SHOSHAA.com: Show Off Now! Date:   Wednesday , June 08, 2011 The Indian eCommerce market has reached the tipping point. With the broadband penetration increasing across Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities, there has been a steady increase in usage of Internet and in turn towards consumers transacting online. The advent of 3G has only added a mileage to the existing consumerization and e-commerce players are leaving no stones unturned to lure this new segment of consumers. As per latest reports by IAMAI, Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow at 47 percent to over Rs. 46,520 crore by end of 2011. While a majority of e-commerce players today are trying to lure with daily deals, 2011 founded SHOSHAA.com has a different approach. An online Social & Collaborative Commerce Platform for branded consumer durable products, Shoshaa.com, with its motto of encouraging consumers to “show off” their purchases and establishing a paid member club where customer can buy possibly everything at “COST PRICE”, the company has thoughtfully classified its consumers into different categories and provides unique deals and purchasing options most apt for them. With in two months of its launch, the company already has 12,000 plus registered users and 19,000 fans and is already associated with international brands across various segments like electronics, clothes, accessories and other merchandise. Taking a different beat A venture of Nine North Retail Private Limited ( a Blazeflash Couriers Limited & Drive My Brand Inc co-promoted initiative) , the essence of SHOSHAA can be captured in "Innovation at its best - Flaunt for less". The company presents upscale brands, innovative products & services at their cost price to its members in a comfortable e-shopping environment, which is truly unmatched! “Shoshaa literally means SHOW OFF and our concept is Shoshebaazi because someway we all like to show off,” says Manoj Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO, Shoshaa.com. Unlike other e-commerce sites where Shoshaa.com is the only e-commerce in India that follows the concept of paid membership. Its Pride Membership gives a consumer the privilege to make unlimited purchases at the company’s cost price for just Rs. 899 a year. And one must not take this lightly as the cost of the products on sale varies by a considerably large margin for a registered and non-registered buyer. “Having a paid membership ensures that we have a dedicated serious shoppers, which is a great value proposition for any brand to sell on our website,” says Nipun Arora, Co-Founder and Director – Marketing, Shoshaa.com. But an aspect where the company distinguishes itself is its play in the premium space. While most e-commerce sites aim at bringing any product/service at a discounted price for the common consumer, there is an elite group of consumers in the upper middle class strata to whom quality matters more than the cost. This is a segment the Shoshaa targets with its VIP Lounge. An annual membership for the lounge is priced at Rs. 31,000 upon which VIP members get benefits of Exclusive Shopping and Networking. High-end luxury brands and products like Chopper, Free held Island, Waterfalls, Pre-owned Luxury Cars, Luxury real estate, and much more, all are available exclusively for the VIP members. Some of the current members of the VIP Lounge include High Net worth Business Owners , C-Level Management Executives, bureaucrats and popular celebrities and more. Additionally, the company also plans to soon start servicing each of the VIP members with a dedicated Shopping Companion/Fashion Consultant to make the VIP experience full of luxury and sheen. The company gives additional mileage to its VIP shoppers with its Not For Sale and What Shoppers Want services. By using the Not For Sale section, a shopper can truly convey his/her side of Show Off. A unique service, Not For Sale is an interesting space which gives all the shoppers an opportunity to showcase their possessions and making them available for display and sales to other members only. From one’s vintage cars to antiques to collectible coins, handicrafts, watches, handbags or a piece of art, one can sell it all in this section of the portal. The company gets genuine admirers who would be interested in buying these products. With its What Shoppers Want feature, the company keeps in mind the psyche of a woman shopper. If a shopper shows interest in any particular product, the company tries its best to source it. Today the company has not only successfully built a strong shopper base, thanks to its various featured services but has also successfully managed to build a pipeline of sources to ensure that every shopper is catered to as soon as possible with timely delivery of purchases. “The real proof of a good service lies in how soon the purchases are delivered to the shopper. To enure a timely delivery, we are building several point of sales across the nation which will act as our Customer touch points to bring in online shopping confidence for a common man and bring in convenience and quick turn around for all our customers,” explains Gupta. Instead of sourcing all the products from one location and then mailing it across the nation, the company is building its point of sales (POS) — a partnership using their inhouse Logistic Pipeline established by Blazeflash Couriers and individual retailers across the country that would store the most commonly bought products on the portal and once a shopper makes the purchase, the prodcuts would be shipped from