The evening tea, without snacks, sounds incomplete in a typical Indian household. A snack between meals to calm our hunger down, to keep the mind sane is also important. Basically, snacks are quite a significant part of our life. Over that, if it’s healthy, then it becomes the cherry on top of a cake. One food brand in India has been able to be that cherry. The beginning of that brand itself is an interesting tale. Here’s the success story of the biggest nacho brand in India – Cornitos.
Let me tell you the story, where a single trip to the U.S. brings a revolution in the snacking industry of India.
Cornitos first came into existence in the year 2009 with an investment of just ₹25 Crore. The actual journey started when Vikram Agarwal tasted tortilla chips for the first time in his business trip to USA. Tortilla chips a.k.a nachos are triangle-shaped Mexican snack that is made of corn and are either fried or baked. Inspired by popular Tortilla chip brand Doritos from the USA, Vikram Agarwal decided to start his own Indian Nachos brand.
In India, where potato chips and traditional Namkeen’s rule the market, it is not an easy job to introduce a complete new form of snack item. Vikram Agarwal took that brave decision to introduce the Mexican food item in the Indian snacking industry. He believed, it will be able to penetrate the market, and thus shares his idea with his father.
The prior experience of 20 years, handling family business was quite a help for Mr. Agarwal in starting Cornitos. After getting nod from his father, in 2009 he set up Greendot Health Foods Pvt Ltd in Faridabad, and step his foot in the Indian snack market with Cornitos.
What Makes Cornitos Different from other snacks?
The Mexican food item has able to entice people because of different reasons. They are:
1. The cute triangle-shaped snacks are made according to the Indian taste buds and are healthy as well.
2. Yes, the nacho crisps are made of corns, cooked with less oil and has zero Trans-fat and zero cholesterol.
3. Not only that, they are also gluten-free and are available in 15 different flavors. Pretty much to choose from.
4. Cornitos has its main factory located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand. The manufacturing plant for the Nacho brand is fully-automated, which means completely secured from human touch.
Flavors of Cornitos that Has Enchanted The Taste Buds Of Indians
The taste of Mexico in India is found in the 15 different flavors of this Nacho brand.
Although the journey first began with just Nacho chips, the company started experimenting with different products in no-time. The numerous products offered by Cornitos are:
Nachos Crisps
Taco Shell
Dips
Mexican Delights
Tortilla Wraps
Nuts & Seeds
DIY Kits
Target Audience of Cornitos
At first Cornitos decided to target the younger generation who are a little bit health-conscious and tried to cater their needs. Interestingly, now the older generations are also taking a kind liking towards the products of Cornitos. This brand mostly serves people from medium-income groups and Urban areas. Cornitos are exported globally and can be found in USA, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and others.
The Rise of Cornitos
As mentioned before, it was not an easy job to penetrate the market, where popular snack brands have already established a name. At first it was quite a challenge to turn on the demand switch of customers for Cornitos. At that time nachos was, not that famous of a snack item in India. Therefore, it has to pull its socks up, to create a stance in the snack market of India.
The company realizes to make it attractive to the consumers, it has to change. Although it was a risky gamble, to make it look like an international brand, the entire packaging of Cornitos was changed in 2011.
From logo to color even the packaging got transferred to matte finish from glossy paper. Intriguingly, the new packaging strategy worked and it started making a place in the hearts of Indians.
Cornitos Packaging
Cornitos has tied with different airlines like IndiGo, Spice Jet, Jet Airways and Air Asia. Not only that, it has tied with multiplexes like, PVR and Inox and other café outlets. Apart from that Cornitos are found in retail stores like, Big Bazaar, Spencers, and More.
Sadly, the struggling days for Cornitos returned, when the whole world was struck down by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Just like many other brands, the sales of Cornitos got affected as well. For a long time Cornitos was available in BigBasket, Amazon, Grofers, and Flipkart but not so surprisingly, the lockdown created quite a big challenge for the company. The supply chain was disrupted, which resulted in the decline of sales.
Cornitos on the other hand, didn’t give up, after the first lockdown it decided to launch its own online website. To make it easy for the customers to buy the product, all of Cornitos products are available in the website. With cashless payments and contactless delivery, all safety precautions were taken to satisfy the customers.
Cornitos Website
Did You Know?
Cornitos was awarded The Economic Times Best Brands 2020 award.
Cornitos offers no garlic and no onion snacks.
Conclusion
To start with something new in a complete different market is truly a brave decision. The taste of Mexico with an Indian twist was served to the mass and like a good epilogue of a story, the mass has accepted it. With numerous twists and turn Cornitos has emerged into India’s biggest nachos brand and has capture over 60% of the market as of 2019. One single idea can create a whole new world.
FAQ
What is the revenue Of Cornitos?
As of the financial year 2021, Cornitos have the revenue of ₹85 crore.
Who Is The Owner Of Cornitos?
Vikram Agarwal is the owner of Cornitos.
Is Cornitos an Indian brand?
Yes, Cornitos is made in India and takes the pride to call itself the biggest nachos brand of the country.
In the world of technology, we came far from bringing light to the world to brighten our life. Technology played a crucial role in everyone’s life, as it brought effortless connectivity between individuals. Besides, improving the world in such a way, anything can be possible with the help of technology.
For instance, this ongoing pandemic indeed proved that technology is the sole way to connect people from far distances. On the other hand, companies are combating each other to manifest who has ingenious technology and designing products in order to make people’s lives better than usual. That’s where Carl Pei, CEO of OnePlus commenced his next move in inaugurating his consumer technology company- Nothing. The company set an aim to eliminate the hurdles between people and technology.
In simple words, Nothing is built to generate a seamless and intuitive technology for people without any barriers such as poor connectivity, quality, price etc. Some companies urge us to improve people’s lives by generating innovative products, for example, designing virtual connectivity really helped us in some way or the other in this pandemic. But, Nothing wanted the people to experience not only consumer electronics but also in life by ameliorating a seamless digital future.
Carl Pie, the founder of Nothing and Ex Co-founder of OnePlus, invested his idea in developing technology starting in 2020.
Nothing’s is a London-based consumer technology company. Therefore, Nothing is operable all over the world with a goal to enhance a seamless digital future for people.
Products & Services of Nothing
Generally, Nothing is established to eliminate barriers between people and technology. Moreover, the founder of Nothing already mentioned that the company’s main purpose is to create an ecosystem of products, whereby one device communicates to another.
As of now, on 27th July 2021, Nothing has released its very own first product- Ear (1) which bestows a raw beauty of innovation in experiencing real and pure sound.
Nothing ear (1)
After, Nothing first ever release, the company is planning to release products across multiple categories, keeping in mind that it should be an ecosystem of devices as well as play a vital part in improving the digital world in the future.
Target Audience of Nothing
Nothing only aim is to bestow a seamless digital future to the people, whose lives depend on the digital world, because technology is omnipresent.
Nothing is built to ensure impeccable technology services to the people with the goal to eliminate the barriers faced by the individuals with the technology. Carl Pei proclaimed his next venture- Nothing after parting ways with OnePlus in October 2020.
The company raised its fund around 7 million dollars from various capital ventures such as Kevin Lin, Tony Fadell, Paddy Cosgrave, Kunal Shah, Casey Neistat, Tony Fadell and Steve Huffman.
Nothing opened investment opportunities to the community, the amount to invest is estimated at 1.5 million dollars and one community member will be selected to Nothing Board of Directors. The company recently raises 15 million dollar funding in a Series A round led by Google venture.
What is Unique about the Business Model of Nothing
Nothing is established to create a free flow of technology between people. The company planned to release products across multiple categories covering all the technology devices.
Besides, Nothing has promulgated its new release- Ear(1) where it weighs around 4.7 grams and is considered Ultra-light in weight. The device’s sound is developed by the Teenage engineering community, with an 11.6mm speaker driver designed in it. The Ear (1) is estimated to function up to 34 hours of listening and comes at 6000 rupees.
The company is veil about other products which are in the line of release, so until then Nothing is progressing in generating a seamless digital world in the future.
Nothing, with the launch of its first product Ear(1) had gained the attention of people around the globe for its unique model. The Wireless Bluetooth earbuds sector has a lot of competitors like Apple’s AirPods, Samsung Galaxy Buds, OnePlus Buds, etc but Ear(1) has made to stand out with the design which isn’t similar to any other wireless earbuds available in the market and the exceptional specifications for this price range.
Carl Pei was one integral part of the success of OnePlus and with Nothing similar results can be seen with Carl Pei bringing his customers the best of artistically created consumer technology products.
Even though the company has released only one product after its incorporation last year, Nothing is aiming to prove that their services are gonna bring a unique lifestyle in the upcoming years by releasing sui generis smart devices, which you won’t even find in any other market in the world.
