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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].

Image Source – Used Goods

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, furniture, electronics, musical instruments, etc.

This is the opportunity that the founders of Refabd, a recommerce startup seized when they moved to Delhi for a short period of one year to train for the Civil Services. The glaring lacuna became evident to them when they tried to either hire or purchase used home appliances. Realization then dawned that this must be the experience of short term residents as well as newcomers to a city who are looking at a similar market. The trio was then quick to spot a business opportunity waiting to be tapped in this domain and that’s how Refabd was born!

Today we have a chat with Vineeth Kumar, Co Founder of Refabd. So lets get started with the Q&A…

How did you come up with the idea of venturing into used goods How did you come up with the idea of venturing into used goods marketplace ?

When we, the founders of Refabd, moved to Delhi for chasing our dreams on Civil Service, we personally wanted to setup our home with appliances and furniture. It was difficult for us to resort on the classified platforms, as that lacked transparency, simplicity and trust. Our search to find out a single platform for buying used products was not successful and found a business opportunity and thus Refabd was born.

Can you share some details about the team behind Refabd ?

The founders of Refabd are

  • Vineeth Kumar T – Post Graduate from IISc, 6+ years of experience in IT Field
  • Rahul Varma K – Post Graduate from Manipal Institute, 5+ Years in Chip Design, QC and Testing
  • Durai Gowardhan S – Graduate from PSG Tech, 4+ years of IT experience

We are a team of 20 members including the founders.

How much is the overall market size of used goods market place ?

As per the recent study OLX Crust 2016, Rs. 780 Billion is the Second Hand House Hold market in India in which Rs. 33 Billion is the Used Home Appliances and Furniture serviceable market in India.

What are some of the items that can be sold on Refabd ?

All kinds of large appliances, Furniture and Laptops can be sold on Refabd.

What according to you are some of the USP’s of Refabd from other such sites like Greendust, OLX, etc. [Specifically GreenDust since they also sell refurbished electronic items]

Classified sites like OLX, Quikr and even Shopo are Consumer to Consumer models. C2C model does not work very well with Used goods market as that lacks transparency in pricing, quality and service. Consumers all around the world prefers hassle free experience while shopping online and hence any model around used goods has to be curated.

Curated model will solve issues like pricing around used goods has to be curated. Curated model will solve issues like pricing and quality but still can’t gain the trust of buyers as the curator can’t guarantee post sale care. The model that works very well is a curated inventory based model where in products are sourced from different sources, performs rigorous QC and sell with Warranty. This model can give transparency in pricing, quality as well as post sale care.

Refabd follows this model in which all products undergo thorough quality inspection and given an QC SCORE and then images of the products are taken showing the defects and damages very clearly if any and uploaded with transparency in pricing. Refabd takes this experience to the next level by giving free delivery, easy return, warranty and Buy Back options. When it comes to GreenDust, they mainly focus on electronic goods, especially mobiles. They are not transparent in terms of quality, images and pricing.

[L-R] Co-founders of Refabd : Rahul Varma, Durai Gowardhan, Vineeth Kumar

Can you let us know about some of the steps taken by the back-end team to to ensure that high quality products are sold on Refabd ?

Refabd quality measures starts from procurement [sourcing] phase itself. Our in house technician/carpenter inspects the products and approves only if the product is sellable after minor repair/refurbishment. Once the products come to the warehouse, it undergoes following phases:

  • QC Stage – In this stage, the quality in terms of appearance and working is QC Stage – In this stage, the quality in terms of appearance and working is verified and the condition spec of the product along with QC report is generated
  • Cleaning/Refurbishment – Product is cleaned and disinfected thoroughly and minor refurbishment like polishing, change of plastic parts etc., are performed
  • Full Cycle Testing [FCT] – Full cycle functionality of the product is tested in this stage by simulating various scenarios. For example, the washing machines undergo a full spin test with clothes in it. All the aspects like noise, water leakage, vibration, power consumption etc., are checked in this phase and added to the QC report
  • Photography – In this stage, details images of the product is taken. The images show the defects very clearly if at all any.
  • Packaging – The products are packed carefully after the photography and moved to the delivery section
  • Product Upload – The product is uploaded to Refabd website. Complete Quality details of the product is shown in the website and what the customer sees in website is what he gets!

