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September - 2015 - Special issue > 20 Most Promising e-Commerce Companies

Demoport.in: The Hybrid Hyper-local Platform that Helps Make Informed Buying Decisions

si Team
Monday, September 21, 2015
si Team
Kavitha, a project manager, is busy setting up her new home along with her husband, an HR executive. However, their busy schedules barely give them the time to gather information on the products they need and choose the best options. Though several online portals offer almost everything, Kavitha, like many of us, wanted a more tangible experience like discussing and clarifying queries with sellers before buying the products she wanted. Moreover, she preferred to buy high value products from neighborhood sellers. Unfortunately, neither she had the time to go around shopping nor she was prepared to buy the products online. Most of us, might have, at some point of time experienced this paradox.
Demoport.in, an online+ marketplace launched in June 2015 precisely meets this market need through a hyper-localized convergence of online-offline platforms. Run by Chennai-based KORGEN Technologies P Limited, Demoport enables easy product discoveries and quickly connects buyers to genuine brand-authorized sellers in their locations for a pre-sales engagement. All a buyer has to do is to search and select products, register an enquiry or a free demo and this booking is instantly shared with the nearest seller. Seller then connects with the buyer over phone or in person.
This works well for both sides. While buyers are able to get their queries clarified, it is an opportunity for the sellers to assess the buyers’ requirements and recommend the right products. Besides, pre-sales engagements greatly minimize the incidences of product returns and refunds, a sore point for online buyers and sellers as well.
Once the buyer decides on his choice, he can use the multiple payment options offered on the platform such as credit cards, debit cards, EMIs, net banking, eGCs to securely make the payment. Payments are released to the sellers only against receiving ‘Fulfillment Confirmation’ from the buyers.

A few features that stand out in this new model build greater trust amongst buyers. For instance, only products and services of credible brands are listed on the site and buyers get connected only to the authorized sellers of the respective brands. Payment can be made against delivery and since order fulfillments are mostly local, it is much faster and safer.
This eliminates many apprehensions of the buyers, gives them more confidence to buy high value products online and meantime it is also a solid platform for brands to motivate and engage their legitimate sellers. A horizontal marketplace, Demoport lists 20000+ products across 500+ categories under six distinct verticals, i.e., Home, Office, Education, Hospitality, Healthcare and Construction.

MV Praveen, Founder & CEO, KORGEN, says, “Our team would, essentially, endeavor to make Demoport a reassuring online platform where buyers and sellers can connect, interact and transact with a better sense of comfort and without any apprehensions. Demoport model, we firmly believe, will encourage more offline shoppers, who have so far shied away from online shopping, to come online. And products that are pre-dominantly bought offline today will also find their traction increasing online”.
With respect to merchant acquisition, the company has a detailed validation process before a merchant is onboarded. But we are primarily pushing for direct partnerships with brands so that the merchant validation process can be made a shorter process. Praveen also stated that their Mobile Apps (Android/iOS ) will be launched by end of this FY.

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