FAQ
What is Nothing?
Nothing is a London based startup company that deals in consumer technology. The company aims to remove barriers between people and technology and create products that are artistic and bring back passion and trust in the consumer technology industry. The company wants to create consumer technology products that are smart and well connected while enhancing a seamless digital world in the future.
Who is the founder of Nothing?
Nothing was founded by Carl Pei in October 2020 after he left Oneplus. Carl Pei was the co-founder of Oneplus in 2013. He implied his idea to bring a barrier-free between people and technology in 2015 and made his path towards creating a world of seamless digital and built NOTHING in 2020.
What is the net funding received by Nothing?
Nothing had raised $7 Million in a seed financing round in November 2020. Investors in Nothing include Tony Fadell, Casey Neistat, Kevin Lin, Steve Huffman, Josh Buckley and Kunal Shah(founder of CRED). Nothing had also invited users to invest in the company by making $1.5 million shares available to the general public. The company also raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Google Ventures.
In many parts of the globe, linguistic differences still exist, which creates a lot of diversity. People face this complication of language diversity now and then. But, it all becomes easy to understand the efficiency of an app that does it all for you. And, here steps in one of the best language learning apps, named Duolingo.
Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker | Duolingo Founders
Created by the American Businessman Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, it works as one of the most efficient and most-used apps with almost more than 500 million users and consisting of over 40 different languages within it. However, before heading towards the insights, we must take the basics of Duolingo with us.
Although these are just some mere insights to the company, still a lot of queries may pop up in your mind regarding the source of income of the company and also how they make it all possible free of cost. It is not that difficult either to stretch out the things and with this article, you would get all your queries answered.
Areas of Operation
Among 500 million registered users, Duolingo has about 40 million active registered users from every corner of the world. Duolingo allows everyone to take their 117 different language courses and learn about 37 languages spoken worldwide.
Services provided by Duolingo
Starting from a layperson to a top-class educator, Duolingo makes it easy for all to understand anything related to any language. The best thing is that every service is done at free cost, for ordinary people. And, these services include:
1. Educational Services: Educational services refer to all those efficient works that help people increase their knowledge and enlighten them. In many schools, Duolingo is often used to track the records of the students and also helping in the translation methods. Covering almost all the world’s languages makes the process easier to understand and study any language possible. Some other educational services also include: a) Making complex sentences into simpler ones. b) Providing language courses to increase language knowledge.
2. Listening Exercise: The more one listens, the more they understand the proficiency of the language. Listening to the language can help one understand the pronunciation and also get a better view of how to speak the language in sentences. In this Duolingo, app one gets all these facilities quickly and also free of cost. One can also choose the accent of how one must speak and of which accent one must practice speaking.
3. Performing Drills: Understanding and learning not only helps one to strikeout. Exercise is also a must to excel. Hence, Duolingo also gives one sufficient amount of space and necessary exercise to get the best learning. It also makes one curate its mistake and indicates the right thing to do.
As we are clear with the modes of service Duolingo provides, it is not that difficult to guess either, hoe it also generates revenue from all these services. Still, the model follows.
Target Audience
Since the day of its birth, Duolingo has always focused on teaching people about various languages. But recently, it also started an English literacy app for children belonging to the age group of 3 to 6. It’s a free app that came up with the motive to cut down literacy at global levels.
Business Model Of Duolingo
Just like a lot of social media apps and also a lot of other famous traffic sites are generating revenue from advertisements. Somehow, the same applies to Duolingo also. It’s an early business model focused more on crowdsourcing and testing. With the demand for money, it started breaking down and expanding its services with new monetary services.
The business model of Duolingo is similar to that of Re-CAPTCHA. In this, the system extracts information from the user for their verification. Similarly, in the initial days, Duolingo sought assistance from humans to convert and translate its documents. It makes crowdsourcing and gamification the critical parts of its business model. The business model of Duolingo by which it generates revenue is listed in the following way: 1. Advertisements from different sources 2. Paid Subscription 3. In-app purchases
We’ll discuss them while diving deep into how Duolingo makes money out of its business model.
Duolingo was established in the year 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Duolingo grew to be known as one of the most famous language learning platforms in the world. Presently there are over 500 million users who are enjoying its service by getting registered.
1. Duolingo is a big platform that offers its users the capability to learn over 45 languages widely ranging from Russian to English. 2. Duolingo’s business model is based mainly on crowdsourcing information, making it one of the ingenious business models of the next generation. 3. Duolingo generates its finances with the help of premium subscriptions, language proficiency tests as well as display advertisements. 4. The company mainly works according to a freemium business model. Duolingo keeps working on a freemium business model. 5. Duolingo’s lessons are built with a range of diverse tasks. For example, Duolingo asks its students to write a sentence on their own. It also asks to translate a sentence or search for similar words equivalent to their foreign language. 6. Duolingo encourages its users to continue their learning process by teaching with a gamification system.
With its client base from renowned websites such as CNN, BuzzFeed, etc., Duolingo has served as a professional translator with a vast client base and reasonable prices. Decoding the sources of revenue of Duolingo, the chief streams of income are:
1. Advertisements from different sources: Ads have become a very great medium to generate revenue. These ads are virtual and are distributed on other major trafficking apps, which get paid for allowing these ads to get featured within them. Hence, Duolingo also works the same way, and many ads feature in the app while working. There are a lot of ads feature. Still, they also are similar to what the user is looking for. It makes it easier for both the user and the seller to get on the same page. However, there are also some benefits like: a) People may try to buy the premium to grab ad-free. b) The company earns revenue through the premium. With this advertisement process, the company generates almost half of the total revenue.
2. Paid Subscription: The subscription works like a gold membership nowadays. It unveils many new hidden features to which the ordinary and unpaid users did not have access. Hence, a lot of users who use the app for the professional purpose and use the app in a daily basis, they purchase the subscription. The subscription can also help them in many ways like: a) An ad-free interface, with an unmistakable look b) Unveiling of a lot of new facilities c) Regular progress quizzes With all these paid memberships, the company generates almost one-third of the total revenue together.
3. In-app purchases: The extra facilities that one can get from the app after installing them. These purchases can include some different subscriptions to any other service that Duolingo provides. Or can also be some additional service or content. However, the company Duolingo gets very little from the whole revenue from this strategy, which is only 8 to 10 %.
Although it is believed that it provides all of a free of cost, it still generates revenue from nowhere, from where the users can even imagine. The paid subscriptions are the officially best way of getting income, but due to the super fiscal advertising world, the ads create a solid revenue base from literally nowhere.
‘Duolingo Plus’ also comes out as the subscribed version of the app, to which one gets all the access and benefits of the app. Some crowdsourced revenue is also generated as the organizations like CNN and BuzzFeed pay Duolingo to get the translations done. And, all these sum up to generate some significant amount of revenue for Duolingo.
Conclusion
Unlike other networking platforms, Duolingo gets almost half of its income from the advertisements, where they just get paid if a user scrolls down through the app. It all makes it so easy for revenue generation and also creates a new hope to take better steps to get the best out of it.
Although except the United, States the app has not got enough amount of highlight or traffic, still its growth is looking stunning. With exceptional features, it is liked by every user, and the interface is making it look so easy to work on it. And, with the differentiated service of both paid and free preferences, it is creating a great trust and has gained a very permanent place within the people.
FAQs
How many languages courses are there in Duolingo for English speakers?
There are 37 distinct Free Language Courses for English Speakers.
How many Duolingo Language Courses are there?
There are 117 free Duolingo language courses.
Is Duolingo app free?
Duolingo app is free. You can learn languages on Duolingo completely free. There are premium subscription called Duolingo Plus for better user experience.
What does Duolingo cost?
Duolingo offers free learning, however, there is Duolingo Plus subscription which costs $12.99 per month.
The height to which a business can be taken is sometimes hard for the eyes to meet. Some turn out to be pro at this, whereas sum ends up with nothing on this earth. Several factors together build up to make a successful business stand; it becomes tough and competitive to keep all the elements simultaneously. Some minds prefer sticking to one type of business. On the other hand, some reasons go a step ahead creating various branches on which their business runs.
Likewise, ITC limited is one that comes under the second category. With utter determination, it has become a well-renowned brand that pops up in nearly every advertisement that we come across. Not just stopping at one-way success, ITC made sure that it ends up ruling its domain. So here in the lines which follow, we will be sailing through the functioning and execution of the ITC limited.
1910 being the birth year of this highly established company, Kolkata in West Bengal houses its headquarters. Generally, ITC can be simply understood as a multi-industry company with its working hands in more than one business field. And that too is confined to single geographical coordinates, instead of growing with many locations in hand. However, the source of these hands is familiar with Sanjiv Puri as the chairman and managing director of this company breaths.
