Due to this pandemic, teachers were forced to teach online. Many teachers found it very different to shift their offline classes online.
How will you take classes online? How to conduct attendance and tests? How to provide the student’s reports to their parents? All these questions popped up in the minds of teachers.
The solution to all these problems was Classplus. This company has simplified everything and has helped 1 lakh educators to go digital. Classplus operates in 1,100 cities and is used by 70,00,000 students for learning.
Classplus is a SaaS-based platform that helps teachers make their own apps and take their coaching business online. The company was founded in 2015.
The founders of Classplus are Mukul Rustagi, Vatsal Rustagi, Bikash Dash, Nikhil Goel and Bhaswat Agarwal. The headquarters of Classplus is in Noida.
Using this app teachers can sell their courses and study material to students. Teachers can track attendance, conduct tests, take multiple live classes, create assignments, keep records of all the fee receipts and get reports of students’ performance.
Classplus website
Business Model of Classplus
The main goal of the company is to provide all the tools needed by the teachers to teach efficiently online.
Classplus will help all the teachers make their own app that can handle attendance, tests, payments and reports. The app will also help them to conduct live classes, sell their courses and much more.
Using Classplus teachers don’t have to spend time on management. Instead, they have to focus only on teaching.
You can log in as a teacher, student or parent. Joining the platform is very easy and it takes less than 30 minutes.
Signing as a teacher helps you to add students, make your own batches, share notifications and assignments, and conduct online tests.
The best part here is that the student’s performance report will be directly given to the parents. Teachers get unlimited cloud storage and data security features.
The company claims that every hour they help 50+ educators take their coaching business online. You can contact the team of Classplus to book a free demo.
The revenue model of Classplus is based on simple subscription fees. The subscription fees of this platform start from Rs 15,000 and can go up to Rs 50,000. The fees depend upon the services required by the teachers.
In 2022, Classplus made a revenue of $95.2M. The company has raised $70 million in its latest round of funding co-led by Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global.
According to the company, 75% of its educator base comes from Tier 2 Indian cities and beyond
Classplus advertises aggressively using social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The company has also posted various videos on YouTube explaining how its platform has helped many teachers to go online. The brand ambassador of Classplus is Sourav Ganguly.
In January 2021, Classplus launched a two-part series ad campaign with Saurav Ganguly where he tells the struggles faced by the teachers teaching offline. In the ad, Saurav Ganguly tells the advantages of Classplus and how online teaching is the future. This was one of the most successful campaigns launched by the company.
Last year on the occasion of women’s day Classplus launched a video campaign shedding light on challenges faced by women in the education industry. This campaign showed that still, women have to face gender norms.
As society still encourages women to work, the journey of women in education has not been easy compared to men. Classplus has helped these female educators by offering them the same technology that they have provided to the men. This campaign was also very successful.
Classplus also has an affiliate program which has helped the company to boost its sales. Apart from advertising many educators are happy with the services provided by Classplus. Word of mouth marketing has helped the company increase its reach.
Conclusion
Due to this pandemic, many educators have understood the potential of online teaching. Nowadays, you can get any degree by learning online from the comfort of your home. The e-learning market is expected to reach $1.96 billion by the end of 2021.
Online learning is more affordable than offline learning. Students can learn at their own pace. This helps students to grasp all the concepts and learn without any stress.
There are a lot of complications when you want to teach online and Classplus is a great solution for it. The company has said that they will add more features and take the online teaching to a next level.
FAQ
Who is the founder of Classplus?
The Founders of Classplus are Mukul Rustagi, Vatsal Rustagi, Bikash Dash, Nikhil Goel and Bhaswat Agarwal.
What is the Revenue Model of Classplus?
The revenue model of Classplus is based on simple subscription fees. The subscription fees of this platform start from Rs 15,000 and can go up to Rs 50,000.
How does Classplus work?
Classplus helps teachers make their own app. Using this app teachers can sell their courses and study material to students, track attendance, conduct tests, take multiple live classes, create assignments, keep a record of all the fee receipts and get students’ performance reports.
Is there any free demo available for Classplus?
Yes, you can contact the team of Classplus and get a free demo. You can see how Classplus will help you take your coaching business online.
