StoreKing was conceived with a simple yet powerful idea in mind – to power rural consumption and redraw the distribution capabilities for both products and services using Kirana as an Anchor. It is the only rural retail ecosystem that connects both retail suppliers and financial institutions to the vast rural population. Through end-to-end technology management, StoreKing powers the local Kirana stores to meet all the retail needs of their rural buyers.
Rural consumers currently constitute about 200 million households across India. As their disposable income levels grow and the penetration of the Internet leads to more mobile consumption, their tastes increasingly mirror those of their urban counterparts and they aspire to buy from the same brands. In fact, in 2018, rural India accounted for $484 billion of retail sales, as opposed to $396 billion in urban India – a number only expected to rise as consumption demand goes up in small villages and towns. There is, undoubtedly, a compelling reason for eCommerce brands to invest in catering to this new population of savvy rural buyers.
At the same time, however, the big eCommerce and payment brands continue to serve mostly urban customers. This is primarily because of a broken rural distribution network where large-format stores do not exist and keeping Kirana stores well-stocked with branded products is difficult. The lack of a systematic network, moreover, prevents brands from capturing relevant customer data catering to what their customers actually want, forcing rural buyers to make do with only a handful of generic product offerings in the Kirana stores. On average, rural buyers need to travel more than 20 kilometers to the nearest city to make bigger purchases.
Through its tech-enabled distribution platform, StoreKing overcomes these engagement barriers for rural consumers by helping local retailers leverage technology and fully tap their market potential. As a friendly neighborhood store that understands local preferences and speaks the local language, the Kirana is a powerful way to connect with rural customers and understand their unique preferences and challenges, which is precisely what StoreKing aims to do.
StoreKing offers a user-friendly technology platform that connects each rural Kirana directly with the brand seeking to supply its products, enabling the brand and the Kirana to work together to devise data-guided product and sales strategies. A clean and simple interface enables rural retailers to procure products and services for their customers through the StoreKing app as needed, rather than having to repeatedly travel and pick up stocks themselves. The platform is designed on the following four pillars:
Logistics – The platform offers a tech-managed, asset-light distribution network of kiranas and connecting logistics nodes. The network consolidates touchpoints in rural markets and enables stores to stay well-stocked on a daily basis.
Payments – StoreKing provides a unique resourceful approach to digitize the rural cash economy. All transactions on the platform are prepaid.
Marketing– Rural consumers are engaged via multiple mediums, exposing them to new brands and lifestyle choices.
Technology – StoreKing provides a complete app ecosystem to target and manage customers.
The other component of StoreKing’s offerings relates to financial assistance. It provides secured and unsecured loans, insurance, branchless banking, savings, and wealth management to rural retailers based on their order history and performance. HDFC Bank, Muthoot Fincorp, Hero FinCorp, have all partnered with StoreKing to enable this.
Role played by StoreKing during Lockdown
When the Covid-19 lockdown hit in March 2020, an already fragmented rural distribution and logistics network was brought to a grinding halt. At the same time, the influx of locals returning from their urban jobs spiked local demand, for which the kiranas had neither the inventory nor the manpower (owing to social distancing). With a view to empowering kiranas to make it through these challenging times, StoreKing successfully obtained all the necessary permits to continue operations during the lockdown. In addition to regularly sanitizing their warehouses and training all their staff members and partners about safety protocol, senior StoreKing members worked with kiranas to accelerate their digital growth and help them operate as self-sufficient entities.
In the initial weeks of the lockdown alone, StoreKing serviced over 10,000 kiranas, delivered two million kilograms of supplies, and operated over 700 trucks to fulfill deliveries. They also ensured that the truck operators were well-supplied with meals to help them power through long distances and all-night assignments.
StoreKing was launched in 2012 with a seed investment from Mangrove Capital and is headquartered in Bangalore. At present, it has a run-rate of Rs 500 crore in products and about 500 crores in Services with over 1000 super franchises and 25000+ franchisees. The team comprises 250+ members spanning eight states, i.e. Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Gujarat. The platform currently empowers over 22,000+ Kirana stores in rural India to become assisted touchpoints while driving transactions of walk-in consumers. Some of their prominent retail partners include Hindustan Unilever, Wipro, Dabur, Godrej, Marico, Reckitt Benckiser, ITC, Himalaya & many more. Their vision is to be the one-stop digital hub for rural India, catering to 70% of the country’s demand in an accessible, customer-first fashion.
Fast-growing London-based eCommerce startup aisle 3 has launched a new division in India as it continues on its rapid growth trajectory. Aisl3 India Pvt Limited initially launched with a team of 12 and plans to triple the size of the team in the next year.
aisle 3 is a disruptive eCommerce marketplace that aims to fix the current fragmented shopping experience creating a ‘universal view of online shopping’. By aggregating all offers into a single screen, aisle 3 will save Shoppers hours of research across a myriad of open tabs, boards, spreadsheets, or note apps.
The move to formally launch in India ensures that the UK-based company shows its commitment to the team, offering them the same personal security as a full-time employee. The local HR team is based in Vadodara, with an Ahmedabad in-house recruiter reporting to the CEO of aisle 3 Thomas J. Vosper.
Initially based in Ahmedabad, the business expects to open up to three new offices across the country in the next year (2022) as the team blends the ‘new normal’ of remote working with the desire to return to luxury offices alongside their colleagues. The tech team in India is focused on using innovative Machine Learning & AI algorithms to match up offers without any effort from the retailer.