Areas of operation
The Indian subcontinents being the central arena to work on. Which further have countries like India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. Besides that, the Gulf countries also get a taste of their business.
Essential products and services
ITC Products
As stated earlier, ITC is no one business company. Hence there’s a wide range of products this company houses. Because of this wide range of variety, it attracts the masses and meets the needs at large. If we go on having a quick look over the list would start from ;
1. FMCG products: The light hectic free products from packaged food, household items, cosmetics, items we need daily, etc. Its fast-moving products include brands related to personal care products such as Fiama, Vivel, and Superia, stationery products such as Classmate, packaged food products such as Aashirvaad, Lychee Flavour, Bingo!, Sunfeast Dream Cream biscuits. Matchsticks and incense sticks such as Mangaldeep are also included under ITC’s products.
2. Apparel: With fashion being a significant component in our lives, it was a good move on the part of ITC to have a competition in this too. John Players, ITC’s apparel brand, serves its customers with quality formals, casuals, denim, and accessories.
3. Cigarettes: Named the tobacco company in its early days, cigarettes and tobacco were ITC’s initial products. Wills, the globally renowned cigarette brand by ITC, also serves its broad audience with designer wear, formal wear, casual wear, evening wear apart from cigarettes. Other popular cigarette brands include Scissors, Classic, Gold Flake, Flake, Insignia, Navy Cut, Briston, etc.
4. Hotels and resorts: It’s one of the best investments, no doubt. ITC also holds its name under the list of premium hotels. Welcomhotel, ITC Hotels, Fortune Hotels, and Welcomheritage Hotels are the premium brands of hotels. These hotels have over 100 hotels spread across 70 destinations.
5. Agribusiness: ITC ranks second in providing agri-products which include feed ingredients such as soya meal, marine products such as prawns and shrimps, food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, processed foods, and coffee.
6. Paperboards & Packaging: ITC’s paperboard products include paperboard, specialty paper, graphic paper, and others. Apart from this, ITC provides printing services for both Indian and international clients.
7. ITC Info Tech: ITC also provides business-friendly technical solutions related to manufacturing, banking, finance, travel, and healthcare.
Fixing a confined group to such a massive range of products and services is somewhat nearly impossible. With its diverse ability to produce constantly keeping the variety in front, it draws every pair of eyes and ears irrespective of the age group. That too from every field possible.
Day by day, ITC is extending its services and targeting audiences from every age group. ITC has to go hand in hand with the people’s choice, which varies with every square kilometre. Thus, to suit every individual’s need, the company is always in a constant state of polishing itself. It makes sure that it takes people of all ages under its production umbrella in a way that makes room for everybody’s needs.
Hence, to build its revenue without any hindrance, the company has a beneficial business model on its table. ITC makes sure that it produces something new to attract the audience. This way, they would be drawn like magnets, end up investing in the latest products in the market.
To get people to know about the new launches, it also never lags in displaying those. Along with that, back in the company’s production house, there’s always constant research about the mass. It helps in designing their upcoming innovation according to the audience’s feedback.
To carry on the smooth functioning of the company, the resources have to be rigid. The infrastructures, physical inputs of the employees, transportation, and storage are valuable resources. These also include a set of experienced workers who know the mass from a closer perspective. And thus, insist on producing what should be the following product. These resources are like the pawns of the company. As a group, they contribute a significant amount to the revenue bar of the company.
The customer gets a symbol of the wise company not to remain put with the profit from a particular segment. Likewise, ITC, by being an all-friendly company thinks about, the needs of every age group. Also, people of every geographical region. Every human should feel the essence of its products. Be it an urban or rural, a small town or big city, ITC makes sure that the products reach every hand that searches for them. Hence, getting inputs from all directions helps the company with better motivation and finance as well.
ITC being such a vast organization has the best value services for its customers. As it is confined to a single sector of producing, the customers are provided with a variety of offers and reasons to visit the company’s doorstep. The central bullet point is that all these services root from a single branch.
To sell its products, ITC never falls short of platforms. It is evident that for such a vast project, several stations would be required to enter the market. Thus, the online distribution network is a convenient way. Apart from that, all sorts of apps designed by or for ITC do the job. It attracts, gives ideas, and makes aware people of the existence, efforts, and production of ITC. All these factors shape the business model of ITC.
What is unique in the business model of ITC
Starting from consumables to household items and paperboards, ITC does its best to satisfy its audience. A hard-to-count bunch of products brings ITC its title of being the most renowned producer. Apart from a small loophole of producing tobacco, the rest of its products are high on demand always.
There’s no doubt that ITC has a robust network when it comes to the delivery of products. Production, storage, and delivery of such large quantities would sit on a vast expanse of land. That, too, ITC has well-taken care of. It is making sure that its products reach the assigned location in the minimum time possible.
In the initial days, ITC diversified its resources and extended its business across many different sectors. It helped it create its brand presence which ITC utilized while entering into the FMCG sector. Moreover, ITC’s diversified business has led to reduced costs of outsourcing. The interrelation between its businesses has helped it grow and establish itself.
How does ITC make money?
Breaking down the streams of revenue, cigarettes contribute to about 77% of its revenue generation. On the other hand, paperboard & packaging contribute about 7.3% to the payment. Looking at other products, their agri-business contributes about 7.0%, hotels contribute about 4.3%, and FMCG products contribute about 4.0% to their total revenue.
Conclusion
Starting from scratch as a tobacco-producing company to being the ITC limited, this company has come a long way. Striding past innumerable competitors, it has gained what many dreams. Nevertheless, ups and downs are a combo pack that comes with every business. But with the amount of build-up ITC has already created, it would be a sweat-drenching process for any company to snatch the market from ITC. We, as consumers, with great delight, pick up the products of ITC without any second glance, which makes it even more invincible.
FAQs
What is main business of ITC?
ITC Limited is an Indian conglomerate with diversified businesses in Fast Moving Consumer Goods comprising Foods, Personal Care, Cigarettes, Apparel, Stationery Products, Incense Sticks, Safety Matches, Hotels, Packaging, and others.
What is the revenue of ITC?
According to the 2020 update, 52,001 crores is what the present revenue of ITC stands for.
Who is the CEO of ITC?
Sanjiv Puri was appointed as the CEO in February 2017 and continues with his post to date.
How much debt does ITC have?
329.35 crores are the debt amount ITC has, as recorded in March of 2021.
What makes a startup idea remarkable is its potential to solve a problem and make people’s lives easier. The issue does not have to go unaddressed; the question is how effectively it can be addressed. Many company models are based on this notion. With that in mind, allow me to share Trivago’s amazing startup story and its business model with you.
Trivago is a multinational technology company based in Germany that specializes in internet-based hotel, lodging, and metasearch services and products. It was Germany’s first hotel search engine, and it is now one of the country’s fastest-growing businesses, with profits doubling since 2008.
Expedia Inc. holds a majority of the equity in the firm. A hotel search company with the main objective of changing the way people search for and compare hotels online. It also offers hotel advertisers to promote their brand on the Trivago website providing them access to a broader target audience who visits its website.
How was Trivago started?
Earlier, booking a hotel used to be complicated. There used to be frauds and people were not able to get better deals. Looking at this problem gave rise to new startups such as Expedia, Orbitz, etc. that allowed customers to compare prices and get the best deals.
People liked this idea and these startups quickly gained traction. Rolf Schrömgens, Peter Vinnemeier, and Stephan Stubner saw this as an opportunity and they came up with this new hotel aggregation site which they named Trivago.
It was founded in 2005 in Dusseldorf, Germany where its headquarters are. It was first established in a garage. It was like a bootstrapped company with very little external capital and on going away with little steps and small steps forward. They grew very slowly in the beginning but eventually gained momentum.
Trivago has evolved from a €1.4 million seed investment to become one of Europe’s most renowned unicorns. Today, they have 3 million hotels and alternative accommodations, search through more than 250 booking sites, active in more than 190 countries on 54 platforms, 33 languages, and more than 100 filters that you can apply to your search.
Founders & core team
Founders:
Rolf Schrömgens
Stephan Stubner
Peter Vinnemeier
Malte Siewert
Trivago’s core team:
Axel Hefer – Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Anja Honnefelder – Chief People Officer (CPO)
Matthias Tillmann – Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
James Carter – Chief Product and Technology Officer (CTPO)
Trivago has 2 types of customers. The first type includes partners like hotels, online travel agencies, and media who promote their products on the Trivago website. The second type is guests like travelers who compare offerings and pricing before making a purchase decision to book their desired hotel.
Key partners:
Hotels, online travel agents, and guests are among Trivago most important partners, but so are media and advertising firms, payment processors, and investors and stakeholders.
