It is being said that nobody in the e-commerce sector makes profits nowadays. Where are things headed for in this sector?

Visakhapatnam

Mahesh, doesn’t it really remind you of the good old dotcom era? In that era people clambered to grab domain names and start portals. A mango.com was valued very high just as a ‘ desi ’ shradh.com was valued highly as well. Investors flocked to ideas. There were just too many around. Everyone made an honest effort. Everyone died eventually. Literally everyone. Some survived. Those who survived made it big. Very big.

I see the same kind of clamber in the start-up space today. This era is, however, slightly different as it is not only about eyeballs. It is about commerce. It is about fulfilment. It is about repeats and it is about scaling up to become big. Very big. Yes, literally no one is making money today. Some will talk about an operational level break-even soon. But that is not enough. What about recouping all the burn?

The same thing will happen in this space. Only three will keep standing as all else crumbles. To that extent, it is important to tread the terrain of e-commerce with caution. It will last in all merriment for a while. Of some 220 big names that have been funded well, only three will remain. But give that some time. The cream will float to the top soon. In just three years flat, for sure. In the meantime, there will be mergers and acquisitions and collaborations of every kind.

Does the e-learning technology platform have the potential to topple our established traditional educational model, just like e-tailers gaining prominence over offline traditional retailers in both mindshare as well as wallet share? If so, in what time frame?

Coimbatore

Antony, I do believe this is a possibility. E-learning formats are already galloping. This started some six years ago with e-tutoring. Maths has been taught for more than six years now through portals with Indian tutors who teach kids in the US. This has then climbed from basic maths to the sciences, to art, to literature and so much else.

I do believe there is a humongous shortage of teachers in the world. The e-platform is a very good platform to use to reach out and teach. The each-one-teach-one was the early model in this space of e-tutoring. Now it is each-one-teach-five thousand even. Therefore, this platform sorts out the issues of a shortage of teachers altogether.

The time has already started ticking in this space. Jump in if you please, Antony.

Priyanka is now acting in Quantico. How does this work in the US?

Hyderabad

Priyanka, one Priyanka poking another Priyanka?

Priyanka can be a valuable new face for the Americas. She has a look that is ‘new Indian’. She could be from South America as well, in terms of looks. That helps in building the diversity play for Quantico . She has a spot in Quantico not in the mould of a Rajesh Koothrappali of the Big Bang Theory (which was all about an Indian on a bit of a back-foot, to put it mildly). Instead, Priyanka is about a lot of grit in Quantico . As the world becomes a more level and even place to live in, opportunities such as these will keep coming by. And Priyanka leads in the US for sure.

Harish Bijoor is a brand strategy expert and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. Mail your queries to cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in

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