According to Thomas J. Vosper – “Having hired entirely remotely across five continents during Covid, we continue to be impressed by the tech talent in India. In less than a year the team has built a web crawler that discovers products, uses AI to transform and enrich product data alongside neutral networks to aggregate products and place a ‘personal shopper in your pocket’.”
He continued: “When we closed our last round of investment we were positive we would allocate funds to lay roots in the local market and increase our commitment to better support the team that had previously operated as independent consultants. They are all excited by the big challenges we are tackling. I’m really excited to see how the business and team scales over the next 12 months.”
eCommerce startup aisle 3 has now raised more than $600,000 in pre-seed funding in just six months and is interested in speaking with experienced angel investors and VCs in India. Some of the most credible names in eCommerce have already backed the founders’ vision for a new, disruptive eCommerce marketplace offering truly personalized experiences for large networks of engaged shoppers.
Getting your business online is still a line that many struggles to cross. The reason being the complications that arise while trying to get a store up on the internet. This used to be true although, in the present age, web services have made the process so much easier.
If you’re looking to get into e-commerce then PayKickstart is worth considering. PayKickstart is an automated and customizable cart manager and affiliate platform designed to help your online business. It is easy to get started with and provides features that help you accept payments, manage carts, and sell your products online.
Co-founded by Mark Thompson in 2014, the service was marketed on social media. Since then its become popular due to its simplicity and gained conversions. Having a broad vision from a customer’s perspective, the platform is flexible and offers multiple ways payment options. It lets you add offers, provide trials and subscription-based services.
Apart from this, PayKickstart serves benefits for affiliates with its affiliate management center by providing essential features and statistics.
A platform that’s made to be friendly for people who aren’t tech-savvy often does well, and PayKickstart is no exception. It provides users with instructions on how to set things up along with occasional hints and tips.
It packs in complex features and yet maintains simplicity and a user-friendly interface. This is something many platforms do but fail to get right. That being said, let’s dive into some of the platform’s core features.
From a customer standpoint having multiple ways to pay for your product is always appreciated. It makes a store feel convenient and friendly for making a purchase. PayKickstart supports:
Card payments
Stripe
Apple Pay
Google pay
Bank Transfers
Paypal
These gateways only require a few clicks to set up and more gateways can be added or removed at any time. The use of integrations means the gateways you use are automatically updated without needed any extra effort.
This isn’t a deal-breaker for most people but if you’re looking to accept payments specifically through cryptocurrencies then this service may not serve your needs.
PayKickStart accepts all popular payment gateways
Subscriptions
PayKickstart has an ideal system to manage your subscriptions. These subscriptions help your business build long-term customer relationships. Users of the platform can set custom billing models and create plans appropriate for the business accordingly. The process is easy and requires little effort to set up. There is also added support for coupons, trials and add-ons.
The subscription management system also lets you charge customers on a usage basis. This means that you can charge them dynamically based on product or service consumption.
Furthermore, there are options to set up free plans with limitations and processing fees. Having a detailed configuration is essential to make sure your business has the perfect pricing strategy and PayKickstart makes it possible for businesses to create pricing plans accurately.
PayKickstart subscription dashboard
Integrations
Everyone has preferences and businesses are no exception. Integrations allow users to connect applications they know and love to the platform’s already vast feature set.
There are unlimited possibilities of what could be done for your business when you combine the functionality of various applications to your pricing model.
For example, you can create discounts for customers who have a membership or set a trigger in your email marketing tool when a product is purchased. These are just some of the ways in which you can use the 60+ integrations that are supported by the platform.
PayKickstart has a built-in affiliate management platform to help boost your growth and expand your reach. Offering an affiliate program is a great way to turn your customers into marketers. The platform has a dedicated panel with all the tools needed for you to start and manage an affiliate program for your business.
You can view and approve affiliate profiles, track commissions and get some analytics on generated leads. Some additional features for affiliate marketing include:
Cookie tracking with IP fallback
Cross-campaign tracking
Branded tracking links
Lifetime commissions tracking
The platform makes automated payments easy and fast. There’s also a panel to check total leads and monthly commissions. Affiliate commission payouts are done securely via Paypal.
The affiliate dashboard gives a bird’s eye view of all affiliate activities
Pricing of PayKickStart
Being a popular cart management solution, PayKickstart is priced optimally. In all seriousness, the plans are named according to your needs and have the features to get you going.
The Starter plan is available for $99/month and contains all the prime features with the lack of an affiliate management program. As the name suggests this is ideal for businesses and startups who aren’t willing to spend much but need a good cart solution.
If you want to step it up with affiliate management, the Growth plan is priced at $199/month and includes additional features such as full API access and customer retention tools.
The Scale plan grants you unlimited user access, priority customer support, and CRM integrations for $299/month. This is great for upscale businesses that require multiple user access and fast support to keep their business going.
Getting your business online shouldn’t be complex. The rise of platforms allowing everyday business owners to take their business online is certainly having a positive impact on e-commerce.
PayKickstart tries to be a feature-rich cart manager that you can easily add to your website. The added benefit being a complete affiliate marketing center that comes with the platform which you’ll appreciate later down the line. The pricing and its well-structured design make it a go-to platform for setting up payments for businesses at any scale.
FAQ
What is Paykickstart?
PayKickstart is an automated and customizable cart manager and affiliate platform designed to help your online business. It provides features that help you accept payments, manage carts, and sell your products online.
