The document discusses the evolution of ecommerce in India from early platforms in the 1990s to the present day. It notes that while early ecommerce attempts struggled due to lack of infrastructure and funding, the conditions are now ripe for strong growth. Key factors driving current ecommerce success include rising incomes, cheaper devices, an entrepreneurial culture, and the availability of venture capital. However, the document cautions that ecommerce remains a complex business with challenges in areas like logistics, customer experience, technology, and developing sustainable business models. Success will depend on finding niche advantages and applying fundamental business strategies.

1. Vivek Pandey

2.  $500 bn  Walmart Worldwide Sales
 $2 tr  India’s #1 online retailer sales
 $70 tr  India GDP
 $15 tr  India Online Sales
 $5 tr  US GDP
 $50 bn  US retail market
 $15 bn  World GDP
 $1 bn  Indian Retail Market
 Amazon Worldwide Sales

3.  $500 bn  Indian Retail = Walmart Sales
 $2 tr  India GDP
 $70 tr  World GDP
 $15 tr  US GDP
 $5 tr  US retail market
 $50 bn  Amazon Worldwide Sales
 $15 bn  India Online Sales
 $1 bn  India’s #1 online retailer sales

4. ABC’s objective was to aim for the top spots in online B2C/B2B stationery, school & office supplies
market. We had only 4 months(July - Nov,2012) of active operations after 6 months((Jan-
June,2012) of initial ground work which resulted in 17000 SKUs, 200+ Brands & 100 + dealer
network, operational touch points in Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata & Mumbai. ABC is the only site
which has brought all the leading stationery houses under one roof. Over the past couple of
months I have reached out to all of the VC/PE/Angel community with the objective of raising
funds ( 2-3 Million USD). I got a very good response on the space/model but translation of that
into funds could not happen . I got commitment of investment only if we reach certain level of
maturity and we can’t reach there till I get certain level of investment. A Big Deadlock !!.
Unfortunately we couldn’t break it. With no inflow of funds, we have decided to shut it down (
more than 2 months).
As you can infer, I adopted a wrong strategy( at hindsight) of focussing too much on building a good
platform with one of the best merchandize selection, new look and feel, cool features, related blog and
others. It took us 6 months to go live and I hardly focussed on the sales and marketing during that
period. By the time I went live, I exhausted most of my funds. I was in the market at the wrong
time to raise funds. I did not have enough money left to spend on sales, marketing operation etc.
Within just 4 months of operations I had to shut down.

5. ABC is still the "best" positioned portal targeting both school and office domain with a common
thread of "stationery" which no site in India currently offers. We wanted to be agnostic to any
particular domain ( school or office).Our overarching strategy was "nursery to boardroom(NtB)",
though we came in the market with the tagline of "largest stationery..." to grab the mindshare. If
you carefully see, we are much beyond than stationery and have smartly chosen our merchandize.
Office Electronics are big puller, that will drive customers, and we already have high profitable
categories like premium pens, high end art and paints, premium accessories, kids stationery etc.
and yet we are not de aligning from our NtB strategy. If required it can remolded, rebranded to
suit your requirement and take off any overlapping sections. We were also preparing to launch
corporate gifting, office printing, office s/w, office housekeeping etc. I can seriously vouch that
there are not enough strong players in currently in south, east and west zones.
After burning more than 35 Lakhs, I have to now go back to a corporate job to support my family and
recover the losses. which also means I am left out with only one option..i.e acquisition route. I am
very flexible on the sales terms and all I want is someone experienced and passionate to rebuild
the brand , put together a new team and take it forward. I am willing to do a majority stake
transfer without any cash component.