the nearest POS. The company currently has 5 established point of sales and plans to develop over 3500 POS customer touch points in the next three years using the in-house courier network. Talking about her shopping experience on Shoshaa.com, Shivangi Singh of Gaziabad says, “My dream came true on 26th April, 2011 when RCB won the match. I was supporting RCB and got my fan jersey from Shoshaa.com which was delivered at the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium in 8 hours time. Theirs is truly an unbelievably amazing service!" In the near future the company also sees these POS becoming a distribution pipeline for brands and shopper can actually get the localised assistance within his vicinity even at the remotest locatiions to buy products sold online. “For most shoppers, the essence of purchasing lies in having the satisfaction of having the touch and feel of a product and this is an experience we want to provide our shoppers in the long term,” explains Arora. Collaborative Commerce – The future of Online Retail With its unique approach to online retail, the company not only looks to revolutionizing a shoppers online retail experience but also the reach of different brands to its target consumers. With this aim the company has embarked on a partnership with Drive My Brand to facilitate ‘Collaborative Commerce’. A strategic marketing company founded in 2009, Drive My Brand provides marketing, technological and management consulting services. The company’s proficiency lies in Consulting & Strategizing, Profiled database Marketing, E-commerce, Internet Marketing, Outdoor and Event Management and is an expert in designing Marketing Campaigns and executing them competently by injecting some innovation in most routine events. Last year, the company set up a leading Social Commerce Platform in association with Shoshaa.com and Blazeflash Courier. With this platform, Shoshaa is blending marketing with technology to provide a very organized and targeted campaign for brands. Every campaign is backed by research to understand firm’s standing, industry movement, competitor analysis, requirement of the company’s service/product in the market and identifying the target group. Based on this, Drive My Brand and Shoshaa develop a unique value based campaign with definite strategy and road map to help the brand penetrate the market and reach out to as many shoppers as possible. The companies leverage on multiple channels like Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Optimization, Social media Marketing, affiliate marketing, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, mobile and email marketing and much more. With a combined user base of 12,000 plus exclusive members of Shoshaa and Drive My Brand’s in-house database of 15 million, the platform provides a unique value proposition to any brand that looks to tap the growing consumer segment in India and establish its a strong presence. Talking about the partnership, SD Aggarwal, CMD, Blazeflash Courier says, “The strong and unmatched presence of our Courier Network of more than 4000 plus unique touch points PAN India definitely will make Shoshaa the first of its kind e-com venture in India having its in-house dedicated distribution arm to offer watertight and unmatched service network across any of the remotest location in India and abroad.” Within a span of three odd months, this partnership has revolutionized the face of e-commerce in India and has helped over 50 plus brands to attain targeted consumer reach. Shoshaa further looks leverage this platform to help international brands to enter the Indian consumer segment. “With in a short span, the company has tasted quite a success and has successfully launched sales for brands like Toshiba, Apple, Blackberry, Belkin, Hitachi, Reebok, Casio, Benetton, RedTape, CK, Armani, Gucci, Coach and many more across varied product categories. The company also hosted Online Sales for IPL Merchandise as official online partners for IPL Reebok thereby selling jerseys and accessories by franchisees like KKR, CSK, RCB and KXIP” says Parul Chandra. “With many more brands on the way the company positions it to be a distribution pipeline for these brands to reach out to exclusive customer base both through its online and offline channels and not just function only as an online retailer. Road Map Ahead Apart from further enhancing its presence across the nation with POS, the company is also focusing on incubating local commerce & social commerce with another project – SocialRecharge.com in pipeline as up gradation in the coming months. Additionally, it looks to strongly develop the offline network for consumer durable distribution channel sales & direct Luxury Retail sales. “The aim is to become the premiere distribution channel for all brands, national and international and provide to our consumers that they can proudly ‘show off’,” says Arora. With its current hockey stick growth, and creative ideas up it sleeve, its goals do not look unattainable. The company is already being approached by several Venture Capitalists and soon looks to raising some substantial funding to fuel its growth strategy. With the growing e-commerce consumers in India and Shoshaa’s attempt to disrupt the current trends, one can surely look forward to see more and more consumers taking pride in their purchases and Showing it off! Founded :2010 Founders :Manoj Gupta and Nipun Arora Customers :12000 Plus in less than 70 Days Brands :50 plus. Partners :Blazeflash Courier Limited and Drive My Brand Inc Website :www.shoshaa.com