What is the pricing of Paykickstart?
The Starter plan is available for $99/month, the Growth plan is priced at $199/month and The Scale plan is priced at $299/month.
What are some of the alternatives of Paykickstart?
Chargebee, Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce are some of the alternatives of Paykickstart.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by aisle 3.
aisle 3 is disrupting the e-commerce space by showing shoppers all of their buying options in one trusted location. The startup aggregates retailer offers and rich product information without any input from retailers by deploying machine learning and AI algorithms. This provides shoppers a complete view of all of their buying options for all products on a single screen. To achieve this the team has built a web crawler that discovers products, uses AI to transform and enrich product data alongside neutral networks to aggregate products without barcodes, product IDs or manufacturer numbers.
Within just 15 months since its inception, aisle 3 has 2,000 organic shoppers each day, and 20+ Digital Agencies have signed up as partners covering more than 100 advertisers and million products. It has also raised more than $600k in two funding rounds securing the support of some of the most credible retail investors out there. The startup recently announced the launch of a new division in India as it continues the rapid growth trajectory. Aisl3 India Pvt Limited has launched with a team of 12 and has plans to triple the size of the team in the next year (2022).
On this note, StartupTalky interviewed Mr. Thomas Vosper (Founder & CEO, aisle 3) to get insights on the startup story and growth hacks of the company. In this article, you’ll discover how aisle 3 started, its business model, USP, funding details, future plans, and more.
Founded just 15 months ago, aisle 3 is a new, disruptive eCommerce marketplace that creates ‘a universal view of shopping’. aisle 3 aggregates retailer offers and rich product information by deploying machine learning and AI algorithms, so shoppers have a complete view of all of their buying options for all products on a single screen. The company’s core belief is that the current eCommerce experience is broken, with product research being disconnected from product purchases. The experience is deeply flawed as a result of too much power being in the hands of the tech giants. This leads to aisle 3’s revolutionary idea to disrupt the eCommerce experience. This approach will put power and choice back into the hands of Shoppers. Whilst other businesses focus on logistics or payments, the aisle 3 team’s focus is on the Shopper and putting power & control back in their hands.
The team has built this business entirely remotely and internationally, during lockdown by developing the proprietary web crawler, software, and product aggregation algorithms from scratch. They have also carried out two pre-seed funding rounds, winning the backing of some of the most credible retail investors.
aisle 3 – eCommerce Industry Details
Despite a challenging year for retail in 2020, according to emarketer, worldwide retail eCommerce sales posted a 27.6% growth rate for the year, with sales reaching well over $4 trillion. They estimate $5 trillion will be achieved by 2022, and $6 trillion will be reached by 2024. In 2020, 18.0% of all retail sales took place via eCommerce. In 2024, that figure will reach 21.8%.
In the current eCommerce market, Thomas J. Vosper (Founder & CEO, aisle 3) thinks that we are seeing increasing distrust of the big tech players who have aggregated too much power and this has stifled innovation. The truth is a lack of competition leads to often poor outcomes for customers and brands. For example, Amazon has an iron grip on the eCommerce market and is focused relentlessly on the bottom line. 75% of the products above the folder are either adverts or Amazon’s own brands. This means Amazon and Google show you what they can best monetize, not always what you want to see!
Thomas believes the band of rebels that form startups have the most exciting opportunity to change the world and that’s where he hopes to see aisle 3 fittings in – as a trusted partner for retailers and brands and a trusted Shopper destination site.
Having seen the inner workings of a failed price comparison startup and being made redundant when the company folded at the start of the first lockdown, Thomas realized that now was the time to create a business out of years of industry experience. The likes of Amazon and JD focus on delivery, Klarna and Alipay on the checkout – but no one is taking care of the Shopper before the buy button.
“We are finally at the intersection of technology, demand, and funding to finally be able to aggregate all offers and products across the internet without the input of any retailer or brand. What would have once lead to a Capex that required a entire city full of servers, now becomes an Opex of infinitely scalable cloud infrastructure. This leads to the unique proposition of aisle 3 and the reason I took out a startup personal loan to create the business” Thomas J. Vosper (Founder & CEO, aisle 3) added.
aisle 3 – Product/Service
It is a really frustrating experience when you can book a flight, rental car, and hotel on a single site, but you can’t find a pair of trainers in the right color and size without opening a bunch of tabs on your browser and checking a myriad of retailers. We can walk on the moon but still can’t show someone the best price for a pair of wireless headphones. Nothing has changed with the product data powering online shopping since Thomas was at Amazon 14 years ago, with the reliance still on retailer-provided data.
aisle 3
This leads to the unique proposition of aisle 3, creating the source of truth that shows shoppers all of their buying options in one trusted location. The company’s product truly disrupts the fragmented online shopping experience by aggregating all offers onto a single screen, aisle 3 will save Shoppers hours of research across a myriad of open tabs, boards, spreadsheets, or note apps. To achieve this the team has built a web crawler that discovers products, uses AI to transform and enrich product data alongside neutral networks to aggregate products.
The company started with trainers but now plans to roll out a whole series of products. It recently announced the launch of a new division in India as it continues the rapid growth trajectory.
Aisl3 India Pvt Limited has launched with a team of 12 and has plans to triple the size of the team in the next year (2022).
aisle 3 India Team
aisle 3 – Founders and Team
Thomas J. Vosper (CEO) and James Valbuena are the founders of aisle 3.
