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Bank executive Priyanka Roy has been on a buying spree. Having bought apparels online for gifting this Durga Puja, she has already ran up a bill of nearly Rs 10,000. She is, however, not worried as she is banking on Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI) schemes offered by the sites to see her through.
With the festive rush setting in, e-commerce sites are increasingly introducing new business models to tap the growing online shopping market.
Apart from ramping up product portfolios, sites such as Tradus, Snapdeal and FashionAndYou are adopting the monthly due model to facilitate purchases. Freebies, better bargains and loyalty schemes also remain some of the major draws.
Snapdeal is also asking brands to set up their own online stores – a page dedicated towards the company’s products – on their site.
“Companies will have their online store on our portal through which they can display their offerings,” Sandeep Komarvelly, vice-president, marketing, Snapdeal, told Business Line . Apart from the “zero interest” EMI schemes, the site has also introduced combos and freebies across its offerings.
According to market sources, electronic appliances followed by jewellery and ethnic wear have the highest off-take during the festive season – between October and November (Durga Puja followed by Diwali).
Assocham’s D.S. Rawat, secretary general, says the current e-commerce market is estimated at Rs 6,000 crore and is growing at over 250 per cent annually. The upcoming festive season is likely to push the sales of e-commerce portals by about 140 per cent. During key festivals such as Karva Chauth, Dhanteras and Diwali, online shopping portals will see a growth of between 135 to 140 per cent, he said.
Other schemes
Premium online lifestyle retailer, FashionAndYou is planning tie-ups with apparel designers to showcase them through the portal. The site had in 2011 tied up with Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Prashant Verma and Jatin Verma for displaying their festive collections.
“This year too we are also planning similar tie-ups,” Aasheesh Mediratta, Director-Sales, FashionAndYou.
Three-year-old Naaptol too has come up with a loyalty scheme where the user can write reviews of products or recommend them to new users thereby earning reward points. These points can be later discounted from their new purchases.
Apart from EMIs, Tradus is also banking on discount schemes and gift vouchers to push festive sales. It has also been airing its TV commercials for over a month. Krishna Moturri, the company’s managing director, added that the company was also planning new tie-ups with different media platforms to further enhance the site’s reach.
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