How does Classplus advertise?
Classplus uses social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to advertise and interact with people. They also launch various campaigns on YouTube to boost their sales.
What is Classplus lite?
Classplus lite is a free app that helps solo teachers teach online. Using this app teachers can add students’ batches, and study material, upload videos and assign tests.
Launched in 2013, Pepperfry has more than 60 lakh registered users and 1 million+ home products. Pepperfry has changed the way of buying furniture. Indians loved the idea of buying furniture from the comfort of their homes and that is why the company has 7 million+ visits on the website.
Today, if I ask you to buy furniture online, Pepperfry would automatically pop up in your mind. The company have grown rapidly over these years. The company delivers its products in more than 500 cities in India. But, how did the company become so successful? To answer this we need to understand their business model.
Pepperfry is an online marketplace headquartered in Mumbai that deals in furniture and home décor like furnishings, lighting, beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, kitchen appliances, bathing equipment, mattress, and so on.
The founders of Pepperfry are Ambreesh Murthy and Ashish Shah. The tagline of Pepperfry is ‘Happy Furniture to You’.
The company has launched 100+ studios across 57 cities in India In these studios, a wide range of furniture is displayed so people can come and physically see all the furniture. In 2018 Pepperfry tied up with Quikr for a furniture exchange program.
Pepperfry also launched a furniture rental service in September 2018. People can rent furniture and can use it for a period of 6, 9, or 12 months.
Target Audience of Pepperfry
The target audience of Pepperfry is people between the age group of 35-45. The company is also targeting people who are in their mid-20s to early 30s.
Pepperfry follows the omnichannel strategy where they allow their customers to order products anytime, anywhere from any device. The company employs the managed marketplace business model.
They have connected with small and medium-sized business merchants and artisans. These merchants can sell their products through Pepperfry.
The category team meets the sellers to check the quality of products and once approved they take some products from them. These products are sent to the studios for photoshoots.
The photos of the products are then placed on their website. When a product is ordered from the website, it is brought from the sellers and delivered to Pepperfry’s warehouse.
What is Unique about Pepperfry’s Business Model
1) Pepperfry Studios and Franchise Model:
Pepperfry Studios
In India, people have a habit of checking products and services physically. To gain the trust of the people the company launched Pepperfry studios where people can explore all the types of furniture in offline mode. People cannot buy furniture from these studios. Although these stores help consumers make big purchases online.
The interior design professionals that are working in these studios provide free consultations to customers for their home interior needs. About 25% of the business is generated from these studios.
The company has also started a franchise program where small entrepreneurs can own a franchise with Pepperfry and run a profitable business.
The franchise-owned studios work on a 100% price parity and do not require the partner to hold product inventory.
“Omnichannel has always been an integral part of our growth strategy and our existing franchise program has helped us expand our offline footprint by creating several touchpoints across major metros and Tier 2 cities.” added Ashish Shah.
2) Powerful Marketing:
Pepperfry has collaborated with many Influencers and YouTubers. As we all know YouTubers and Influencers have many followers. This helped in brand awareness and people started to buy products from Pepperfry.
During the initial days of Pepperfry, their ad campaigns were focused on getting the audience’s trust. Later on, their ad campaigns shifted to providing specific benefits like looks and design of products.
High-quality images are placed on the website to attract people. The company found out that 65% of the customers are women.
So, to attract them Pepperfry’s team created powerful campaigns that resonated with their target audience. They also provided various discounts which led to an increase in sales.
The revenue model of Pepperfry is straightforward. They earn money by selling products. About 80-85% of Pepperfry’s Revenue is generated by selling furniture in the solid wood furniture category. They have a revenue of Rs 500 crore per annum.
The main reason for high revenue according to Ambreesh Murthy is that the gross margin is as high as 45% while the contribution margin is only 25%. Also, after deducting various costs such as direct cost, logistics, and discounts Pepperfry claims that they earn a contribution margin of 25% – about Rs 2,025.
”Also, the cost of customer acquisition is very low. In fact, we have a high rate of repeat purchases. This has been possible as we sell a range of ancillary products including mattresses, bedsheets, pillows, etc. While a customer may buy a bed once in three years, she does return to the website to purchase related products at least three times a year,” Ambreesh Murthy explained.