Thomas Vosper – Founder & CEO of aisle 3
Thomas and James worked at the same price comparison site that folded at the start of the first lockdown and decided to launch the business together and leverage their 30+ years of collective eCommerce experience at retailers including Amazon, Tesco, Lastminute. They both saw the flaws in the eCommerce experience and it was something they had a shared vision and were determined to change. James is an expert on AI & ML and has experience in building large technical and marketing teams over the years. Thomas was one of the early employees at Amazon and was responsible for launching thousands of sellers across new categories and products.
aisle 3 has grown to now be a team of 18 – all based remotely – most in India. Whilst they were hired across 5 continents, the company found that the majority of its talent came from India. To deepen its commitment to the team and the region the startup has subsequently formed a local subsidiary that means it can offer its team the comfort and security of working with a registered legal entity in India.
It was important for the founders that they paid homage to their physical retailing roots; whilst explicitly eschewing blunt brand names (PriceSpy, Pricesearcher, Pricerunner) which frame the business in price comparison and become off-putting to retailers. Fixing shopping is not only comparison – the team are passionate about ensuring Shoppers can discover new brands and retailers they may never have heard of.
aisle 3 logo
aisle 3 – Business Model and Revenue Model
At the moment aisle 3 is at the pre-revenue stage, but it’ll work to a performance-based model with retailers and brands. Over 900 retailers (including the likes of Nike, Farfetch, Ralph Lauren) have signed up to the waiting list and over 20 agencies have agreed on partnerships for their clients.
Most marketplaces like Amazon and price comparison sites work by processing product data supplied by retailers – which is why shoppers come across products poorly matched up or duplicates when they are searching. aisle 3 decided to take on the task of searching the internet for the product details itself before aggregating everything without the retailers’ input. It started with trainers and this was its first business proof point – achieved after just a few months.
aisle 3 – Startup Launch & Marketing Strategy
As a pre-revenue startup tackling a big issue in Shopping aisle 3 is still very much in stealth to the general population. This has granted it the freedom to secure some amazing talent (especially in India) and explore commercial partnerships.
It very quickly gained commercial traction within the thriving agency and advertising ecosystem in the UK by supporting some of the very biggest advertisers to reach Shoppers through the EU-wide CSS program. aisle 3 now has over 100 advertisers across 20 agency partners and this includes names such as Liberty London, Schuh, Secret Sales, and Claire’s Accessories.
In the run-up to Christmas 2021, aisle 3 looks forward to launching its new Shopping site to the public and saving Shoppers both time and money – – “Our focus is on the Shopper and putting power and control back in their hands.”
This momentum of its launch and story saw the startup secure some excellent press coverage about its story from redundancy to fundraising (aisle 3 became one of only 342 companies in the UK that secured investment for the first time in 2020) around this time. The momentum that led to it closing two funding rounds of more than $600k from some of the most relevant and credible investors around.
aisle 3 – Challenges Faced
The team at aisle 3 has faced some extraordinary challenges due to running a remote team during the pandemic year. Many of the events of the past year outside of Covid have directly impacted its global team, for example, Black Lives Matter protests in the US, Belarus elections and protests obstructing its UI designer, Terrible flash flooding in Hyderabad, Conflict in Armenia and Azerbaijan disrupting the Head of Machine Learning and most recently the terrible surge of COVID infections in India. It learned that by assembling a culturally diverse group of people, aisle 3 also proved its mission was global!
aisle 3’s key markers for growth will be GMV (the value of sales it generates for the retailers that it signs commercial relationships with) once it is publicly launched in Q4 (the startup has a waiting list of around 900 retailers). aisle 3 gets 2,000 organic shoppers each day in stealth, and 20+ Digital Agencies have signed as partners with more than a million products. It has also raised more than $600k in two funding rounds securing the support of some of the most credible retail investors out there.
aisle 3 – Funding and Investors
aisle 3 has raised a total funding of more than $600k (£450k) in 2 rounds of funding. The funding details are as follows:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
Oct 30, 2020
Angel
£200k
–
April 1, 2021
Pre-seed
£250k
Hezi & Gabby Leibovich, Laurence Guy – Wearepentagon
aisle 3 works closely with the former FD of Secret Escapes (Alex Wakeford) alongside its excellent investors, the Leibovich brothers who founded Catch of the Day in Australia. The startup benefits from the support of investors with a rich background in eCommerce from companies such as Visualsoft, Redbrain, Amazon, Pouch, and Connectd.
aisle 3 – Recognition and Achievements
aisle 3 has been winning widespread recognition in the tech, eCommerce, and startup media with dozens of write-ups and profiles for a company recognized for doing something different, new, and exciting. It has been dubbed ‘the Wikipedia of product search’ and Thomas J. Vosper was even invited to give a TEDx talk about his journey as a first-time founder.
Thomas J. sVosper was invited to give a TEDx talk about his journey as a first-time founder
aisle 3 – Future Plans
The team at aisle 3 is ambitious to completely revolutionize the advertising experience which currently relies on interruptions when they can instead form a symbiotic relationship with retailers and brands that presents Shoppers with relevant, personalized offers at the right time.
Voice and conversational commerce will begin to have more impact on the Shopper’s journey and they’ll continue to work hard on the enabling foundation which is best in class product and offer information and a source of truth for Shoppers.
aisle 3 – FAQs
What is aisle 3?
aisle 3 is a new, disruptive eCommerce marketplace that creates ‘the only universal view of Shopping’. aisle 3 aggregates retailer offers and rich product information by deploying machine learning and AI algorithms, so shoppers have a complete view of all of their buying options for all products on a single screen.