Who are the logistics partners of Refabd and how do you ensure that the ROR [Rate of Return] is kept to the minimum in order to maximize revenues.

Refabd manages the logistics on its own to provide quality service to its customers. We are very much flexible in terms of return and provides On the Spot Return if the appearance of the product does not match to customer expectation however is expected to go through the images and product description before purchase and also our customer care personnel explains about the condition of the product to the customer before delivery.

As Refabd is transparent on the product condition, returns are very less. Also inspite of carrying on all the expenses to ensure quality control, the sale price of Refabd goods is marked to, direct sellers of used goods online or offline, keeping the ROR balanced and providing value for money to buyers, ensuring higher sale values to provide return to Refabd investors.

Please walk us through funding of Refabd [Self/Angel/VC] and are you looking for external funding ?

Athamus Venture team invested to unlock the potential of Refabd Platform, it being attractive, unorthodox, and stressed on buy back and warranty issuance to be hallmark of the business. We are raising expansion capital now, to spread to at least 4 more cities like NCR, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai in next 6 months and 20 more cities by another 12 months.

Many e-commerce companies are now pushing for omni-channel Many e-commerce companies are now pushing for omni-channel presence, does Refabd 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 & fell] ?

Today, stress is to provide hassle free service though centralized warehouses, with doorstep pickup and delivery services to delight our customers on quality of product and services. We have innovative plans to fulfil the needs to give satisfaction of physical shopping experience going forward and shall be announced in 3 months time.

We would like to understand the customer [i.e. age, cities Tier-1,Tier-2, etc.] as well item demographics on Refabd ?

Refabd is operational only in Bengaluru as of now. Refabd caters to all income group customers with its used and unboxed products. Furniture is sold around the year and appliances demand varies based on season. In summer season refrigerator and ACs are sold more and in rainy season washing machines and ovens are sold more.

Does Refabd also provide ‘Try & Buy’ facility for its customers, especially items like clothing, shoes, etc.

We introduced On the Spot return in case of appearance mismatch and 7 days return in case of quality issue which is as good as Try and Buy.

Is Refabd a pure B2C marketplace for used goods or you also cater to the B2B segment ?

We are into B2B as well catering the needs of builders, rental companies & Startup Companies.

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 Refabd ensure that it stays ahead of the growing competition in providing excellent service [goods] at competitive pricing ?

We intend to keep our margins balanced, to reach out masses not only in Tier-1 but Tier-2 & 3 cities, coupled with fact that, Refabd has direct accountability to customer on each product sold makes us very different from our peers.

Do you have any tie-ups with e-commerce companies so that goods returned by the customer [reverse logistics] can be sold on your platform at a lesser price/as a used-item ?

We have tie up with e-commerce companies for sourcing used and unboxed products.

There is a section where ‘Unused Products’ [particularly electronics are sold], don’t you think that it would dilute the core offerings of Refabd which is into selling ‘Quality Refurbished Items’ ?

As said earlier, Refabd wants to cater all income group customers and also help the customer to upgrade their product as and when their income increases. The unboxed products help for this.

Customers who are planning to buy unused products can buy unboxed products from Refabd at around 70% of their budget. We ensure that unboxed products are in excellent condition w.r.t appearance and quality.

2017 so far has not been good for e-commerce companies – funds drying up, huge cash-burn; how according to you should entrepreneurs deal with such adverse situations ?

Lot of action is happening in e-commerce space, the business segment is evolving from its early days and maturing into set formats, players that provide quality service with the goods will evolve to fulfill the demands. It is difficult to comment on business model of larger formats right now, as they too are in a flux to compete even bigger challenges out.

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 ?

e-commerce is here to stay and satisfy daily requirements of Indian population, the process business discrepancies have been rooted out to make businesses efficient, as long as e-commerce platforms sell ‘value for money’ goods and services they will find buyers and expand.

Initial customer acquisition is mostly built on discounting, 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] ?

In addition to providing best value for money, quality of service, delivery and follow up maintenance will be the differentiators.

As per your entrepreneurial experience, when should an entrepreneur look out for external funding ?