Conclusion:
Pepperfry is an inspiration for many startups. Their business and revenue model are simple yet effective. They understood what Indians wanted and designed their business model accordingly. Customer satisfaction is the most important aspect of their success.
FAQ
Is Pepperfry an Indian Company?
Yes, Pepperfry is an Indian Company started by Ambreesh Murthy and Ashish Shah in 2013.
What is Pepperfry Studios?
In these studios, people can come and see all the furniture. The furniture is not for sale but people can check the product quality and design. Once they are satisfied they can order the furniture online.
What is Pepperfry?
Pepperfry is an online marketplace headquartered in Mumbai that deals in furniture and home décor.
What is the revenue model of Pepperfry?
The revenue model of Pepperfry is straightforward. They earn money by selling furniture products. About 80-85% of Pepperfry’s revenue is generated by selling furniture in the solid wood furniture category.
How many products does Pepperfry have?
Pepperfry has 1 million+ home products ranging from beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, kitchen appliances, bathing equipment, mattress, furnishings, lighting, and so on.
The main goal of lead generation is to get potential customers to your company and then persuade them to express interest in your goods or services, which will turn them into leads and ultimately help in increasing sales. A lead is someone who has made an inquiry, contacted or simply showed some interest in your business.
Thus in simple terms, lead generation is the act of developing interest among potential customers regarding a company’s products or services. Each lead is then developed further through a marketing and sales process that eventually results in them becoming full-fledged clients.
Numerous sources, including internet searches, advertisements, social media, word-of-mouth, conferences, and other conventional marketing techniques, can help a business generate leads.
Numerous sources, including internet searches, advertisements, social media, word-of-mouth, conferences, and other conventional marketing techniques, can help a business generate leads.
You might not believe that your company is at a point where professional lead generation support is necessary. However, if you want your firm to expand and grow well then lead generation is a crucial aspect.
You can raise brand visibility, interest in your goods and services, and eventually sales by growing your lead generation. Simply, the more interest potential customers have in your company, the more likely it is that you will be able to convert some or many of them into paying customers, resulting in increased sales.
Should You Outsource Your Lead Generation?
The answer to this question cannot be an absolute one. Every business is unique in its own way. This means every business has its own needs, budget and goals. So, to think about whether to outsource lead generation or not, one should consider one’s needs and requirements.
On the one hand, your company’s sales team can generate leads for the business as they have a better understanding of the products and services. But in this case, the team must be very experienced, and the hiring and training of such a team, providing proper space to them can be pretty expensive.
Why would you want to outsource your lead generation in light of this? Couldn’t a marketing and sales team handle this internally? You can certainly test out several strategies to bring in more customers for your company. However, do you have the necessary time and expertise to do?
Nowadays, there are various agencies offering lead generation services. So, outsourcing can be a good option to save on expenses as you will not have to spend a lot of time on finding, hiring and training the employees.
Outsourcing lead generation is essential if you want to take your company’s growth to the next level. It implies that you can hire a different business to handle everything related to lead generation on your behalf, saving your time and energy.
Lead generation takes time and effort. To reap the benefits, you must work hard. Do you have the time to regularly produce informative and timely content? Content that stands out from the competition and offers the consumer something of value? Even if you have the time, you might not get the privilege to spend it entirely on lead generation tasks. So, here comes the role of outsourcing. Outsourcing a lead generation agency can help you ease your burden and deliver the best possible results for your business at the same time.
Lead generation is an essential aspect of every business. It is the ultimate way to increase one’s sales and revenue. However, it is a task that requires a great amount of time, research and effort. Developing a team for lead generation can be an expensive route. So, outsourcing lead generation can be a great way to scale up one’s business. The following are some of the prominent benefits of outsourcing lead generation:
Top Metrics Used to Measure Lead Generation Effectively
Increases Brand Awareness
When it comes to increasing sales for your company, brand awareness is the first step, to begin with. Lead generation services can help bring your brand great exposure. Having only a sales team working on both marketing and brand exposure might not be the greatest idea. Customers these days are much more concerned and do their own research before making any purchase. So, to help your company be unmissable in the crowd, investing in lead generation outsourcing helps a lot.