Who founded aisle 3?
Thomas J. Vosper (CEO) and James Valbuena are the founders of aisle 3.
Is aisle 3 an Indian company?
aisle 3 is headquartered in London. It recently announced the launch of a new division in India as it continues the rapid growth trajectory. Aisl3 India Pvt Limited has launched with a team of 12 and has an office in Ahmedabad, with plans to open 2 more in the next 12 months.
How does aisle 3 work?
aisle 3 scours the internet to find the latest products and offers before aggregating all offers and rich product information by deploying machine learning and AI algorithms – without any input, product IDs, barcode numbers, or manufacturer codes from Retailers and Brands.
This provides shoppers a complete view of all of their buying options for all products on a single screen for the first time ever.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verifiedinformation ondifferent startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
These days, when women too fetch their passion aggressively, they often seem to be in a fix upon raising their kids right while not giving up their interests. To make it a little convenient and easy on these women, Flintobox was founded by Arunprasad Durairaj, Vijaybabu Gandhi, and Shreenidhi Srirangam in the year 2013.
Flintobox essentially produces educational activity boxes for children. These boxes are particularly based on a theme. So ideally, Flintobox makes resources for Early Child Development monthly.
Flintobox provides theme-based educational activity boxes for children. It has 3–4 activities a month with a book in one theme. These activity boxes can be reused and sometimes they also tend to engage more than one child.
All activities from Flintobox come with an instruction chart. Still, if you’ve got any queries, the activities can be viewed on their website. Each of these activities is described with the help of a video and they are based on one particular theme like transport, plants, animals, mathematics, rainbow colors, a game, a crafting/ coloring activity with good items. This is complemented with one storybook with superior characters like Bobo, Mia, Benji, and Flinto.
Get Monthly Subscription! And get Flintobox every month on an Educational theme
Themes are focused on developing key skills by inculcating age appropriate activities
Watch & observe your child learning new things and concepts by having fun simultaneously!
Flintobox in Nutshell
Presenting a new theme every month, It is research-based and caters to the development of 12 areas in the child’s overall growth. These boxes are curated by Montessori experts and child psychologists.
There are two different product modules at Flinto Learning:
Flintobox – This product is mainly a subscription program that is designed to deliver engaging learning activities to children right at their doorstep.
FlintoClass – This one is a comprehensive preschool system for independent/unbranded preschools. It provides children with a top-notch learning experience in their early growth years.
Driving the kids away from ipads and Mobiles – With activities designed so well and keeping the key result areas on top, the children are ought to spend more time doing these rather than playing games on the mobile and watching cartoons on television.
Bonding time with the Parents – In the tight schedules and being disturbed by so much technology all around, parents hardly can spend any quality time with their kids. With Flintobox activities, they are ought to spend some good time doing these activities with their kids thus resulting in good bonding time.
Increasing the Creativity Quotient in the kids – With reduced time spent on Televisions and computers, the children get to creatively explore the arenas of thinking while doing the Flintobox activities. In the competitive world today where kids are not only judged at I.Q., this makes them ready for tomorrow.
Flintobox – Founders and Team
Flintobox was founded by Arunprasad Durairaj, Vijaybabu Gandhi, and Shreenidhi Srirangam.
Flintobox Founders
Arunprasad Durairaj, Co-Founder & CEO – He is an entrepreneur and an Ivy League graduate. He has worked in a wide array of industries like consumer goods, food services, biotech, healthcare, infrastructure development, mining, transportation in strategic and has also had financial advisory roles to play. He is currently an advisor to Startup Community in Chennai and Bangalore.
Vijay Babu Gandhi,Co-Founder & COO – With a B.Tech from Anna University, he was a co-founder at Zinghopper before co-founding Flintobox.
Shreenidhi Srirangam, Co-Founder & CTO – He has over 15 years of experience in larger organizations and startups. His expertise lies in designing and implementing mobile and web experience. He has successfully led teams and is also an individual contributor.
All of this started with the current problem of the present generation. The problem is that they are busy with their daily and hectic schedules and at the same time they want their children to excel in their studies. In this generation, parents are truly trying their best to nurture their kid’s creativity and curiosity to an optimum level. So the basic idea for Flintobox was germinated when Vijaybabu Gandhi faced this with his 5-year-old kid who was more unconsciously deep in movies and mobiles.
This stressed out Gandhi and he began thinking of ways as to how can this situation be avoided. Therefore he wanted to create a product that can be used to increase the kids’ creativity through meaningful activities. To do so, he thought about a venture like this to protect the kids from the curse of technology. And that’s how the idea for Flintobox was germinated.
This was followed by him sharing the idea with two of his friends who are now the co-founders. Together they came up with an idea of starting a product called Flintobox.
Flintobox – Name, Tagline, and Logo
The name Flintobox is ideally originating from flint, which is defined to be a sedimentary rock that generates sparks when struck against steel.
This business model of Flintobox is subscription-based. It offers three subscription plans:
3-month subscription
6-month subscription
12-month subscription
The customers are entitled to upgrade or cancel at any point in time. The company puts up efforts at teaching the children several realistic concepts throughout the subscription. Also, one of the most interesting parts is that the subscribers of Flintobox receive a digital feed on parenting tips along with weekly activity ideas to do with children through the App.