Key activities:
Based on key resources, Trivago acts as a platform for hotel brands to display their offerings and customers can find what they want. It manages guest and hotel networks, develops its products, and conducts sales and marketing.
The Company promotes transparency by allowing users to contribute to the content on its website. They can add content to hotel and cabin brand portrayals, complete missing brand profiles, and change profiles for quality assurance.
Personalization:
The platform encourages personalization by allowing firms to customize their profiles in a variety of ways.
Convenience:
Users can search for a variety of alternatives and narrow down results using hundreds of filters available on the platform.
Brand/positioning:
Because of its success, the site has developed a strong brand. It receives 120 unique visitors every month, indicating that it has a large user base. Trivago is one of Germany’s best and fastest-growing startups, with its advantages multiplying since 2008.
Customer relationship:
Trivago is an entirely automated platform, thus users have very little or no engagement with the team. The site’s FAQs answer the majority of questions, and email support is available for personal assistance.
Key resources:
Trivago most valuable assets are its website and application through which customers can search for hotels. Its highly trained workers are another crucial resource for maintaining and updating the website. In addition, being a startup, it is reliant on investor funding, which raised $53.8 million in December 2010.
Cost structure:
Technology setup and running costs, personnel pay, sales, and marketing divisions all contribute to the overall cost structure.
How does Trivago earns Revenue?
We know Trivago doesn’t offer tangible products or has no tie-ups with other hotels. So you might be wondering how it makes money. Here’s how.
Listings:
Trivago charges commissions to online travel agencies for promoting their services and hotel rooms on the Trivago website.
Services:
Trivago earns revenue by managing the listings i.e. the presence and visibility of hotel brands on their platform. For this, they have a feature known as Hotel Manager PRO wherein hotel brands need to pay the subscription fees.
Cost Per Click:
Trivago links itself to other websites like Oyo and Make my trip. When people visit the Trivago website and want to book their desired hotel, they get redirected to the hotel’s website.
Trivago is promoting the hotel’s products and services and driving a sale for them. They are referring it to customers and in turn charge commission for doing the same. This is known as affiliate marketing or Cost Per Click (CPC) wherein they get paid whenever customers click on a link of that hotel’s website and their entire revenue model is based on this.
A customer is referred to the website of the advertiser when the user clicks on the deals present in the search results. Trivago charges money for every referral. This model is known as the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) model.
What makes Trivago unique?
Compared to other hotel search engines, Trivago’ USP is its product focus: hotel search. It doesn’t offer other features like car rentals or booking flights just the hotel price comparison making it less confusing for customers. It benefits Trivago as well such as:
They have no conflict of interest.
Can focus on developing their products.
Be committed to helping hoteliers compete and travelers locate their desired hotel.
Competitors of Trivago
The top three competitors of Trivago are:
Tripadvisor:
Trivago’s main competition is Tripadvisor. It is a publicly-traded firm based in Needham. The company was founded in Massachusetts in the year 2000 and works in the travel agency business. It employs 1745 people more than Trivago. Tripadvisor has revenue of $366.5 million dollars higher than Trivago. It has raised a total of $3712.8 million, which is higher than Trivago.
Booking.com:
Booking.com is another major competitor of Trivago. It was created in 1996 and has its headquarters in Amsterdam. It’s in the field of web-based software. It brings in $6798 million dollars more than Trivago. It employs 19,466 people more than Trivago.
The recovery process for the travel industry will be complicated but let’s see how Trivago faced these challenges and how it will reposition itself for the post-pandemic era.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, Trivago’s earnings and revenue plummeted. It lost €12.3 million in adjusted EBITDA, compared to a profit of $70 million in 2019.
Despite this considerable decline, Trivago saw this as an opportunity to innovate and bring back the old and think about the new customers as well. Instead of promoting the most popular destinations, they started promoting the hidden gems i.e. smaller cities that are not on the top of your list.
The destinations from where you start keeping it shorter or local trip. This is their new product launch i.e. new local trip offerings which are more inspirational compared to their core product which requires you to know where you want to go.
This recent diversification beyond traditional metasearch and new launches will help them target a broader audience and not just the ones looking for hotels at low prices. They are working on the second big release and will be coming up with new product launches.
Final Thoughts
Being one of the world’s most burgeoning hotel search engines, it has made it possible for us to find the best hotel at the best price. The company is focused on reorganizing and streamlining its business in light of the current volatile tourism industry. I must say, Trivago nailed the market demand and came up with a fantastic startup concept that was not just our desire but also the urgent need of the hour.
This was all about Trivago and its business model.
FAQ
Who is the founder of Trivago?
Rolf Schrömgens, Malte Siewert, Peter Vinnemeier, and Stephan Stubner are the founders of Trivago.
Is Trivago an Indian company?
No, Trivago is an German multinational company that specializes in internet-related services and products in the hotel, lodging and metasearch fields.
Who are the competitors of Trivago?
Trivago competitors include Booking.com, Tripadvisor, KAYAK and Expedia Group.
We hope to look well and feeling positive in this ever-changing world. This has instilled in us the desire to set newer standards daily. This time, we present to you the intriguing business model of “Flyrobe” that will fascinate you. Flyrobe is an apparel rental firm with the mantra “rent, wear, repeat.”
Flyrobe is an apparel rental firm that allows you to rent designer outfits for a reasonable price. It offers a wide range of products for men and women, including ethnic wear, premium apparel, and accessories. It lets you rent high-end clothing and accessories and arranges garments from brands like Ritu Kumar and Masaba Gupta.
It has a presence in ten of India’s most populous cities. Flyrobe serves approximately 12 cities through e-commerce means such as an online portal and iOS and android mobile apps. The company’s headquarters is located in New Delhi’s Rajouri Garden.
Flyrobe was acquired by its competitor Rent It Bae, partly in cash and partly in a stock arrangement. The consolidated firms will now be working under the name of Flyrobe and their combined value is roughly INR 60 crore.
7 September 2018
Sequoia Capital led a $3.71 million Series B fundraising round for Flyrobe, an on-demand apparel rental firm.
Flyrobe – Founders
Shreya Mishra
Tushar Saxena (Co-founder & CTO)
Pranay Surana (Co-Founder & COO)
Flyrobe – Startup story
It all started when Shreya Mishra the founder of Flyrobe visited Airbnb headquarters in 2012 for an entrepreneurial seminar at Stanford University, where she came up with the idea for this startup. She was inspired by the potential of rental stores, which may be run with existing assets.
Three IIT Bombay colleagues, Shreya Mishra, Pranay Surana, and Tushar Saxena, began brainstorming ideas for a rental business that might be popular in India. They discovered that consumers pay a fortune on clothes that are only worn a couple of times. It would surely be beneficial to them to freely access new outfits without the burden of ownership.
Flyrobe’s creators quickly carried out a survey, polling 200 females on their thoughts on the concept. Over 80% of participants responded with enthusiastic approval. Flyrobe was established as a result of this.
Tushar Saxena was an expert in IT and was approached by his colleagues to assist them in developing an Android app for Flyrobe. They released the app in September 2015, followed by the website in October.
Flyrobe Website
Omapal Technologies Private Limited was responsible for its inception. The trend of apparel rental grew in popularity, and several companies entered the market. Flyrobe managed to acquire prominence using digital platforms, which supported them in becoming more well-known than rival online rental firms.
Masaba Gupta, Outhouse, and Ritu Kumar are among the designers who have collaborated with Flyrobe. They also collaborated with brands like FCUK, Armani, Asos, and others who also sell western attire.
Flyrobe – Vision, and Mission
Vision
Their vision is: “To make designer clothes available to masses at pocket-friendly prices on rent“
What do they offer? (Mission)
On-demand rental: Choose an outfit at least three days in advance and it’ll be delivered to your door on any set date.
Unlimited subscription plan: Rent any two items from their closet and exchange, repeat, or restore them as desired.
Flyrobe – Tagline and Logo
Flyrobe’s tagline is “Outfit on Rent, Memories Permanent.”
Flyrobe’s Logo:-
Flyrobe Logo
Freedom & Fashion was the inspiration for the design. When one can do anything one desires, one is said to be free. By making fashion widely available, they hope to promote freedom in the fashion realm. They genuinely think that one’s preferences, devotion to ownership, and cost need not be limited.
Flyrobe – Business model
Flyrobe’s business model revolves around customers renting an attire for 4–8 days. This portal offers bookings for western dress outfits with a 3–4 hour shipping period and ethnic clothing. The app has a 4.3 rating on Google Play. Influencer marketing is their key marketing strategy.
A diverse selection of designer brands
Flyrobe is the top digital apparel rental firm, offering a large selection of designer clothing for men and women. It offers the most prestigious worldwide brands. People are interested in the Flyrobe since it provides outstanding facilities.
