All Posts in OnlineCommerce

|In: Review|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Technology has a profound impact on our everyday lives and e-commerce & omnichannel retailing has changed the commerce industry for all the stake-holders involved in the eco-stem. Though it has changed the shopping experience and made things accessible on the click of a button, customers are still very sensitive about buying items related to sexual wellness. The topic of ‘sex’ is still considered a taboo [at least in tier-2, tier-3 cities] and not openly discussed, whether the discussion is in peer-groups, friends or family.

Image Source – Wellness

Digital Medium [blog, online videos, digital advertising, etc.] is playing a major role in breaking that barrier and here also online commerce is playing a pivotal role in that transformation. Unlike brick & mortar stores, products that are sold online are accessible anytime and companies use utmost care by using discrete packaging for shipping such products so that privacy is maintained. As a matter of fact, many brick & mortar pharmacies are now adopting the online route so that they can tap the burgeoning online market.

The other factor why pharmacies are joining the online bandwagon is because the pharmacy business is highly fragmented and this is where lies the opportunity. Startups as well as pharmacies are tapping this opportunity to create a mark in the online healthcare market, particularly the ‘Sexual Wellness Market in India’. Many customers are on the lookout for best sex capsule or sex power tablets for man and it would an awkward moment for anyone to purchase such products either from the medical store or from a supermarket, hence online medium works the best for purchasing such items.

Sexual wellness market in India

Sexual wellness is a term to describe products that are related to enhancement of sexual health and experience. As per a report by Reuters, the market in India is set to grow at a CAGR of 34.76% over the period 2014~2019. Horizontal e-commerce players have also shown tremendous interest in this sector and due to which they also have dedicated section on their site for this category.

However, it is the vertical e-commerce players as well pharmacies like Wellness Forever who have the expertise and tremendous knowledge about the customer-base [due to omnichannel mode of operations] have created a dent in the industry. The other advantage that brick & mortar pharmacies like Wellness Forever have over its online-only competitors [or the medical marketplaces] is that they already have expertise in logistics and can quickly deliver medicine’s [that are ordered online], if the customer is staying in close proximity of the pharmacy [something akin to the hyper-local model].

Wellness Forever – 24-hour online wellness & health store

Online shopping definitely brings convenience in customer’s hands, but when someone looks for medicines [especially in emergency cases], they might require the same [even at late in the night]. This is where Wellness Forever Lifestyle Chemists & Supermarket, a branded pharmacy chain present in Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur and other parts of Maharashtra have advantage over other online medical stores. They have expert staff that chooses the suitable combination of products that justify quality & price best suited to your needs.

Since they follow the omnichannel approach, by utilizing their 100+ stores in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Nashik, etc. for delivery; they can dispatch medicines, lifestyle products, best sexual wellness products like condoms, best sex tablets in India, sex toys, etc. in discrete and pristine condition. There are products in various categories – Sports Nutrition, Women’s Grooming, Women’s Hygiene & Intimate Care, Weight management, Pain relief, etc. from famous brands like Beardo, Omron, Durex, Little’s, etc. on a single platform thereby giving choice to its valued customer base.

With major e-commerce companies [irrespective of the sector of operation] taking the omnichannel route, specialists like Wellness Forever definitely have an upper hand as far as online medicine and sexual wellness is concerned. Do share your thoughts in the comments section…

|In: Accelerator|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Target India announced the fifth batch and the largest cohort yet for the Target Accelerator Program. Eight startups were selected to develop innovative technology solutions with the potential to enhance guest experiences at Target and in the wider retail industry. These startups will work in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, analytics and digital experiences.

Rakesh Mishra, Vice President of Marketing for Target and the accelerator program’s executive sponsor said

The Target accelerator’s largest batch yet holds diverse capabilities that can add value to our business and the entire retail sector through cutting-edge technologies such as AI and machine learning. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to tap into the immense innovation potential that exists in India through the Target Accelerator Program.