Flintobox has raised a total of $15.3 Million in funding over 5 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on July 2020 for $7.2 million led by Lightbox ventures
Here is a list of all the funding rounds of Flintobox:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
August 2013
Seed Round
$35K
–
October 2014
Seed Round
$300K
–
August 2015
Angel Round
–
Globevestor
December 2017
Series A
$7 million
Lightbox
August 2018
Debt Financing
$800K
InnoVen Capital
July 2020
Pre Series B
$7.2 million
Lightbox Ventures
“We don’t want COVID-19 to come in the way of a child’s learning. For children below 6 years of age, monotonous online classes can’t be a substitute for the multi-sensory experiences that they deserve. We wanted to ensure that children continue receiving structured hands-on learning without compromising on their safety. We will be using the funds to create, expand and distribute this product across the world so that no child’s learning stops due to Coivd-19″ says Arunprasad Durairaj, CEO & Co-founder, Flintobox
In FY 2017, Flintobox had a revenue of around $2.05 million, which raised to around $3.65 million in 2018.
Over 5 lakh customers across India
Catering to 45 million children in the age group of 2-12 years
40% sales in metros, 60% in tier-II cities
Present in more than 30 cities in India
Reached a 1,000 preschools
Gone Global with establishing a presence in South and Middle-East Asia
Flintobox – Awards and Recognition
It was awarded the “Coolest Startup of 2014” by Business Today
Also, the “Best Education Startup of 2014” by the Confederation of Indian Industries
Won the Wharton India Startup Competition in 2015
And was also recognized as the best subscription boxes of 2014 by kidsstoppress
Flintobox – FAQs
What is Flintobox?
Flintobox is an India-based company that produces educational activity boxes for children. Based on a theme, the company makes resources for Early Child Development on a monthly basis.
Who are the Founders of Flintobox?
Flintobox was founded by Arunprasad Durairaj, Vijaybabu Gandhi, and Shreenidhi Srirangam.
How much is the revenue of Flintobox?
In FY 2017, Flintobox had a revenue of around $2.05 million, which raised to around $3.65 million in 2018.
How much Funding is raised by Flintobox?
Flintobox has raised a total of $15.3 Million in funding over 5 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on July 2020 for $7.2 million led by Lightbox ventures
What is the Business Model of Flintobox?
This business model of Flintobox is subscription-based. It offers three subscription plans:
E-Commerce is one of the largest sectors in online business. This is a sector that is continuously growing in size, volume and influencing the market, it would be a surprise if fraud wouldn’t take place in the system.
Fraud or deceiving criminally intend to gain immoral financial wealth. A person who intends to deceive others, typically by claiming accomplishments or wealth is called a fraudster.
Fraud in e-commerce has been increasing globally over the last years due to the immense rise in online marketplaces. With more technology available to fraudsters or unethical hackers, it has become more difficult for e-commerce businesses to keep a track of the tactics used to defraud online businesses.
Whether the user is simply making a purchase online, it’s essential to stay alert of the types of frauds that exist in the e-commerce industry. There are multiple ways of how frauds are performed and how to formulate a solution for the same.
E-commerce fraud is a type of fraud that occurs on an online platform. E-commerce fraud is evolving day-by-day, as fraudsters use more advanced tactics and methods.
The e-commerce fraud occurs when a malicious actor approaches a merchant and proposes a business transaction using fraudulent means such as a stolen or fake credit card to pay for it. This leaves the organization without payment for the sale.
Using a stolen or fake credit card, using a false identity, and affiliate fraud advertising are all forms of e-commerce fraud. When a customer engages in fraud on the online store, the retailer has to bear this cost, negatively affecting the revenue.
Fraud has always been around in one form or another, so the concept isn’t new. Initially, it used to be limited to physical stealing, now it has extended to online fraud too. The new technologies behind payment methods, and data processing systems, online store owners are unknowingly vulnerable to new forms of fraud every day.
Talking about the fraud online, it commonly takes place when the credit card is lost, or its information is not stored securely. The fraud called card, not present fraud continues to grow over the years.
Online fraud can also be conducted with personal and credit card information, the card doesn’t need to be present for the transactions. Unethical hackers steal financial information and sell it on the black market. This type of fraud leaves the operators more vulnerable, but there is also a fraud called friendly fraud, where the customer intentionally files a chargeback to gain a free product and avoid payment.
Frauds via Email
Types of E-Commerce fraud
E-Commerce fraud is still alive today because prosecutions are rare, due to time constraint and the constraint of gathering pieces of evidence. It is important to integrate a perfect fraud detection and prevention management system to eliminate fraud on the platform and reduce its impact on the revenue. Here are some types of E-Commerce Fraud.
Phishing
Phishing is a meant to collect the piece of personal information like a user ID, password, and credit card information via an email or SMS. In this fraud, the fraudsters send emails or SMS to the user by pretending as the actual online trader.
Credit Card Fraud Reports in US
Clean Fraud
Fraudsters use stolen payment card information to make an online purchase and use technology to prevent any chances of fraud detection in clean fraud.
Identity Theft
Fraudster obtains the identification information of the real user and makes the online purchase on the e-commerce platform. This theft affects both the customer and the seller as the customer places a refund when he detects the fraud.