It has a variety of outfits for various events. The finest feature is that it offers a selection from popular brands such as Zara, Armani, and others. It is the finest alternative for individuals who want to dress in designer apparel at a reasonable price.
Affordable rent
Their main line of service is offering a wide selection of authentic traditional attire for a reasonable price. The price is so low which makes it acceptable to all types of people.
It only rents garments for four days. Flyrobe’s business model aims to make global fashion labels accessible to the general public. Some ethnic garments are extremely expensive, and most people cannot afford them, especially if they pertain to a specific brand.
In short, Flyrobe is beneficial for the ones who want to wear branded clothes but can’t afford them due to high prices.
Biggest trade partner
Being the biggest trade partner, it gives people access to the world’s largest marketplace. It has over 1800 designers aboard to provide rental solutions to its consumers.
Serves a variety of metropolitan areas
It offers clothing rental solutions in a couple of key locations across India. The company is working on growing its operations throughout several cities. As a result, they will expand their operations to 30 additional cities. Their business approach relies on offering flexibility across India.
Collaborations with renowned brands and a variety of firms
Their strategy is based on establishing relationships with well-known brands. They feature a large selection of ethnic wear from well-known brands. They can offer their clients unique designs in a wider range. The motive is if the firm has strong & creative affiliates, it will continue to grow.
No additional charges
Flyrobe goes to great lengths to ensure that its customers are satisfied. They offer special pick-up and shipment services to clients who cannot visit the store to collect their orders. Customers aren’t charged anything but delivered the greatest services.
Flyrobe earned $2 million in revenue in 2018 and aimed to triple that in 2019. According to the creators, 65 percent of the company’s overall revenue comes from online sales.
Their revenue streams include:
Commission
Every apparel rental purchase on their official site generates a little commission for them.
Advertising
Website or app ads is a component of their long-term revenue strategy.
Subscription plan
Their subscription plan ranging from monthly to annual subscription allows consumers to pay a one-time price in exchange for benefits such as reduced shipping charges, refunds, or perhaps a free apparel rental if they fully subscribe.
Flyrobe – Startup Challenges
While the business hurdles were obvious, they also had to deal with the Indian attitude toward secondhand apparel. People’s assumptions about renting garments are the reason for the sluggish start of the firm. Indians shun those who cannot pay for expensive outfits.
India is a nation based on possession, the most difficult hurdle in implementing a business plan like renting is changing client preferences. A social taboo is linked to rentals because fashion has grown to reflect one’s identity, goal, and prominent status symbols. Their cynicism about sanitation, personality concerns, and social influence are some of the most difficult barriers to overcome.
Only when the customer is willing to rent or wear a previously owned item you would succeed. The perspective shifts as people understand the product’s worth and the reasonable amount they spend for a temporary solution.
Nonetheless, Shreya Mishra believes a trend will eventually be the standard and India is at the onset of that trend.
Flyrobe – Funding & Investors
To date, Flyrobe has raised close to $10.7 million in funding. Sequoia Capital, Chiratae Ventures, and Strive Ventures are among the major financial backers of Flyrobe.
Flyrobe raised $7 million during its initial two series of fundraising in 2016. Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Stanhope Capital chairman Leon Seynave, and others also contributed. Flyrobe’s technical, biz, and brand development personnel have all enhanced as a result of this funding. Chiratae Ventures led a round of fundraising that year, raising 5.3 million dollars.
In September 2018, Sequoia Capital India led a new investment round, and Flyrobe managed to acquire 26 crore rupees from existing owners. InnoVen Capital led a venture round that received an undisclosed amount of money in January 2019.
Flyrobe was acquired by its competitor Rent It Bae on November 27, 2019, which led to the consolidation of firms that will now be working under the name of Flyrobe and their combined value is roughly INR 60 crore.
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
July 5, 2016
Seed Rounf
$1.7M
Sequoia Capital India
Aug 31, 2016
Series A
$5.3M
Chiratae Ventures
Nov 22, 2016
Non Equity Assistance
$50K
Google Launchpad Accelerator
Sep 6, 2018
Series B
₹264M
Sequoia Capital India
Jan 1, 2019
Venture Round
–
InnoVen Capital
Note: I have mentioned lead investors, but there are more than 1 investor for some of them.
On November 27, 2019, Rent It Bae acquired Flyrobe.
Date
Acquired by
Amount
Transaction Name
Nov 27, 2019
Rent It Bae
–
Flyrobe acquired by Rent It Bae
Flyrobe – Awards and Achievements
In 2015, when the company was just 15 weeks old, they finalized 100 clients in a single day. 20 Bollywood celebs, including Huma Qureshi, Parineeti Chopra, and Sunny Leone, have supported Flyrobe on social media sites.
Flyrobe – Competitors
Oh Look
Oh Look is a subscription-based fashion rental platform for males and it was designed by Arshad Azad. The firm has teamed with prominent apparel companies such as Zara, Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, and others to create a vast wardrobe assortment.
The Clothing Rental
The Clothing Rental, a Mumbai-based firm that began in 2005, happens to be a secret destination among the glamour industry’s elite. It allows you to hire their exclusive brands from their New York procurement office in addition to acquiring outfits from the most essential brands. It has two outlets in addition to its online presence (in Bandra & Versova).
Wrapd
Wrapd began in 2009 as Rent A Party Dress, a Delhi-based startup. It’s also one of the few online services with a physical outlet. You just have to go look at the attire, whether it be in person or online. After that, you can inform them of your size for the outfit you’ve selected (if it needs to be modified).
Book the outfit by paying a rental fee and a security deposit that’s up to 3 times the rent, and return it the day after the occasion. Pay the rental fee and a down payment of up to three times the rent to book the attire, then return it the day following the event.
Klozee
This business, which is now present in Bangalore, provides quality clothing rentals without any down payment. Klozee Express guarantees that the outfit will arrive in less than 3 hours of your order. Perhaps it allows customers to pay retail price for an outfit especially if you love it.
Liberent
With a three-day rental duration, you can hire an outfit from LibeRent without paying any extra down payment. It makes modifications based on the measurements provided. The best part is, for an extra Rs.350, they permit a trial before the actual rental day.
SwishList
SwishList allows you to hire outfits by browsing their online fashion collection and booking an outfit for the day of your ceremony. The outfit will arrive two days before the event. The following day, you can return the outfit. A down payment of 50% or more of the rental amount is required.
They plan to expand their online services to Dubai, London, and the United States. In the next few years, there will be 15 more outlets.
The partnership between the current CEO, Aanchal Saini, and the former CEO, Rent It Bae, led to improved efficiency.
Flyrobe will launch its unique virtual trial room.
In the future, they will collaborate with more major companies to build trust.
Other businesses:
Flyrobe primarily sells apparel, but it has recently begun renting out jewelry, handbags, and other accessories. Its wedding attire collection is one of the finest.
Value of product:
Every month, the retail value exceeds $1 million, with approximately 5000 products. It is one of the top product rental sites, as per reviews, and it is filled with a new ideas.
Here’s a short video for you guys on Founders describing their brand:
Final thoughts
Flyrobe is India’s first and fastest-growing e-commerce and in-store rental portal for premium and designer outfits for men and women. The online clothing rental market is already booming. Flyrobe provides free pick-up, shipment, and reservations for handcrafted ethnic, modern, as well as men’s clothing.
Flyrobe is now the main avenue, much above its rivals, with several Bollywood celebrities endorsing it. Customers are seeking alternatives to purchasing their favorite brands without spending a fortune as we increasingly become a westernized and ambitious community with the mantra of “Use and discard.”
It is fashion that never goes out of style. The world is your runway and every day is a fashion show.
FAQ
What is the revenue of Flyrobe?
The estimated annual revenue of Flyrobe is $2 million.
When was Flyrobe founded?
Flyrobe was founded in 2015 by Shreya Mishra, Tushar Saxena and Pranay Surana.
Who founded Flyrobe?
Flyrobe was founded by Shreya Mishra, Tushar Saxena and Pranay Surana.
Do you enjoy traveling? Is your top priority safety and sanitation? You’ve found your ideal hotel, but is it out of your budget? In this scenario, you might consider staying in a Dharamshala, but their surroundings aren’t appealing. They do have a lot of rules so you may be wondering if it’s worth it to spend the money.
In light of this predicament, the concept of a “hostel for backpackers” was established. It’s similar to what we have currently in terms of hostels (assuming you are still in college and have come from outstation). There are shared rooms, a common dining room, and a variety of enjoyable activities and games with no or little constraints. In a nutshell, a youthful euphoria has persisted.
Solo travel and backpacking have become popular in this new era. We can now quickly learn about new places and obtain useful information by reading blogs or social media updates.