Boosts Efficiency of Inbound Marketing Campaigns
For both big and small businesses, inbound and outbound marketing campaigns are very necessary. While your dedicated sales team can handle all the inbound work, you would need an expert lead generation service to manage the outbound marketing. Here, both can have each other’s support for better results. In fact, outsourced lead generation can help target the inbound marketing campaigns of a business with the help of outbound marketing channels like cold calling, targeted email marketing, events, and more.
If you are the owner of the company then needless to say you know all the responsibilities that come with it. You already have a lot on your plate to worry about. So, handing over your lead generation tasks to a dedicated company can ease up your burden as you will not have to give your complete participation in the tasks. All you have to do is communicate your needs and the goals you plan on meeting, and the outsourced lead generation experts will take care of the rest.
Saves time
The most valuable resource we have at our disposal is time. Has making cold calls and getting refused 95 times out of 100 started to affect your mental health? What about wasting an entire afternoon every now and then hunting up email addresses, and phone numbers, and determining when and what to write? All of this adds up to endless hours that could have been better spent creating a better product or service and therefore, improved business. So, another benefit of outsourced lead generation is that it will save up a lot of time which you can use for other important activities of your business.
Keeps the Budget in Control
Although most people think that outsourcing your lead generation tasks to a dedicated service provider can take a toll on your budget, the truth is the opposite. Once you hand over the job, it is the responsibility of the lead generation company to take care of overhead costs. You don’t have to worry about renting desk space or recruiting employees for the purpose of lead generation. All you need to do is pay a specific amount one time and then sit back and let the experts do their job. In this way, you get your work done and keep your budget in control at the same time.
Improved Quality
If your business is not scaling well, you will soon notice that the quality of your leads is not very good. This usually happens because you and your team are not able to give enough time and attention to generate leads. Outsourcing lead generation will help you attain high-quality leads which will ultimately help scale your business. In this way, you will have to worry less and attain better-quality leads for your business.
Outsourcing lead generation comes with various benefits. But just like every coin has two sides, outsourcing lead generation also comes with certain drawbacks. The following are some of the drawbacks:
Since all the tasks related to lead generation are given to an external business, you might feel a lack of control over the business.
You might outsource your lead generation thinking to generate better quality leads but there is a chance that the other company does not understand your goals and therefore, cannot deliver the desired results.
An outsourced lead generation agency does not generate leads just for you. It is their job that they do for every client. So, there is a risk that the leads generated for your company may be sooner or later used for others.
Conclusion
A company cannot expect to succeed by devoting just a few hours per week to lead generation. To establish a process that works, several disciplines need to contribute their expertise, knowledge, and ability. You can’t go wrong with top-notch resources and a solid set of rules, so keep that in mind as you go through your list of outsourcing possibilities. However, the choice to outsource lead generation or not will always depend upon your needs, budget, and your business requirements.
FAQs
What is lead outsourcing?
In simple terms, lead outsourcing means getting help from another company to generate leads for one’s own company and thus, building the sales pipeline. In this, the outsourced lead generation agency takes care of every task like email marketing, cold calling, and others.
Is it better to outsource lead generation?
It is better to outsource lead generation if a business wants to save extra expenses and achieve the best possible results. Outsourcing lead generation is beneficial as it will help a business generate high-quality leads within a budget.
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was formed on 31st December 2021. However, the initial pilot phase of this program was launched on 29th April 2022. The target behind the introduction of this platform in India is to bring scalability and accessibility to the field of e-commerce.
The initial idea of ONDC came from the Piyush Goyal-led Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
The project is moving forward under the leadership of T Koshy (CEO), who was a former partner at the consulting firm EY, along with a 9-member advisory council that consists of names like Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of software powerhouse Infosys Ltd, National Health Authority’s RS Sharma and more.
Nilekani has also earlier helped the Indian government in developing Aadhar biometric ID system. As per him, ONDC is meant to democratize digital commerce in India.
As per a survey, India in 2021 had around 289.1 million digital buyers. This number is expected to increase and reach around 377.6 million in 2025.