Merchant Fraud
In this fraud, fraudsters create a fake merchant account under the pretence of owning and running a legal business. They use various stolen credit and debit cards to withdraw the amount received before being detected or reported, and the transaction moving to the point of being reversed.
Chargeback Fraud
In chargeback fraud, a customer keeps the product purchased from the online store via credit card and claims a refund falsely stating the reason for payment is made twice or purchase never made.
Return Fraud
The fraudsters can ask for a refund claiming that the product was never received or requests a refund for a fake product already purchased and swap with the actual product received. In refund fraud, the seller suffers the loss due to the refund of the payment made as well as a loss of inventory when the fraudster returns a fake item.
How to spot E-Commerce Fraud?
Fraudsters are great actors and they make themselves go unnoticed. To be safer, here are few things organizations and customers can spot or detect fraud online:
Pay close attention to First-time customers who make bigger than average orders
Detect unusual or false location
A large quantity of the same product
Multiple shipping addresses
Check if Shipping and billing address are not the same
Payment information typed with capital letters
Huge number transactions in a short time
How to prevent E-Commerce Fraud?
No system can surely detect the fraud but there are several things you can do to make personal and financial information on your website more secure.
Outsiders’ Assistance
Hire a professional that can evaluate the security of the website and help in what else can be done to detect and prevent fraudulent activities.
Timely Update of the Software
Keep updating the platform or software you’re using to keep the site running, make sure you’re using the latest version. Compromised software is a gateway to the fraudulent activities, providers are hard at work improving the security aspects of their products.
Check if all the checkout pages are in HTTPS
The encryption within HTTPS allows the information to remain confidential from fraudsters’ eyes because only the website’s owner and the server can decrypt the traffic.
Use AVS and CVV
Address Verification Service ensures the billing address of the purchase matches the billing address credit card company has on file. Credit Code Verification is a code printed on the credit cards, which means that the customer needs to have a physical credit card to make a purchase.
Fraud protection software
These type of software detect high-risk transactions and analyze other risk factors to prevent fraudulent activities. To find the right tools that automatically detect suspicious transactions is crucial to protect the business from loss.
Wrap Up
E-commerce frauds have grown rapidly over the years. The online market has to make sure they are using fraud protection filters that will alert about anything out of ordinary. Online businesses must know how to recognize a fraudulent order and what tools to use to prevent it from happening.
If the customers have committed to buy a product. Your duty is to get them through checkout as quickly as possible. Most of the online stores find the best way to reduce the number of steps is to use one-step checkouts. But that one step checkout is not different from five-step checkout. If the one-page checkout asks the same details from the customers.
The only main difference is that the customers have to look more. To ask fewer details from the customers, the checkout will have to take the burden.
According to a report, 27% of US online shoppers dropped their carts due to the complicated and long checkout process.
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Here we will see few eCommerce checkout tips on how you can optimize your checkout process. And get a fast conversion rate and sales.
1. Registration
Many eCommerce sites make you register before moving to checkout. This is the reason for cart abandonment. The best option is to provide a “continue as a guest” button and this will take the user to checkout. The accounts get created during the checkout, this looks faster to the customer. You have to also include a sign-in form for the existing users who also want the convenience of fast checkout.
The Online Registering Process
23% of customers will abandon the shopping cart if you will try to force them to create an account.
Web forms demand addresses in the same format that people write on envelopes. This is something users are familiar with and decreases the chance of errors. However, in today’s world, we can gather info and categorize relationships into tables. This works in a better way to format the fields.
By removing the zip code form to the front of the address entered. We can use info that is already available to us in order to streamline customer input. By using the free lookup tables, a checkout can match the values for the city, state, and country from the zip code. This work is done by checkout. Thus it eliminates the need for customers to type in the information.
First impressions make an impact on the checkout page. however, a clean and clear checkout page is the first step for having a great checkout experience. The first thing you should do is to remove distractions. A great way to keep your customers focused. You should remove unnecessary links and form elements etc.
Cart Abandonment Vs Checkout Abandonment
Another element that affects the customer’s decision to go further for payment is the checkout form. The fewer elements the checkout form contain. The fewer chances that the customer will complete the order.
So, stick only with the expected fields and save the customer’s time. The customer will have to fill in more fields and will take more time. So try to make the form filling process quick. Apple has a distraction-free checkout page that asks only for essential information.
There are specific websites where entering your bank account or credit card details is the only way to pay. However, in providing credit card information manually will take time. And everyone hates it.
Recover Abandoned Carts
If you are still thinking about why people love PayPal then it’s because it’s fast. The credit card information of the customer with their shipping address is already saved in PayPal. This will eliminate the need for manually typing the details.
It will be too frustrating every time you buy a new product and you have to enter your credit card info manually. If you are also not accepting PayPal Or Google Wallet on your website. This is the time, you should do it now.
5. One step Checkout
If the customer is committed to buying a product from your website. Your duty is to get them through the checkout quickly. The only mantra to do this is only to ask them little info.
Various eCommerce stores are powered on a hosted solution where you can’t customize the checkout. While shopping carts such as magneto get hosted by the companies that make these solutions. Get switched to a community of the software might give you the flexibility you want. This should be the last alternative. But for having high-grossing eCommerce stores. A 1-10% conversion increase in quarterly sales is something you will need to upgrade.
Magento 2 is the one-step checkout which speeds up the whole shopping process. This will enhance customer satisfaction. You can purchase an extension or get or custom-developed using your developer. Sometimes checkout extensions that are already existing.