The startups selected for the accelerator will go through a rigorous four-month program, wherein they will get to refine their technology offerings and pilot solutions at Target stores or headquarter locations. In addition, during their stint with the accelerator, they will have access to Target business leaders as mentors. The startups will also be provided with legal, financial and talent consulting services based on the need of the startup. At the end of the program, startups will have the opportunity to pitch their products and capabilities to investors and others in Bengaluru’s startup ecosystem, and possibly continue their engagement with Target.

The eight selected for the fifth batch of the accelerator program are:

  • Cogknit has a solution that extracts context from videos and is able to generate a textual play-by-play of the video content.
  • Hyperworks has developed software that integrates with hardware to scan fresh produce using a simple camera.
  • Moonraft is a design consultant with an artificial intelligence-powered shopping assistant in the trial room.
  • Cognitifai is able to perform video analytics on video footage (both live and offline).
  • Light Information Systems has capabilities in natural language processing that can be applied to customer support functions.
  • vPhrase can generate insights in natural language from structured data.
  • Streamoid enables personalized product recommendations and natural language search.
  • Jumper.ai enables shopping on social media through hashtags.
Fifth batch of the Target Accelerator Program

Along with external startups, Target also encourages participation from internal teams in the accelerator program. Pal’s Prompt, an affiliate marketing solution for Facebook, was developed by one of our Target India team members and has been selected to be a part of this cohort.

The Target Accelerator Program [TAP] was launched in December 2013. Till date, 22 startups have graduated from the program. The startups work with various internal Target teams including marketing, finance, stores, legal, search engine, merchandising, mobile and digital. For more information about the program, please visit Target Accelerator Program [TAP] page

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Today, India’s leading on-demand home services company, Housejoy, announced a strategic partnership with Truecaller, one of the leading communication platforms in the world, to give its users a quick and seamless one-tap on boarding experience. Housejoy has been constantly expanding their service offering and this integration would enable Housejoy to provide an easy phone number based identification as well as a trust based engagement experience.

With Housejoy’s core motive to serve the consumers with a friction-less interaction, they are constantly introducing innovative ideas to make user interface simple and convenient for the customers and the partnership with Truecaller is a firm step in that direction. Truecaller’s TrueSDK will help in instant user verification, hence simplifying the app on boarding experience. It will make the authentication swifter and secure for the users. TrueSDK has been integrated into Housejoy’s Android & iOS mobile apps and will be integrated soon on mobile & desktop web platforms too.

Commenting about the partnership, Saran Chatterjee, CEO, Housejoy said

It will help reduce a key friction point in the user on boarding process; ensuring that our customers get a secure and easy one-tap sign-up/sign-in experience via Truecaller.

A recent report by analytics platform Localytics found out that apps that asked users to sign up during the first session had 17% abandonment rates and only 41% app retention rates, Truecaller’s TrueSDK aims to bridge this gap and has become the right fit in fulfilling this critical need with its flexible and one touch phone number based authentication kit.

Speaking on the announcement Priyam Bose, Director of Worldwide Developer Relations at Truecaller said

It is critical to minimize friction for mobile focused businesses, especially during user on-boarding in mobile apps to create user delight and catalyse growth. With Housejoy, we are truly committed to offer a smooth user registration and trust based experience for millions of users.

Truecaller provides a suite of unique services such as a dialer that offers caller ID, spam detection, messaging and more. Currently, Truecaller has a 150 Million user base in India. India is now its largest market where they’re seeing explosive growth.

About Housejoy

Housejoy is the leading provider in the home services space. They are pioneers in providing high-quality on demand residential services, supported by a team of dynamic, capable and trusted professionals. Housejoy launched in January 2015 to provide an aggregation of services to customers ensuring punctuality, quality and reliability. Housejoy additionally offers specialized services in beauty and in-house bridal make-up and are expanding their service portfolio. Within a short time, Housejoy is operational in 5 cities across the nation and has raised 4 Million USD funding in series A from Matrix Partners and has raised 22 Million USD in series B led by Amazon and included new investors Vertex Ventures, Qualcomm and Ru-Net Technology Partners. For more information, please visit Housejoy