When your idea starts generating cash flows to sustain itself organically and scaling/expansion can only be through external capitalization, to capture greater market share.

Some books that you highly recommend for entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs you highly admire and some traits of theirs that you would like to imbibe.

Elon Musk – Determination, Dream Big and Curiosity to implement

Closing thoughts for our readers.

Chase your dreams and always remember that a very minute detail addition can bring so much of positive difference. Try to find out this small detail which is missing and add it to your solution and you will find growth.

We thank Rahul Kumar for sharing his insights with our readers. Do give Refabd a spin and share your experience in the comments section. If you have any questions for Rahul or the Refabd Team, please email them here or share them via a comment to this article.

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Cre8comm -India’s first online community driven marketplace launches their services for consumers across the country. It is a marketplace where one can find the most authentic and indigenous products from the varied and diverse communities of India. It is one of the most advanced, convenient, hygienic, and easily available marketplaces in the country. It provides every community with almost every product – apparel, food from their hometown irrespective of where you live.

The company will begin delivering authentic community products and services which are usually difficult to find. From authentic fresh foods, such as meats and fish, and ready-made meals, apparel, items for ‘puja samagri’ for any occasion, such as a marriage or a Griha Pravesh. They also have many more products which are available in a certain state and community, and nowhere else in the world. At a click of a button, your authentic, freshly made, sumptuous Bengali mithai reaches you fresh and ready to eat.

The company aims to reduce cumbersome visits to the local market especially while searching for authentic products in a different city. Sometimes, that, which is rarely found in any other part of the country, leaving you with one option, call a relative, and has it couriered. Now with Cre8comm‘s latest online services, your most loved Bengali mithai, fresh from the store, sweet, delicious and sumptuous is now immediately available to satisfy your sweet cravings.

Delighted to bring an authentic experience, Promita Sengupta, Director, Cre8comm shared

This project is very close to our hearts and it gives me immense pleasure to be introducing this revolutionary service to the communities of India with a plethora of indigenous products.  We are focusing on few communities to begin with. Soon we will be covering the rest of India. As demand grows, to make authentic, community products easily available and accessible for the Indians who are living in all corners of India, Cre8comm aims to provide solutions to many of these problems.

Initial focus will be the Bengali community followed by Oriya, Malayali and Bihari and more will be added in the future.

About Cre8comm

Cre8comm is the first community driven hyperlocal e-commerce marketplace which home-delivers traditional essentials and products to all the diverse communities of India. Today’s modern lifestyles and hectic work-life schedules; makes traditional necessities difficult to find. Hence the founders introduced this innovative concept on to the e-commerce platform, creating a new whole experience.

The company’s vision is to deliver authentic and special foods, especially those that you are craving for, and they go an extra step by bringing sumptuous traditional dishes from their own ‘Culture Kitchen’, an innovative dining concept where their chefs are locals of same the community. For more information, please visit Cre8comm

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Flipkart announced a one-of-a-kind hackathon to crowdsource innovative, implementable solutions from the tech community and concerned citizens, that could help ease Bengaluru’s perennial traffic problem. Termed Gridlock Hackathon, the initiative marks the start of the ‘Month of Innovation’ at Flipkart, a part of its 10 year anniversary celebrations.

Image Source – Flipkart Gridlock Hackathon

The contest will run from June 7, 2017 until June 21, 2017 and is open for technology centric solutions, as well as those that partially leverage technology through out-of-the-box thinking.

Key Highlights

  • Hackathon to crowdsource innovative tech solutions to help ease Bengaluru’s traffic issues
  • Participation is free & open to all
  • Register and submit entries on Flipkart Stories

Ravi Garikipati, CTO and Head of Engineering, Flipkart said

Flipkart was born in Bengaluru as an innovative tech company that has over the years changed the way India shops. We believe in open innovation which means that society at large should benefit from whatever we do as a company.

Gridlock Hackathon is an important part of our 10th anniversary celebrations and we want to engage with tech folks as well as citizens to try to collectively find some innovative solutions to Bengaluru’s traffic woes. The idea is to give back in some way to the city we all love, and ensure it retains the vibrant ecosystem that has been a major catalyst in the growth story of Flipkart and so many other companies.

