Though Chikhli, a small, non-descript town in Maharashtra’s Buldana district, might not have a mall selling premium brands, a few of its residents do wear a Nike or an Adidas.

Thanks to an Internet kiosk at their neighbourhood shoe shop that also offers doorstep delivery. ‘Clicks’ are definitely gaining over ‘bricks’ in such small towns.

Online retailers or e-tailers such as Yebhi.com, Bestylish.com and Myntra.com are becoming popular in these areas, despite their ongoing struggle with poor logistics, and lack of Internet connectivity and awareness about brands.

Tactics for small towns

“Selling in metros is very easy, as people are aware of brands and know where to look for these products. But driving consumption in smaller towns and villages is a big challenge. Rural India is equal to urban India when it comes to income. But what they don’t have is infrastructure. So, we have to find ways to tackle this,” said Abhishek Lal, co-founder, Bestylish.com.

The company, part of the Smile Group that runs online fashion store Fashionandyou.com, has installed about 700 Internet kiosks across 90 cities and towns in the country. It plans to increase the number to 3,000 by the end next year, covering 250 pin codes. Of these, 97 per cent will be in tier-3, -4 and -5 towns such as Sirohi (Rajasthan), Gulbarga (Karnataka), Etawah (Uttar Pradesh) and Batala (Punjab).

At these kiosks, customers can choose from over 400 brands/products. Bestylish.com shares revenue with the stores here, which will deliver products to customers. “People have an option of cash on delivery,” Lal said.

Bestylish.com expects about half of its overall sales coming from small towns, up from 20 per cent now. It expects to turn profitable on an operational basis by financial year 2014.

‘try and buy’ options

Yebhi.com has options such as ‘try and buy’ and Yebhi champs, who are business-school graduates hired to make sure customers get the right products at the right time. The champs also educate customers in smaller towns on the benefits of buying online.

Yebhi.com’s founder Rammohan Agarwal said on the back of these initiatives, the company is targeting to break-even in the next 18-24 months, even as it grows at 250-300 per cent year-on-year.

Myntra.com’s founder Mukesh Bansal said, “About 55 per cent of our sales are driven by these markets.”

>priyanka.pani@thehindu.co.in

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