to imbibe.
John Gabbert of Pitchbook and I admire him greatly for his perseverance, persistence.
Any closing thoughts for our readers ?
For Entrepreneurs, no matter what how difficult is the economy or getting the investors in the difficult times, at the end of the day good product, good management team, right product will always get funded.
We thank Rakesh Kapoor for sharing his insights with our readers. You can access Zamroo via Web, Zamroo iOS App and Zamroo Android App. Do give Zamroo a spin and share your experience in the comments section. If you have any questions for Rakesh & Zamroo Team, please email them here or share them via a comment to this article.
Bijlipay, an end to end digital payment solutions company, is the first Indian Point-of-Sale (PoS) devices providing company to enable Bharat QR code on the screens of its POS machines. According to RBI, the Bharat QR Code is the world’s first inter-operable payment acceptance solution.
Jubilant on being the first in the industry, Pradeep Oommen, CEO, Bijlipay, said
We have been providing secure and robust mPoS machines which are certified on stringent European standards to aid the honorable Prime Ministers digitization drive. The intent is to make these POS machines smarter which as yet were used only for physical card acceptance. . We realized that in this transition from cash to cashless, there are various modes of payments for different people across geographies & demographics. A machine that enables various modes seems like the best solution to meet all needs. And hence as a first step, we introduced the much awaited Bharat QR code on our existing card swiping machines.
Bijlipay firmly believes that it’s not just providing digital payments devices that will cultivate the habit of cashlessness in Indians. It will take a lot more of hand-holding, education & awareness to see the actual conversions to digital payments in tier II-III cities. Hence, Bijlipay ensures that they provide for an end-to-end solutions involving demos, documentation, installation, training, risk profiling, reconciliation, settlement and analytics.]. It’s not the number of machines in the market that gives the true picture on digital payments, it’s the volume that each machine processes which sets the right parameter for a successful digitization of payments.
Bijlipay is poised for tremendous growth in digital payment space, and is planning to launch several digital payment solutions in the Indian market. Apart from acquiring solutions like m-POS & GPRS POS and Swipe4Cash mini ATM products, Bijlipay also provides a best in class issuance platform for prepaid cards/ Forex cards/ Gift cards etc.
About Bijlipay
Skilworth Technologies Pvt. Ltd. was incepted in the year 2012. The company is headquartered in Chennai, with a vision to serve small, medium and large businesses through innovative payment solutions in emerging markets. Its go-to-market brand Bijlipay, started offering m-POS solutions in India, since July 2014.
Bijlipay’s payment solutions are enabled by the technology of Wirecard AG, Europe’s leading payments company and in partnership with India’s leading public sector banks. Bijlipay, unlike other players in the market, offers an end to end payment solution, right from an in house switch for best in class transaction success rates; to end to end operations in terms of on-boarding, risk profiling, payout processing; and in-house customer service with a network of FOS engineers and 24/7 call center. For more information, please visit Bijlipay
Leading AI startup, Niki.ai has partnered with India’s largest online entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow. Fulfilled by BookMyShow, Niki users can now search and book movie tickets across the country at their preferred cinema venues, while simply chatting with Niki. The Artificial Intelligence powered chat experience provides easy discovery and a host of options to the customers.
Niki, while using emerging technologies of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Natural Language Processing, makes the whole movie booking process as simple as talking to a human booking agent since chatbot ‘Niki’ has the capability to understand complex queries. For example, say you want to watch a movie today with your office colleagues, but you can only watch after work and for convenience of everyone, you want to watch it in a theatre near your office. You can simply type ‘Show English action movies near MG Road after 8PM for today’.
You can thus apply multiple filters, such as movie name, genre, show timings, theatre location and more, easily in a single text message to Niki. Niki understands that users have multiple preferences while booking movie tickets and makes it extremely simple to work around these by presenting the users with options and recommendations that best suits their needs. In addition to being speedy and convenient, the experience offered is also highly personalised.
Speaking on the partnership, Sachin Jaiswal, CEO, Niki.ai said
We are excited to partner with BookMyShow and integrate their movie ticket booking platform on Niki. With our vision to provide consumers with the most natural, simple and intelligent mode of transacting online, we have leveraged our technology of artificial intelligence combined with tackling consumer problems to build a one of a kind conversational theatre discovery and ticket booking experience.
BookMyShow has always been keen to partner on initiatives that promote new technologies and we are now excited to take lead in exploring the potential of chatbots in movie ticket bookings in India. With 75% of transactions coming through mobile on BookMyShow, we understand the importance of a ‘mobile first strategy’ and believe that our association with Niki.ai is a step forward in this direction.
About Niki.ai
Artificial Intelligence [AI] holds immense potential for the global market, and this is the reason why the year 2017 is being predicted to be that of Artificial Intelligence. Among the most renowned, famous and successful startups that have mushroomed recently around this concept is Niki.ai, a technology focused company that envisions to make artificial intelligence accessible to everyone, i.e. Businesses and Consumers. The company provides a simple and easy to use chat interface to shop for products and services. To the businesses, it provides a plug and play technology that can be easily integrated everywhere including operating systems, on messaging platforms messenger, and on the brand’s applications [app and web].
Started in 2015, and funded by Mr. Ratan Tata and Unilazer Ventures, Niki.ai envisions to provide one shop for everything commerce. Niki is an AI bot who converses to help you shop for products and services and makes the whole journey from discovery to transaction fast, convenient and extremely simple. The Niki App can be downloaded from here