The hackathon will initially run online and participants can submit tech or partially-tech solutions for macro problems like Bengaluru’s overall traffic, or traffic snares in specific areas like Silk Board, KR Puram, etc. All entries will be judged on parameters like impact, feasibility, scalability and sustainability, and completeness. The teams or individuals with the best entries will get a chance to present their solutions to a panel of esteemed jury, who will pick the best 3 ideas.

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Jhakaas Technologies, a technology-driven platform that Enables local businesses launched a new store for merchants on their app to update their inventory and replenish stocks on a timely basis. The USP of the platform is that merchants will be able to browse and make transactions in multiple languages including all local languages.

Image Source – Jhakaas

The next generation mobile app caters to the day-to-day needs of the consumer entailing services such as grocery shopping, restaurant hunting, ordering medicines, on call cakes and sweet delivery, vegetable shopping, wine shops and much more and helps cater to the un-organized market. Currently, the app includes more than 35 categories in their offering and are targeting to cover 80 categories in the upcoming months. It is currently available in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore and soon will be launched in tier II and tier III cities by end of next quarter.

Jhakaas Technologies has introduced additional features on their user interface called Store Mangement. The merchants or the offline business operators have access to the online portal to list their products, run promotions and manage relationship with customers and many more tasks for business growth. Currently, the app is available in English but since the company is targeting tier II and III cities, regional languages such as Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, and Telugu will be introduced by next month.

The expansion plan includes targeting various cities such as Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. All in all, roughly 20 new cities will be covered in their expansion strategy. Another feature that the app offers to all its merchants is of sending across pop-up notifications to their present customers about various updates regarding discount offers, new products available & reminder options like replenishment of stocks based on the inventory level which is a USP which other competitors are not offering currently. Besides this, the merchants can select the radius and serve customers near their vicinity.

Commenting on this introduction of features Bharat Mandot, Co-Founder, Jhakaas Technologies stated

Jhakaas, as its name suggests, will provide you the best possible options for all your daily needs.  With the launch of this unique platform, we aim to serve the unorganized market by use of our technology. Through this feature, while creating their own store, merchants would be able to switch their visibility options on the app.

With the launch of this store, we aim to cater to 2 lakh merchants in the next six months. Jhakaas stands out vis-a-vis the other competitors as the company works on a fixed fee model and provides businesses with a simple way to create and manage their mini-app within minutes at a minimal cost starting at just Rs. 10/day.

Currently, the company has tied up with 50,000 merchants across Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore and is expected to grow its network to more than one lakh merchants in the next six months. The company is aiming to close at least 800 merchants every single day. More than 5000 merchants tie up with Jhakaas every week. The application is available on both Android and iOS versions. The company has positioned itself as a technological support platform to commit to the betterment of the unorganized sector.

About Jhakaas Technologies

Jhakaas – a way to easy living is a technology-driven platform that aims to enable local business. The next generation mobile app provides for the day-to-day needs of the consumer entailing services such as ease in grocery shopping, restaurant hunting, on call cakes and sweet delivery, vegetable shopping, wine shops, ordering medicines and much more. Jhakaas works on a minimum maintenance and fixed reasonable charges model with merchants so as to provide affordable and profitable deals to the vendors. The process of merchant enrollment is easy and contains no additional charges. The app was developed to provide ease in business through advanced competitive technology and also give the small & medium level merchants a competitive edge.

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Though India is changing at a fast-forward pace, still there are some topics that are considered as Taboo and cannot be discussed online [as well as offline, especially with elderly people]. I am sure as soon as you read the word Taboo, many thoughts would have come to your mind. Some instances like buying a condom at a nearby store, shopping for lingerie, discussing openly about topics related to sex awareness, etc. do make us feel shy as well as uncomfortable. One such sector is Lingerie [for women] which is the foremost attire for women and due to the changing fashion trends, women have also become choosy about their lingerie selection.