A startup called Zostel has a similar concept. It is the first hostel chain-based startup in India.
Zostel is like a hostel that provides a home environment with all of the necessary conveniences at an affordable price. Budget travelers, particularly those aged 18 to 40, can find safe, hygienic, and affordable lodging at Zostel.
They have air-conditioned dorms, both mixed and female-only, where rooms may be booked at a competitive price of 500 per night. It has an actual house with beds, a shared space with gaming, a spot for campfires, open mics, and other activities where they may socialize.
Every Zostel is unique since local aspects are taken into consideration when constructing the ideal city-centric Zostel. The founders have considered the importance of safety and comfort while attempting to maintain the vibe joyful and cool. Zostel seeks to deliver great enjoyment to travelers rather than just a place to sleep.
Zostel Hostels, Zostel Homes, Zostel Escape, Trusted by Zostel
Website
zostel.com
Zostel – Latest News
08 March 2021
Zostel, a hostel startup, alleges it has triumphed over OYO, however, the hospitality unicorn has denied such allegations, claiming that indeed Arbitration Tribunal has given Zostel no particular settlement in place of acquiring a stake in OYO.
3 October 2020
Zostel Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, which runs two franchises: Zo Rooms, an affordable hotel business, and Zostel, a travelers’ hostel network, has appealed to its clients to acquire INR 10 crore in fundraising at a pre-money worth of INR 75 crore. The startup has asked its clientele to become angel investors and contribute ranging from INR 5 lakh and INR 1 crore to the Zostel hostel brand.
10 August 2020
Zostel is investing heavily in local tourism, with plans to establish 500 more properties in the next two years. Zostel presently operates 60 hostels and guesthouses across the globe. The firm is soliciting funds from the market for Rs 10 crore.
Zostel – History
Whenever people from engineering and management backgrounds collaborate on any project, it leads to the greatest innovation of all time. Zostel, a hostel for backpackers was a huge success since most of us were waiting for this idea to be explored.
We’ve all seen the film “Queen” and agree that something similar should happen in our country. So, for you adventurous vacationers, Zostel provides the same thrilling experience.
On the occasion of Independence day 2013, Dharamveer Chauhan and his six buddies founded this exciting startup called “Zostel”. Their goal is to assist travelers to enjoy exploring Indian towns. It wasn’t just for backpackers, but also professionals and visitors. Seven pals came up with the idea of combining hostels and today’s Gen Z.
Zostel created homes with facilities and afterward equipped them to offer an atmosphere they have never been a part of with a limited budget of Rs 50 lakhs, participating in several B-school contests, and generating revenue through bootstrapping. Jodhpur developed the 1st Zostel, accompanied by Jaipur.
This company, which began with the hostel concept, is no longer limited to that notion but has evolved into a trailblazing travel solution company. It now operates in 37 cities across India and China, with over 200 hostels.
Zostel – Mission and Vision
The firm was established to encourage people to travel as a part of their lifestyle. They intend to contribute to the promotion of travel by building a reliable, enjoyable image and involving local people in the effort.
They strive for a basic, adaptable hotel and hostel brand with a great understanding of visitors, the latest trends, and the required confidence, that has garnered them an unconventional status in the travel sector.
With a simple approach, they hope to ensure that travelers simply pay for the features that they genuinely require and desire. They provide their clients with budget-friendly lodging in the heart of the city, with a strong emphasis on rates and comfort.
Zostel – Tagline and Logo
Zostel Logo
“Live it Now”, as the tagline suggests, Zostel is for intrepid adventurers. Throughout your stay, you will meet people who have had interesting and intriguing travel experiences.
During your trips, you seek peace. You get everything in one place, including well-furnished dorms, tasty foodstuffs, a private kitchen for cooking enthusiasts, game spaces, WIFI connectivity, and absolute coziness.
Zostel Hostel is the company’s main product. It may be found in most tourist destinations. Initially, the majority of Zostel’s properties were owned by the company. Then it devised a franchising strategy.
Zostel X
It is a service that allows you to stay in a private home. Instead of being in the heart of the city, they are found on the outskirts. It is mostly suitable for groups of visitors or families. It is a privately owned property that is rented out.
Zostel Escape
It was created to provide guests with authentic local services. Only locals provide the services, allowing travelers to go beyond the typical tourist attractions.
Zozo Bus: Zostel provides a Zozo bus service, which allows travelers to travel on a budget. It’s a 12- or 13-seater bus that brings you to pre-determined destinations.
OTA (Trusted by Zostel): As a brand, Zostel has consistently provided excellent service to its visitors, making it a reliable location to stay. Inquiries are coming in from places where Zostel does not have a hostel. In situations like these, Zostel has partnerships with local hostels, allowing it to provide OTA services.
Zo rooms: Zo Rooms is a Zostel subsidiary. Its like OYO, a hotel aggregator.
Zostel – Business Model
You may have heard about Zostel’s services, but its primary business model is franchise-based. Zostel came up with a unique project to assist and inspire imaginative minds who aspire to be entrepreneurs and escape from the chains of mundane existence.
Zostel will guide you in the process of opening your own Zostel at a place of your preference through this project. The choice of location and the ideal property to operate is based on your skills, belief, and viability. Zostel will help you with the setup, branding, marketing, and operations aspects of your franchise.
Based on the value of the building, the location, and your accord with the landlord, your Zostel franchise might cost roughly 30 lakh rupees. It will not be funded by Zostel but the periodic monetary incentive will be provided based on the performance of your Zostel compared to others.
Traveling is a kind of relaxation for all of us. But the fear of staying in filthy rooms makes our trip a bit less fun. Considering that, Zostel wanted to change the way we Indians have traveled and it has made its goal to deliver the best services throughout our staycation. They’ve done so by forming a powerful network of backpackers and entrepreneurs capable of ushering in a change.
In 2019, Zostel offered OTA, which allows them to earn a fee of 10% to 15% on each transaction. Both Zo rooms and Zostel work on a commission basis.
This is usually paid in one single payment after the franchise contract is signed. INR 2,00,000, including taxes, is charged by Zostel. Their commissions and monthly fees begin once the business is fully operational.
Depending on the operational ranking, they charge a flexible fee of 18-24 percent of the lodging income. They also don’t charge fees on meal and refreshment revenues or any other supplementary income of the business.
Royalty Fees
In certain franchises, the franchisor offers a franchisee special power to sell the firm’s merchandise locally in exchange for royalties. These royalties are usually calculated annually or quarterly as a proportion of the franchisee’s gross sales revenue. This recurring fee allows Zostel to offset the expenses of continuous benefits offered to its franchisees while still generating a return from its operations.
Site Assistance Fees
Site assistance fees, also known as a set-up charges, are charged to the franchisee by the franchisor, Zostel, for assistance in locating and establishing a crucial site. They provide some support in venue selection and formation, but the franchisee is normally in charge of the ultimate choice, which is up to the permission of the parent firm. They opt to reimburse these expenses as part of the franchise fee.
Ongoing Services
Zostel offers assistance to its franchisees, such as staffing a service center for scheduling bookings and building and operating an app that can be utilized to improve efficiency at all franchisees. For them, it serves as a supplementary income source.
Marketing
To reach a wider audience and assist each franchisee in becoming more profitable, Zostel invests in domestic or foreign promotional activities. As a result, profitability is increased and more funds are allocated to royalties.
Zostel – Challenges
Controversial journey
When Zostel introduced Zo Rooms, hotel aggregator company OYO rooms filed a lawsuit accusing Zostel of deception i.e. data theft. OYO took the case to court, which was soon resolved.
Following that, OYO rooms were in talks to acquire Zo rooms. OYO spent a long period looking into the documents of Zo rooms for acquisition purposes but ultimately opted not to buy them.
In return, Zo rooms filed a data theft lawsuit against OYO rooms, believing that OYO may utilize their information in the future. This acquisition battle went for 3 years and eventually, Zo rooms claimed victory over that.
Vulnerable industry
Zostel is entirely devoted to tourism. Micro and macro incidents have the greatest impact on the tourism business. Take, for example, the pandemic that wreaked havoc on the tourism economy. As a result, Zostel’s vulnerability will always be a challenge.
The mentality of people
Since Zostel provides cheap accommodation, people might think their services might be poor as well. The traditional concept of hostels being mostly for students hasn’t changed yet so it might take a while for people to get acquainted with this new idea.
Zostel received $1 million in funding in 2014. Recently, funds were raised on 25th July 2018 in a Venture series unknown round. Zostel’s recent investors are Orios Venture Partners and Presha Paragraph.
Date
Stage
Amount
Lead Investor
May 13, 2014
Venture Round
$1M
Presha Pargash
July 25, 2018
Venture Round
Orios Venture Partners
Zostel – What makes it unique?