What to do about the limitations to simplify your checkouts
You can create a feature request ticket to your hosted solution’s support system. And tell them that this is a feature you want which directly relates to your store conversion rates. This way there will be dual incentive to make to the next version release.
You can also move to a self-hosted eCommerce solution. Shopping carts such as Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento Go are hosted by the companies that make the solutions.
For any type of eCommerce, the checkout process is important. The process has various elements that require lots of tweaking. However, if you do it the right way. You can reduce the cart abandonment problems. You can increase your conversion rate. And finally you will reach your goals. Remember this is all about removing distractions. Try to make the process easy and quickly. To find out what works, you need to customize and test checkout to maximize your conversions.
Disruptions are the need of the hour. This applies to the eCommerce in India as well. With the emergence of new competitors in the online segment, established players such as Myntra, Flipkart and Amazon, are reinventing their way of functioning to stay at the top.
The new strategies being employed can be witnessed through the ‘trends’ that have captured everybody’s attention. Indian entrepreneurs are adamant about revolutionizing the eCommerce industry and experience for their countrymen, taking inspiration from their western counterparts as and when required.
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Here are a few trends of 2020 that are collectively catapulting the eCommerce in India to another level.
Innovation in logistics
The customer orders an iPhone but receives a fruit instead. The blame directly or indirectly goes to the delivery guy who’s just a small part of the supply chain. Ecommerce players are realizing the importance of getting logistics done right since most of the customer complaints pertain to delivery issues. To sort it out, third-party logistics providers are turning up on the scene and are being hired by companies to micromanage the entire delivery process. The highlight to watch this year would be drones replacing delivery boys, overcoming hurdles such as traffic, transportation, etc. with relative ease. Hence, taking Ecommerce in india to another level.
ecommerce
Video marketing
Static advertisements are now becoming a thing of the past. Video marketing is gaining prominence, propagating and convey much more information than a normal ad. A 10-second advertisement can influence the audiences’ mind to an extent that wasn’t possible earlier. Don’t believe this? Pay a visit to sites that show what’s trending in India and what is going to be blocked soon in India and test out the effectiveness of such video commercials!
Not leveraging the potential of AI and machine learning in the modern-day means an outdated way of performing tasks. A lot of endeavors out there are concentrating on creating the perfect trail room experience, continually improving the entire virtual procedure to mimic the real-world experience. A major reason why offline shoppers are reluctant towards jumping on the online purchase bandwagon especially when it comes to clothes is due to the lack of ability to try out items before purchasing them. Virtual trial rooms are quickly going to tear down this inability of e-commerce sites. Virtual assistant: A chatbot or virtual assistant with the appropriate functionality can do more than just a “Hi there”; it can guide through the customer’s entire experience on the website, right from opening the catalog to finalizing the shopping cart. With the amount of research going on in Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence, the number of conferences being held all over the world, universities rolling out certifications and specializations in these domains is a testament to the power that chatbots possess. Some websites have incorporated the same, showing that AI-powered assistants are receiving a positive nod. These advanced technologies are Ecommerce in India to grow more faster.
Government support
The current central government has been rolling out schemes one after the other. Initiatives such as Digital India, Make in India and others have strengthened the eCommerce in India. Various foreign companies are given canned to partner with local companies such as Walmart who purchased Flipkart, to increase foreign investments in India. Not only at the national level but at the regional level also, the state is organizing business summits to encourage eCommerce startups in India. The PMOs’ insistence on digital wallets has caused companies such as Amazon, Flipkart to bring changes in payment gateways. Other effects will be felt for sure in the coming future.
Foreign corporations investing in Indian companies make headlines is becoming a common news headline. The shot in the arm that Walmart intends to give Flipkart was the talk of the town for quite some time, and the legal broth it had stewed is a kind of incision revealing the difficulties involved in big mergers. By partnering with international firms, Indian e-retailers can leverage expertise and skills for their enhancement. It will give them chances to expand in their respective countries. The biggest problem is negotiation while remaining compliant with Indian rules and regulations.
Big Data, Cloud and IoT
With the extremely number of data that is being generated by online shopping sites, new visualization techniques and analysis tools are the needs of the hour. Storing the processed information calls for secure and reliable storage mechanisms is something that cloud service providers such as Amazon and Microsoft are known for. MNCs and startups alike are utilizing such high-end solutions for most of their needs. And as time progresses, the advancements are only going to reach unprecedented levels, allowing e-commerce organizations operating out of India to innovate and invent.
This is the most updated trend that the current eCommerce industry is using is combining the online store with the classic retail stores, commonly known as phygital store i. e physical + digital stores. There are numerous times when we want to buy something but can’t because of the sizing or other issues. The phygital stores are the solution and these are growing rapidly. Online brands like firstcry, lenskart, Nykaa have started this and other brands are planning to do it soon. This gives the customer the satisfaction of buying things personally while for the company they get to retain their company.
The rise of Social Commerce
With the trend of providing high-speed internet by Jio and other brands, the period spends online has increased. The transition in the way online shopping is done in India is evident. From people thinking twice before sharing their credit card details in the payment gateway to youngsters and adults buying items in a jiffy through the comforts of their smartphones, e-commerce is shaping up for sure, and for the better. It would be interesting to see how new trends evolve over the years, and how they would contort the presence of e-commerce in India. Who knows, brick-and-mortar shopping outlets may soon become a thing of the past!
Devashish Shrivastava