Monica Anand, Founder  & CEO of Undercover decided to break that atboo and started her line of intimate wear with an aim to make lingerie all about fashion and comfort. Monica Anand draws inspiration from everyday things and people around her. A keen observer of people’s behaviour, evolving patterns and changing lifestyles, Monica is an entrepreneur, a people’s person and an unshakeable optimist at heart. Her indomitable spirit gave birth to the vivacious range of the detachable bra brand-Switchers, which truly redefines fashion and comfort.

Born in the United States, Monica has her grounding well-rooted in India. A graduate from Mumbai University with a Post-Graduation from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, Monica has worked with leading corporates, including ICICI Bank, TATA AIG Life Insurance and MNG by Mango, USA. Undercover has been a wonderful beginning for Monica’s work in the lingerie space. Over the last 5 years, she married her observations on the lingerie industry and the needs of the consumer to launch Switchers by Undercover. Switchers is a first of its kind modular, mix and match bra that allows the user to mix and match their bra, pushing the line from innerwear to fashion wear.

Today we have a chat with Monica Anand about her entrepreneurial journey, building the Switchers brand, the changing Lingerie segment, etc. So, let’s get started with the Q&A…

How did you come up with the idea of venturing into the Lingerie segment ? 

As a consumer, I was unsatisfied with the way my lingerie interacted with my outerwear. The 2 just never seemed to complement each other. One was always worried about wearing sleeveless, deep backs, racer backs, sarees, etc. because it lead to the question of What to do with lingerie. Options available would be biting silicon straps, stick on bras on in sewn cups, all of which were decent support but no where on fit or comfort.

That’s when I thought of the need for a super comfortable bra that detaches at various places to create better interaction with one’s outerwear without compromising on fit or support. I discussed the idea and execution with family, friends and professionals from the lingerie industry before finally going ahead with the product.

Can you share some details about the team behind UnderCover/Switchers ?

Under Cover Lingerie was started by me as the sole founder. I began the company with part time support from my family and have now taken it ahead on my own.

I am an MBA Graduate from SIBM in Pune. After spending the first decade of my career in banking and insurance, I recognised a need for better lingerie and nightwear at affordable rates and created my own lingerie venture in 2011.

How much is the overall market size of online lingerie that Switchers is trying to address ?

Switchers will address women in the age group of 15~30 in the metros and T-I cities.

Discussing about Lingerie [both from men, women] is considered a taboo [or rather awkward], how did you convince your near & dear ones about your intention to venture into it ?

I wouldn’t say it was difficult, but I would say that my family was surprised by my decision. Their concerns were that I was leaving a secure job to start a business and that the business was of selling lingerie. Add to that the novelty lingerie that we began our business with. I think they all thought I was a bit out of my mind, but they were supportive none the less.

Founder & CEO of Switchers – Monica Anand

Apart from retailing on Switchers, does your team retail the lingerie collection on other marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, etc.

Switchers is already available on Amazon Launchpad and will soon be available on Flipkart and LimeRoad as well. We are also exploring partnerships with other online retailers who are focused on fashion.

How do you ensure that ROR [Rate Of Return] is kept to the bare minimum since women could be very picky about the size, material,etc. [and reverse logistics accounts to huge amount of cash-burn]

We ensure intense quality checks and checks at the point of packaging to minimise returns and customer dissatisfaction. This is something we had to learn from experience. We would rather discard stock with errors than attempt to pass it on to a customer. That is very damaging in the short term.

There are lot of startups like ButterCups, Zivame, PrettySecrets, etc. that are trying to solve the ‘Perfect Fit’ Bra [as well as innerwear] for the women. What are some of the USP’s that Switchers offers vis-a-vis products offered by the competitors ?

When creating Switchers by Undercover, we worked closely with our target audience to understand exactly what their issues were with respect to lingerie, in particular-the bra. Our main takeaways were:

  • Different occasions and outfits call for different bras, which in all likelihood will not be very comfortable or supportive.
  • Women with larger cup sizes find it difficult to find fun bras
  • One’s favourite comfortable bra and fashion bras are 2 different products

This sent us back to the drawing board. The bra has traditionally been a one-piece garment. In order to create better interaction with outerwear, we have broken it into 3 parts. The cups, the back and the shoulder straps. The roles and requirements of each of these parts is very different and taking the bra apart allowed us to re-imagine each section individually.

