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Hooked to Twitter? How about tweeting on a topic, earning points and then redeeming them for the outfit you have been eyeing?
Online retailer American Swan is exploring the possibility of a “Twitter store” that will allow “purchase of products through tweets.”
According to Anurag Rajpal, Director and CEO, American Swan, a Twitter catalogue with a limited range of products will be put up.
A topic or theme will be given and the tweets and re-tweets on it moderated. Once the user accumulates a given number of points, he/she can redeem them for products.
Monetise opportunities“We are trying to monetise opportunities that arise from people’s usage of social media. While there is scope for such initiatives on Facebook, we are exploring opportunities through Twitter,” he told Business Line.
The initiative is expected to be launched anytime now. Based out of Gurgaon, American Swan offers affordable luxury products — apparel, footwear, accessories, and home & personal-care products (for both men and women).
The e-tailer, which began operations in 2013, wants also to dabble with a hybrid model of online and offline sales. It already has a presence in 100-odd multi-brand outlets (MBOs) across North India, including Delhi.
Ties have mostly been with local or regional MBOs and not national ones. “We intend to foray into the western, eastern and southern parts of the country some time in the second half of this fiscal (August-September),” said Rajpal.
According to him, tie-ups with national-level MBOs can be explored at a later stage.
Apart from its own site, American Swan’s apparels are also sold through other e-tailers such as Myntra, Jabong, Yebhi, Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal.
Funding
The company obtained seed funding of ₹40 crore from Four Cross Media in 2012, and is now looking to raise ₹60 crore more later this fiscal.
“We are in touch with several investment bankers and private equity funds (PEs). Money can be raised either from the same investors or new ones,” he said. The e-tailer expects to break-even in another three years.
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