Number of Digital Buyers in India
To date, the maximum share of eCommerce in India is in the hands of a few big companies. However, the growing number of buyers invokes the need of including small sellers from remote places to become a part of this huge market.
To help resolve this issue with the aim of bringing more retailers and sellers online government brought forward the concept of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
Impact of ONDC on the E-commerce Industry of India
What is ONDC?
ONDC Logo
Before understanding how the government will implement this and what are its benefits, let us first understand clearly what ONDC is.
Until now, digital commerce across India is abiding by the platform-centric model. This means there are different platforms available online through which a seller can sell his product and a buyer can purchase them by registering on the same platform.
This means that the buyer and seller have to be on the same platform for an online deal to occur.
The idea behind ONDC is to bring e-commerce to the open network model instead of the platform-centric model. This will make e-commerce approachable for all types of buyers and sellers.
The idea is to bring the buyers and sellers from different platforms into each other’s approach without any of them having to register on the platform on which the other exists.
It will allow the buyers and sellers from different platforms to connect with each other, provided that both the platforms are linked to ONDC. This is similar to the role UPI plays in terms of transactions. UPI is a fitting example of the concept that ONDC is working on. This is because where UPI united the banking partners and the merchants/users, via a single unified platform connected through the mobile number, ONDC is pivoting on a similar concept that will unite the buyers, sellers, logistics providers aggregators, payment gateways, and more on a single platform, which will make buying and selling easier for everyone in the ecosystem.
Therefore, the ONDC network allows the buyer to connect with the seller and make transactions to settle the deal irrespective of which applications they are using for buying or selling the products.
UPI and ONDC | What’s the Difference?
Often during the ideation and the development of the ONDC product, we have heard people, businesses, and media placing ONDC and UPI systems side by side. While both the systems are based on a similar idea, which is to link people and make things in the Indian market easier, they are poles apart really in terms of the functionality, complexity, magnitude, people, segments and markets involved, and more.
For example, the UPI system was involved in the secure transfer of finances, the main objective of which was to facilitate the transfer of funds, and keep the same secure between banks, merchants and customers. However, when it comes to ONDC, the concept of ONDC does not involve a direct transfer of goods and services but is related to the same.
Besides, ONDC also has a list of subjective variables, which the UPI doesn’t have. For instance, ONDC has to look after the quality of the products being sold, onboarding sellers and shops, making the communication between them easier, overlook the reliability of both the sellers and the buyers, looking after the speed of delivery and more.
Also, when it comes to the UPI system, nothing was dependent on physical interaction, which stands in sharp contrast to the ONDC system, where the latter is significantly dependent on the offline steps after the matchmaking is done online.
The first option is to create its own website. This might require some technical support. Further, this is a cost-intensive process as it involves a lot of extra charges such as website creation and management costs, logistic charges, etc.
Also, even after the website is built and functional, the seller will have to invest a lot of money in advertising for his website in order to attract buyers.
The second option is to sell the products on aggregator platforms or so-called online marketplaces. Although this system appears quite convenient in comparison to building a website, it has its own issues.
The two top players in this field i.e. Amazon and Flipkart are both US-based companies. They keep a large share of profit in return for displaying and selling your products on their platform. In addition, sometimes, there have been complaints of brand preferences where these platforms are said to exhibit favoritism towards a few brands.
Moreover, sometimes these marketplaces collect data from the sellers and depending on the market inclination, introduce their own products, to stay ahead of the curve.
Another main concern associated with e-commerce is the lagging of small retailers, merchants, MSMEs, etc. Owing to the limited reach of e-commerce in small towns and villages, these small businessmen are deprived of the benefits associated with e-commerce.
Most of them have not been able to begin their online journey on these digital selling platforms due to restricted technical knowledge and the small number of options available.
To counter these problems and take digital commerce to a whole new level, ONDC has been formed. The aim is to make e-commerce reachable even for small retailers and merchants.
The ONDC platform is an idea that is focused on increasing 3 major things that most buyers and sellers dream of:
Discoverability – The ONDC platform will help both the buyers and the sellers maximise their discoverability.
Transparency – ONDC will offer clear visibility and the benefits of comparing everyone and everything that is listed on it. This will make things transparent enough for everyone and everything related to eCommerce.