To understand their individual strengths and limitations. Doing this has allowed us to use processes like hand embroidery to create high fashion accessories, which completely change the look of the bra without compromising on fit and comfort, making it a great fashion statement.

Please walk us through funding of UnderCover [Self/Angel/VC] and are you looking out for external funding ?

We are currently self funded but are now exploring funding to expand the Switchers line and marketing.

Can you please talk about the top selling products of UnderCover [and does the collection also include lingerie for pregnant women/any other customer segment].

At Under Cover Lingerie, panties and baby-dolls are our best selling products. We currently retail premium lingerie for all women.

Does Switchers only have online presence or you also plan to venture into offline retail [as many e-commerce companies are now pushing for omni-channel presence] ?

Switchers is currently available on our own website, Switchers has also been selected as an innovation and is sold on Amazon Launchpad and on Limeroad. It will very soon be available on other fashion portals as well.

We are very keen to explore offline as a mode of distribution for Switchers.

Who are the logistics partners of Undercover/Switchers and is there any discrete packaging followed for the items sent to customers to keep the privacy intact ?

We have partnered with FedEx to be our courier partners for Undercover & Switchers given their brilliant delivery timelines and service. Our products are shipped discretely in plain white secure bags to maintain our customers’ privacy.

Please share some details about the customer’s age dynamics [who shop on UnderCover] and some success stories ?

For Under Cover Lingerie, our customers were in the age group of 25~45 and spread across Metros and T-I cities in India.

For Switchers, our audience is younger aged 15~30 and is essentially based in the Metros.

We have received great interest on Switchers and most of our products have been gaining great interest. We haven’t met a prospect that didn’t love the idea. We are really looking forward to the future of Switchers.

Does Switchers also provide ‘Try & Buy’ facility for it’s customers ?

Not yet, but we will be able to offer that when we go offline. The wonderful thing about Switchers though is one only needs to try the bra once, then can accessorize to their heart’s content without worry.

Monica, you have donned multiple hats [before venturing into entrepreneurship] like merchandising manager, marketing manager, product manager, etc. how much of this varied experience helped you in your entrepreneurial journey ?

Every single thing I have done till date has contributed to my journey at Under Cover Lingerie and Switchers. My experience in merchandising had obvious benefits while those as product and marketing manager have built my skills on P&Ls, ROI, marketing, brand and distribution.

Do you also plan to venture into other segments [apart from Inner-wear] and if so, please share some details about the same ?

With Switchers, we have so many ideas on the lingerie side that it will be a while before we extend the product into other segments. Although it is part of our vision, we aren’t in the position to share details yet.

We thank Ms Monica for her time and sharing valuable insights for our readers! If you have any questions for the Monica & her team about the market, impact on retail segment, entrepreneurship, etc., please email them to himanshu.sheth@gmail.com or leave your question in the comments section.

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How would it be if you could stream online videos or browse websites on your TV ? How about a device that could measure your level of activity throughout the day ? How would it be if a device helps keep your home secure ? With the Smart Living Store you can find out! Amazon India announces the launch of Smart Living Store – a dedicated store aimed at providing customers the one stop shop for all smart devices across various product categories.

The store brings across a ‘smart’ selection from various categories such as wearables, health devices and home solutions to one store. The store has a wide range of selection covering top brands across various categories with products such as Philips Hue smart lights, D Link & TP Link smart plugs, Go Pro action cameras, Fitbit, Garmin smart activity trackers, Samsung Gear S3 smartwatches, Foscam smart security devices and Merge virtual reality.

Noor Patel, Director, Category Management at Amazon said

At Amazon we are continuously working towards improving customer experience. The Smart Living Store will help customers browse for various smart, innovative and interactive devices across categories which can help simplify their lives. Smart Devices are expected to witness high growth in India in the coming years and customers can now enjoy shopping for the entire selection under one store.

The Smart Living Store will also feature a blog to help customers get a better perspective on the use and functionalities of smart devices. Consumers on Amazon and the Amazon mobile shopping app have an easy and convenient access to 100 million products across hundreds of categories. They benefit from a safe and secure ordering experience, convenient electronic payments, Cash on Delivery, Amazon’s 24*7 customer service support, and a globally recognized and comprehensive 100% purchase protection provided by Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee. They can also enjoy Amazon.in’s guaranteed next-day, two day delivery, Sunday and Morning delivery on products fulfilled by Amazon.