The services offered by Zostel are similar to those offered by hotels, yet the experience is unique. In hotels, you may not have the opportunity to interact with other visitors, but at Zostel, rooms are shared, so you may connect with your roomies and learn more about their adventure.
The majority of Zostel’s are set up in natural settings. In this sort of environment, tourists feel more at ease and may openly converse.
So, the ultimate goal is to connect more individuals and provide them a memorable experience while staying within their comfort bubble.
Zostel – Competitors
Traditional low-cost hotels have long been a threat to Zostel, but the number of local hostels and homestays is fast growing. In India, there are over ten hostel chains with a national presence, posing a direct threat to Zostel.
The top 2 competitors of Zostel are:
Backpacker Panda
Backpacker Panda is a young, energetic firm with a vision of becoming a data-driven firm and revolutionizing the way Indians travel. The hostel brand has eight zones all over India, and its mantra of hygiene is often kept in mind.
Roadhouse hostel
Ambarish Raghuvanshi established it in November 2014. It operates in India from five different locations.
Final thoughts
In India, Zostel pioneered the backpacker hostel lifestyle. Zostel became a popular alternative for backpackers due to its unique strategy and high-quality services. Zostel’s services and experiences are unrivaled in their magnificent settings. As a result, they are a well-known hostel chain among travelers in India.
FAQ
What is the concept of Zostel?
The concept of a Zostel is that its is a hostel for backpackers. In Zostel there are shared rooms a common dining room, and a variety of enjoyable activities.
Who is the founder of Zostel?
Akhil Malik, Dharmveer Singh Chouhan, Paavan Nanda, Tarun Tiwari, Chetan Singh Chauhan, Siddharth Janghu, Abhishek Bhutra are the founders of Zostel.
Did Oyo acquire Zostel?
No, Oyo was in talks to acquire Zostel but later opted not to acquire them.
A business model is a criterion to find an orderly business-like way to open long-term value for a company while providing importance to customers and apprehending value through monetization schemes. It can be of any industry which has several assumptions to comprehend in the marketplace.
When it comes to wall paints, many multinational paint companies pop up in our minds. From which Berger paints is one of them. It was founded in 1760 by Lewis Berger and was incorporated in Kolkata, India in 1923.
With modest outfits in India in 1923, today, Berger Paints India Limited is the second largest paint corporation after Asian paint in India with a uniform track record of being one of the fastest-growing paint companies for the past few years.
The company is set up in many areas Russia, Poland, Nepal, and Bangladesh. It has hands of around 2,800 and a distribution bandwidth of 25,000 plus agents.
Key Products and Services of Berger Paints
Berger Paints Products
Berger Paints provide several painting products including, decorative paints, coatings, chemicals, and industrial finishing products. We can go through its product finder that provides one to choose the best colors for their inner and outer walls.
It provides professional painting services to decorate homes, buildings, and offices with its incredible color palette and complexions of your preferences.
Target Audience of Berger Paints
Berger paints mainly focuses on marketing by their promotional strategies to draw the attention of their audiences. They advertise their products through TV commercials. This plays a significant role in their promotion. They intend to prioritize their product extent for combinations and expand its resources across towns and small cities. They spread their advertisements through social media marketing. Berger paints promote its theme on social media platforms to improve the attention of the brand with its audience.
The themed activity highlighted the promotion of Berger’s color palettes and compositions. For example, the #JaldiKaro theme was geared up on many social media channels including, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It became possible only with the support of a series of joyful videos. Even in the offline advertisement, Berger paints made an immense splash on travel media on the trains, flights, buses, etc.
Berger Paints Advertisement
Business Model Of Berger Paints
Berger Paints Logo
Berger Paints explores the brand with the marketing combination covering the 4Ps. These 4Ps refer to the amalgamation of product, place, price, promotion. There are several marketing strategies like product designing, pricing method, publicity planning by advertising, etc. They are giving their customers a variety of innovative painting ideas for decorating and industrial too.
The company’s protocol is to establish in the market and position its product with the help of service segregation, product segregation, and image segregation which helps to grasp a good position in the market by offering better value products at a reasonable and affordable price. These business schemes, based on Berger Paints’ marketing which helps the brand to succeed.
What’s unique about the business model of Berger Paints?
As we have already mentioned, Berger Paints is one of the top paints companies in India. The product portfolio of Berger Paints contains decorative paints and industrial paints, which form the product scheme in the marketing of Berger Paints. The Berger Paints of today has an enticing history of varying ownerships.
Berger Paints has driven through many ups & downs along with ownership changes to increase its current significance. The majority stake is with the Delhi-based Dhingra brothers.
In its business model, Berger paints have the following secret recipes, which are the pillars in their business strategy:
Focusing on the base of the company – Mr. K. S. Dhingra, advocater, Berger Paints, stated, “We have to concentrate on paint and rise only in paint. It’s particularly a competitive job. One minor misstep can take us back more than four months behind our partners. We have to leg it safely. Our competitors are waiting for Berger to make a mistake. We even wait for our competitors to make a mistake so that we can cover the opening between them quicker.”
Strengthening the competition track – Berger has only focused on bringing up its products with unique features. This has let it create a strong brand for such products. By this, Berger products have promoted Berger to strengthen its competitive positioning in the industry.
Distribution of capital – Mr. K.S Dhingra, promoter, Berger Paints stated that whatever net worth is available to them, they will utilize it only for their paint business. The capital will never use it for any other purpose. They will use the capital in a controllable manner.
Berger makes money through all the products and services mentioned above. Berger Paints India lifted to the 15th position from its 24th position in the fiscal year of 2016. It goes on to provide innovative, advanced, and refined paint products and services. Berger Paints is the second largest firm in India which established itself as a trusted brand in the Indian paint business.
The company is planning to subsidize expansion. Berger Paints India Ltd Managing Director & CEO Abhijit Roy stated that they are already in the process of subsidizing two fresh new plants. Around Rs 220 crores are being utilized in a facility in Bangalore. On the other hand, another plant is appearing near Pune. The plant in Bangalore would generate water-based paints. The other plant near Pune would provide industrial-based paints.
In this way, it will maintain its growth by some of its plans. Berger stands out with its distinctive business model that intends to give its customers with best outputs and services at reasonable prices. Berger is not one of the firms that have attained fast growth and expansion. But one that stands as a market leader purely because it has innovated things and earned its position.
Conclusion
The above study on Berger Paints states all the marketing schemes that the firm is using have one goal. The one goal is to circulate awareness about its products and services and schedule appointments with its customers using a satisfying combination of digital media and offline trade plans to withstand this problem. They have a great Digital Marketing strategy. They have to keep their methods growing with time to make them suitable. The company has to preserve its reputation as well as maintain its status. They also need to maintain their performance amazingly as they are already doing.
FAQs
What is the business of Berger Paints?
Berger Paints Ltd is an Indian multinational paint company, based in Kolkata, India involved in paint color business.
Does Berger Paints operate in different countries?
Yes, Berger Paints is a multinational company. Berger Paints has 16 manufacturing units in India, 2 in Nepal, 1 in Poland and 1 in Russia.
Who is the owner of Berger Paints?
U. K. Paints India Private Limited is the parent company and owner of Berger Paints.
What do you think of buying now and paying later? Sounds so fascinating! That’s right, nothing can be compared with the happiness of a shopaholic that comes with this idea of buying now and paying later. Well, this ain’t just an idea anymore!
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) has been a great success ever since its development. As the name implies, BNPL provides the customers with the offer of buying their favorite product now and paying the cost anytime later.
The major reason behind the success of the Buy now, pay later model is its ability to attract a large audience and enhance E-commerce sales. That’s why more and more companies across the world are adopting this remarkable online retail business model.
However, the Buy now, pay later model is kinda similar to credit card payments! There have been many questions raised on its similarities. But the offerings come in the BNPL model, and cannot be found in the credit card payments. In fact, it has raised its average order value by 33% in the retail industry.
In this article, you will be getting a brief description of how this amazing business model works and Why ecommerce companies opting for how it is increasing E-commerce sales. Let’s get started!
Similar to its name, the Buy Now, Pay Later Business Model is pretty simple. The customer purchases any product and instead of paying the whole cost of the product at once, they pay it in the form of installments over a certain period. So, when you don’t have the complete amount of money, you can still buy it and pay the money afterward.
Customers can choose the finance provided by the stores themselves or a third party like PayPal and Klarna Credit. It doesn’t matter which payment method you choose, the pay later service will work tremendously for you.
Through this method, the retailer gets enhanced sales and shifts the product from inventory pretty quickly.
The Buy Now, Pay Later business model is initiating a new line of offerings for the customers to buy any product in installment, just as they used to purchase through the layaway business concept.