Interoperability – The ONDC network will have the buyers, sellers, aggregators, delivery partners, logistics providers, and more, and all of them will be operating freely with each other, forming a stable and trustworthy network for maximum benefits.
How will ONDC impact the e-commerce industry in India?
The introduction of ONDC will encourage small retailers to step foot into e-commerce. ONDC will result in bringing separate buyer-centric and seller-centric apps that will be beneficial for anyone who is invested in e-commerce.
The new apps that may appear in the market can help resolve other issues for buyers as well as sellers. For example, it may help the sellers with logistics solutions while the buyers may be benefitted by shopping from the nearest available or cheapest store in town.
The main benefits expected out of ONDC are as follows:
Formalization and democratization of e-commerce.
Large scope for discovering prices and comparing them.
Auxiliary support and services for both buyers and sellers.
Enhanced business opportunities owing to the open platform.
Option to outsource for both buyers and sellers.
Reducing the monopoly of big shots in e-commerce.
Rational process of business.
Some of the areas/industries that ONDC is expected to disrupt are:
Cab services – Two major players driving the cab services in India are Ola and Uber. However, whether it is their drivers or the Indian customers, all are dissatisfied with the policies and the management of the companies. Here, the ONDC platform can come as a respite for the users, who can get the services they ask for at lower costs, while on the other hand, the cab drivers can freely sign in with ONDC to get a bigger and better reach.
Food delivery – The food delivery ecosystem of India has been largely controlled by Zomato and Swiggy, where both the customers and the restaurant providers are at the mercy of these two foodtech giants. Many restaurant partners have earlier thought of delivering directly, but they failed. The ONDC can now empower them better to bring in the change!
Quick commerce – Quick commerce, which is looked up to as the next big thing in India, was earlier in the hands of the Kirana stores, who were the original quick commerce players. However, they seemed to have lost the battle against the able quick commerce players like Zepto, Dunzo, Instamart, Blinkit, and more. This new initiative of ONDC can, therefore, gear up the Kirana stores and their owners to serve their customers faster and better.
For the first couple of years, ONDC has set a budget of Rs 150-200 crore, mentioned by T Koshy, in a report dated July 2, 2022. CEO Koshy said that it has already raised 85% of its funding for the first phase of the operation. The platform had earlier chosen 20 institutions and asked them to put Rs 10 crore each from their funds. It has been earlier reported that the ONDC platform has raised over Rs 155 crore with the help of some of the largest banks of India – SBI, Axis, PNB, HDFC, Bank of Baroda, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, and some of the financial institutions like NSE, NPCI, NABARD, and SIDBI. T Koshy has further specified that ONDC has got 17 such investors to fund them with Rs 10 crore each by March 31, 2022, while the remaining organisations will extend their funds to ONDC by August 2022.
Speaking about the ownership of ONDC, T Koshy mentioned that no investor would be allowed to hold more than 50% of the ONDC stakes.
Tracing the Growth of ONDC
The ONDC platform is on the brink of completion and pilot have already started in a selected list of Indian cities. A trial run of ONDC has been conducted in 6 cities in India including Bengaluru, Shillong, Lucknow, and Coimbatore.
ONDC Onboarding Grows!
With players like Walmart-owned Flipkart, Reliance Retail-backed Dunzo, Alibaba-backed Paytm, and more already joining the revolutionary platform, and Amazon willing to join it ahead, ONDC is already creating waves. Many other seller platforms, buyer platforms, logistics providers, and payment gateways are also signing up with the ONDC concept. As per the latest news, nearly 24 startups, like Meesho, and numerous other subsidiaries of Flipkart have joined ONDC. The ONDC platform is looking to onboard around 200 companies ahead, as per reports dated July 19, 2022. Snapdeal has already signed the agreement with ONDC earlier in July 2022, and will likely be integrating with the platform by the end of August 2022.
After Dunzo, another Reliance Retail-owned startup Grab joined the ONDC platform, as per reports dated August 1, 2022. 80% of Grab shares are currently owned by Reliance Retail. Grab is a 9+ years old startup that offers a wide range of services including on-demand, reverse deliveries services, and first and last-mile logistics to clients including FedEx, Blinkit, Paytm, BigBasket, Myntra, Amazon, and Swiggy.