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Mindtree has released the findings of a study on how rapidly evolving digital trends like social media, mobile apps & automation are reshaping the way retailers engage with customers. Titled Sixth Sense of Retail, the study is based on a survey conducted with 2,000 consumers across in UK by Censuswide – an independent polling company.

The study has identified widely diverse shopper preferences across age and gender pertaining to new retail technologies like automation, artificial intelligence and robotics. Over half [51 per cent] of young shoppers in the age group of 16-24 years were comfortable with the idea of automated technologies and would visit robot-driven stores.

78 per cent of older shoppers over 55 years of age were apprehensive about this trend. Additionally, opinions were divided by gender with 44 per cent of men happy with a robotic shopping experience, compared with just 30 per of women. In order to address this sharp divide retailers should adopt a balanced mix of technology and human assistance to accommodate customers of different ages and genders.

The study also states that there is a growing demand for retailers to deliver more personalized experiences with nearly one in five [17 per cent] of 16~24 year olds asking for more personalized engagement from retailers throughout the purchasing cycle. It also highlights the influence of social media on shopping decisions.

Facebook has been reaffirmed as the most influential social platform with just under one third of consumers [32 per cent] acknowledging it as a major influencer for shopping and purchasing decisions. Retailers therefore need to harness social media channels to drive brand loyalty by harvesting the growing volumes of customer data available across multi-channels. Consumers should be reached through social channel engagements that are personalized around preferences the retailer is looking at appealing to.

Infographic Source – Mindtree Sixth Sense of Retail Report

Further, as more consumers go online to make purchases, it is important retailers create content that is optimised for mobile platforms. They should focus on building strong digital relationships with customers, providing the blueprint for successful conversions both in-store and online.

Anil Gandharve, Associate Vice President of Retail, CPG and Manufacturing, Mindtree said

The retail industry has an exciting future ahead, but the key to success will be driven by the right balance between technology and in-store human experience. Additionally, retailers need to harness personalized customer information available through social media and mobile phone apps, to develop more impactful customer relationships.

Sixth Sense of Retail report is available here and the infographic is available here

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To enhance and complement the overall movie going experience, India’s largest entertainment ticketing platform-BookMyShow, has expanded its ‘MyCoupons‘ offering to 45 cities across India. MyCoupons are exclusive & free discount coupons that can be availed at popular restaurants & cafes in the vicinity of the cinema a user is visiting. With a validity of two days [including the day of the movie show], a user can pick upto two Free MyCoupons right after making the seat selection on BookMyShow and redeem at their preferred restaurant or cafe, by simply showing the received e-mail or SMS to avail fabulous discounts.

BookMyShow piloted this offering in Mumbai and Pune in 2016 and in a span of just ten months has expanded MyCoupons across 45 cities, which include all metros, mini-metros and cities such as Lucknow, Jalandhar, Warangal, Vizag, Mangalore and Jaipur among others.

BookMyShow has partnered with more than 1500 food retail brands right from local city food joints to popular national chains including McDonald’s, Chaayos, Mainland China, Dunkin Donuts, Barbeque Nation, Subway, Bikanerwalaetc. to cover a combined 5000+ outlets around 1000+ cinemas across these cities.  The offering, which was earlier available through bookings made on BookMyShow website, can now also be availed through BookMyShow Android & BookMyShow iOS apps.

Marzdi Kalianiwala, VP- Business Intelligence and Marketing, BookMyShow said

Movie watching in India is not just an activity but rather an experience that we share with friends and family. In most cases, this experience remains incomplete unless we eat out with them either before or after the movie. Since we know when and where our user is consuming the content, we are able to ensure that relevant and highly contextual offers are targeted towards them, thus strengthening the overall proposition through MyCoupons for our users.

We have witnessed an extremely warm and rapid response to MyCoupons across all markets, with adoption rates growing at as high as 200% month-on-month. We are now aggressively working towards expanding this to other markets and delighting many more users with our offering.

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. For more information, please visit BookMyShow