The Target Audience of Buy Now, Pay Later
Among the immense number of consumers in the retail industry, Buy Now, Pay Later is used by almost everyone! According to statistics,
33% consumers are in the age group 18-25
40% consumers are in the age group 26-34
62% consumers are in the age group 35-50
16% consumers are in the age group 51-64
By looking at these figures mostly grown-ups and millennials are the regular users of the Buy Now, Pay Later business model. And now, many bigger e-commerce companies have also adapted this business model strategy, and customers’ sales are increasing tremendously.
How does the Buy Now, Pay Later (BPNL) business model work?
Usually, in credit card payments, the consumer contacts the corresponding bank or credit card company. But, In the Buy Now, Pay Later business model, the consumers are directly connected with the merchants.
This payment mechanism was initiated by companies such as Afterpay, Klarna, and Affirm around 5-15 years ago. These companies established an entirely different business model for merchants to increase their customers worldwide.
They used the consumer’s debit card as the payment means for the transaction. This has extensively grown ever since the pandemic happened! During the financial crisis, people could still purchase their essentials and pay the money in installments.
On a general basis Buy Now, Pay Later companies to charge 5-6% of commission from the merchants. The purchasing behavior when compared with the conventional credit card payment methods, demographics are entirely different.
The Buy Now, Pay Later companies earns from the consumers by charging interest on the “loan” amount. Many companies also earn from late fees. Late fees are penal fees charged to users in case of an inability to repay.
Why are E-commerce companies using Buy Now, Pay Later (BPNL) model?
When we look at previous statistics, the Buy now, pay later model is mostly adopted in the retail sector. But with time, this is evolving on a great scale. Many companies, from all service sectors across the world, are adopting this amazing opportunity to attract more customers.
When a company offers installment payment on various products, customers’ purchasing also increases. With this buy now, pay later services, e-commerce companies will offer many more additional services in order to improve their customer’s experiences. This will result in the involvement of higher consumer costs.
As other industries adopted this tremendous business model, healthcare is the last on the list. Even Walnut has also adopted this service in its healthcare sector.
Walnut Website
Furthermore, Buy now, pay later also reduces the financial stress from the company, and customer engagement heightens.
As the E-commerce platforms are growing with an extensive speed. Adding buy now, pay later service into it would take the graph, exponentially.
We have noticed great growth of the buy now, pay later business model. No doubt, it has taken the retail industry to the next level of sales and customer engagement. The buy now, pay later model is more budget-conscious and careful with consumer protection.
This unique business model is likely to grow more vigorously in the upcoming years. With that in mind, we can state that the buy now, pay later model has brought various advantages for industries, especially the retail sector.
FAQ
What are some of the Buy Now, Pay Later companies?
Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna are some of the Buy Now, Pay Later companies.
What is Buy Now, Pay Later business model?
The customer purchases any product and instead of paying the whole cost of the product at once, they pay it in the form of installments over a certain period.
How do Buy Now, Pay Later companies make money?
The Buy Now, Pay Later companies make money by charging merchants a 2% to 3% merchant fee.
The Electrical Industry is rapidly growing with modern technologies. More new user-friendly appliances and the wiring in a building or the miniature circuit breakers (MCB’s) are far better and safer than the earlier ones. In today’s world, the rapid growth of industries has increased the demand for electrical goods and services. These are getting fulfilled by mega private and public sector companies.
Havells India has emerged as the leading electrical goods manufacturer and supplier in India amid all this competition among different electrical giants to become the leader. It also provides high-quality products in its category.
Havells India Limited is a Noida-based electronic goods manufacturing company also called FMEG or Fast moving Electrical goods company. It came into existence in 1958. The founder of Havells was Qimat Rai Gupta. The name Havells comes from its first-ever owner Haveli Ram. At that time, Havells was restricted to the walls of Delhi as most manufacturing of the products took place in Delhi that time. Havells is also among one of the leading companies in India to manufacture and produce quality electrical goods, circuits, devices, and appliances, etc. Havells owns popular brands such as Lloyd, Standard, Crabtree, and REO.
Areas of Operation
Havells is a global brand with its footprints in nearly 50 countries on different continents. A few of the names include Dubai, UK, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Kenya, Myanmar, Iraq, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc. In India, it has 13 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and supplies electrical goods to all parts of the country.
Key Products and Services
Havells manufactures a wide variety of electrical goods and equipment. From wires to large size motors, everything is available in Havells Electric empire.
Wires and circuits: Fireproof copper wires, different types of industrial cables, miniature circuit breakers, Industrial circuit protection equipment, Switchboards are some of the electrical goods under this category.
Appliances: Ceiling fans, exhaust fans, table fans, pedestal fans, and other electronics, such as air purifiers, motors, juicers, mixer grinders, and other small domestic electronics.
Lighting: Havells manufacture LED bulbs, professional lights, and bulbs, night lamps, etc.
Solar equipment: Havells India also manufactures solar inverters and solar power optimizers for sustainable energy solutions.
The Target Audience of Havells India
The key customers of Havells India are owners of small-scale industries, large-scale industries, and medium-scale industries. They require electricity for running their assembly lines or machinery. The people are willing to purchase electrical appliances for household purposes or as gifts during festivals and those builders or contractors. They are associated with mega construction projects and need bulk quantities of electrical cables and appliances. Also, the solar division of Havells deals with customers willing to install solar electronics and go green.
The Business Model of Havells India
Havells Logo
Havells always tries to integrate and bring its customers together by giving them a wide variety of choices according to their interests. Havells opened nearly 500 Havells Galaxy brand showrooms across India where customers can get a wide variety of equipment and electrical goods at justified prices. Also, Havells had created different sets or groups of electrical goods according to the sections of the society and their financial sections. The middle-class range focuses more on attracting more Customers to this financial group. It provides the customers with a wide variety of options and choices. That’s what a customer wants, ‘options’.
What’s unique about Havells India Business Model
The strategic approach of Havells towards its customers was the key to their success in the Indian market, where they expanded their company globally. Also, they acquired some brands that gave them extra support in building a customer base. It even assisted them in expanding even more such as acquiring ‘Crabtree,’ a UK-based switchgear brand.
Havells started trading for its stocks to go public as a shortage of funds was a problem for them at that time. Later on, they acquired the famous lighting brand Sylvania. But, it created some troubles for the company as they suddenly became global from local in terms of marketplace and management.
By providing more and more options to customers in recent years after studying the needs of the middle-class section of India, Havells sales have boosted to the next level. It’s still going on.
The brand’s advertisement and branding also proved fruitful in increasing customer interest. Commercial ads of the company have pushed it to some extent in terms of digital marketing.
Its slogans were eye-catching, attractive, and customer-friendly approaches such as ‘Bijli bachaye, Roshni failure, ‘ better light, better life, ‘ Wires that don’t catch fire’ etc.
Currently, Havells is a leading brand in Electrical goods and services in the country. It’s also running its business globally. The population of India is the second-largest in the world. That’s a huge profit point for Havells. Havells Managed to win the hearts of Indians as an electric goods company. Many Indians trust the brand for its quality.
The key sources of income for Havells come from sales of household appliances and industrial electrical goods. The Havells galaxy provides a wide variety of products for commercial businesses as well as for home requirements. From here, it generates a lot of profiles.
In 2021, Havells reported high profits in its quarterly reports of companies performance. Due to the growing demands in the electrical consumer industry, the brand is witnessing a surge in profits under the ‘Make in India‘ program. In this, people are selecting more Indian goods over the Chinese ones.
Conclusion
From its starting till today, Havells always grew stronger despite all challenges. Today it produces a high percentage of electrical goods for the country’s development and for fulfilling household needs. In upcoming times, if the company introduces more renewable sources of electricity such as more solar solutions, it might see a huge surge in profits as the era of sustainable development is at its peak.
From small factories in and around Delhi, manufacturing in giant factories and that too with high precision modern technology shows the emergence of Havells India in the Asian region. The company’s business in Africa and other continents is also going great. It hopes to continue so that this Indian brand makes marvels overseas in the field of the electrical goods industry.
FAQs
Is Havells an Indian brand?
Havells India Limited is an Indian Consumer Electronic Products & Electrical Appliances company based in Noida.
Who is the CEO of Havells?
Anil Rai Gupta is the CEO of Havells.
Who started Havells company?
Qimat Rai Gupta was the Indian entrepreneur who founded Havells in 1958.
Is Lloyd Havells a brand?
Yes Lloyd is owned by Havells. Havells owns some of the most prestigious brands like:
Havells
Lloyd
Crabtree
Standard
Promptec
What is the number of employees in Havells India?
There are around 5,781 employees in Havells India.
Sushree Sangeeta Behera