6. ? Macro and Micro View
? Evolution & nature of ecommerce in India
? Business Analysis of Ecommerce
? Business Models in ECommerce

7. Overall Context of the Grand
Second Coming of Ecommerce
in India

8.  Amazon & eBay (1995)
 AMZN Rev. $15m  $2.8b
 EBAY Rev. $5.7m  $0.5b
 Fabmart & Baazee (2000)
 IndiaTimes, Rediff, Sify
 Plus 1000 more…
 Lack of depth in business models
 People and Infrastructure not ready
 No depth in funding sources

9.  The post-IRCTC world
Graphic courtesy Forbes magazine
 Better Logistics
 1st Gen entrepreneurs
 Stronger Business Models
 Deep Pockets

10.  First half of the decade,
internet outpaced
Ecommerce
 Second half of the decade
Ecommerce is outpacing
the internet
 What Happened??
 IRCTC  Rising Income, Falling Fares
 Google and Facebook  Cheaper Mobiles and
 BRIC Funds and Entrepreneurial Cameras
Vacuum
 Sluggish growth in Retail
 Rise of busy working class

11.  Roads < BroadBand < Mobile
 Multilingual, Internet-Illiterate Customers
 Fuzzy Legal Framework
 Pricing
 Competing with Fakes

12.  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
 Understanding the hype is more important than
participating in it
 As always, a notable few events rather than a
linear progression of them has created the
tipping point situation in ecommerce
 Ecommerce in India is different than Ecommerce
in US or Europe.

13. The Business of Electronic
Commerce

14. Entry Barriers
5
4
3
2
Competition Suppliers
1
Retail
0
Ecommerce
Substitutes Buyers

15. Inbound Outbound Marketing
Operations Service
Logistics Logistics and Sales
Procurement
Technology
Human Resources
Admin/Finance/Management

16.  Logistics?
 Operations? Operations Logistics
 Technology?
 Marketing (Brand)?
 Service?
 Human Resources?

17. Sourcing
Marketing Logistics
E-
Commerce
CRM Technology

18.  Non-Technical Suppliers
 Fixed technical overhead for each supplier
 Fragmentation
 Price Undercutting – Opaque vs. Transparent
 Volumes/Deals downward spiral
 Uncertainty and Competition

21.  Front End – All About Scale
 Back End – Supply Chain and ERP
 Privacy, Security and Legal Framework
 The Long Haul
◦ Recommendation Engines
◦ Learning Machines
◦ Bayesian Classifiers
◦ And much, much more…

22.  You cannot make the customer happy, you can only not make him
unhappy
 24X7 support, free shipping, 30 day return, COD all are becoming
HYGIENE factors
 Rising costs of quality call center executives
 Multiple fronts opened simultaneously by customers

23.  Ecommerce biggest ad spender after
FMCG
 Does brand play a role in ecommerce?
Does it in retail? Is Big Bazaar a brand?
Is Flipkart? How different is Amazon as
a brand from Coke as a brand?

24.  Search Engine Optimization
 Online Reputation Management
 Paid Search Auctions
 Affiliate Marketing
 Display Networks
 Remarketing
 Dynamic Ads
 Social Media Marketing
 Social CRM
 Email/Database Marketing

25. •Fragmented, Low-Tech Suppliers
Sourcing
•Capital Intensive and Sophisticated
Logistics
• Demanding, Active and Pampered Customers
CRM
• Scale and Rigor
Technology
• Beyond Ad Spends
Marketing

26. Buy and
Sell
Market
Hybrid
Place
Ecom
Business
Models

27.  Ebay, Baazee, OLX, Alibaba
 Pure Platform Play
 Auctions
 Drop Shipments
 Ratings
 Liability and Frauds
 Brand and Competitive Advantage?

28.  Logistics Gamble
 Inventory Risk
 Demand Forecasting
 Supply Chain Management
 Stock Accounting, Tax Implications

29.  Sell and Buy
 Facilitated Drop Shipment
 Merchant ERP
 Affiliate
 Auctions + Market Place + Buy and Sell +
Affiliate = AMAZON

30.  Ecommerce is still a business, and the fundamental
business concepts will always apply
 It may not be such an attractive industry from a sound
business perspective
 A website is just the front end of ecommerce, there are a
lot of other loose ends to be tied
 Players must find a niche and a source of competitive
advantage
 The business models must be understood and chosen very
early.

31.  Macro and Micro View
 Evolution & nature of ecommerce in India
 Business Analysis of Ecommerce
 Business Models in ECommerce