Dunzo’s B2B logistics arm, Dunzo for Business (D4B) has collaborated with ONDC with an aim to provide last-mile delivery services to local enterprises on the ONDC network, as per reports dated August 5, 2022.
Microsoft has become the first international company to join the ONDC platform. The American software giant will reportedly bring a social commerce platform or one that will allow a group buying feature for its Indian users. This association would enable Microsoft to connect with Indian users without depending on any e-commerce platforms. This partnership with Microsoft reveals the credibility attached to the ONDC platform of India, mentioned T Koshy.
ONDC Inked MoU with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
ONDC inked a Memorandum of Understanding with SIDBI to onboard small and medium-sized businesses on the ONDC platform, which would help ONDC improve ecommerce participation. Signed between the CMD of SIDBI Sivasubramanian Ramann, and the Managing Director and CEO of ONDC, T Koshy, this agreement would lead both the entities to encourage the MSMEs access the open network ecommerce platform.
The ONDC platform is not here to challenge the big players like Flipkart and Amazon. The ONDC CBO Shireesh Joshi confirmed that the platform will stay essentially as “eCommerce enablers helping the small retailers leverage the digitisation of commerce through our network.”
The penetration of the eCommerce industry has only been 4-5% so far, as per July 2022 reports. To boost the same by increasing the number of retailers is one of the main objectives of the ONDC network. Joshi further revealed that the bigger players like Flipkart and Amazon will reap major benefits if this objective is fulfilled.
The ONDC platform will be launched in 75-100 more cities in India by August-September and will be open to the public during the same time in 2022, mentioned T Koshy, the CEO of ONDC, as per the reports dated July 2, 2022.
Koshy has added that the ONDC will be opened to be public whenever it will find that there are enough sellers in a pin code area. Launching the service in these cities ahead will help the initiative lay a foundation on which the network can grow in the times upcoming, organically. The ONDC platform is expected to see a “hockey stick-like growth”. The CEO of the platform also pointed out that if it gains the support of the CSC SPVs (common service centre – special purpose vehicles), which are designed to spread the government’s e-services to rural areas and remote places, then that can help ONDC reach at least half of the Indian villages.
Marquee investors like Sequoia India and SoftBank have advised their portfolio companies to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), as per reports dated July 20, 2022.
ONDC Challenges
ONDC has come up as a revolutionary product that will transform the Indian market in the times upcoming. However, due to the complex design of the product, it has already started to face numerous implementation challenges. In comparison to the UPI system, ONDC is way tougher to both design and implement.
Conclusion
With the schemes like digital India, no doubt e-commerce is the future of the Indian market. This is also clear from the fact that the Indian e-commerce industry is expected to rise from $46.20 billion in 2020 to $200 billion in 2026. Here, the ONDC can easily be identified as a new-age idea that has a huge market ahead.
At this stage, the e-commerce platforms, being totally captured by a few large companies can certainly impact the small businessmen from the remote areas of the country, who still are unable to utilize this amazing platform.
This is sure to have an adverse effect on the economy with these small retailers losing their business to a few big players.
The introduction of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) at this point is certainly a great initiative by the government to help these small businessmen to maintain their position in the race.
This will also give them the opportunity to escalate their businesses to a larger scale by making their products reach a larger audience.
FAQs
What is ONDC?
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a non-profit organisation in collaboration with the Government of India that brings e-commerce to the open network model instead of the platform-centric model. This will make e-commerce approachable for all types of buyers and sellers.
Who owns ONDC?
ONDC is owned by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
Who is developing ONDC Project?
T Koshy of EY is leading the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) project, supported by a 9-member advisory council consisting of names like Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys Ltd., and others.
India’s aviation industry has embraced a new wave in airline travel as India’s Warren Buffet, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has finally launched an Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier, Akasa Air.
The aviation industry in India is in fact an untapped market with only a few companies making all of the profit. It also has to be read along with the multiple events where companies like Kingfisher and Jet Airways had to suspend their operations as they run on a loss.
The pandemic has not spared this industry as air travel is still struggling to make an actual comeback out of the larger travel restrictions that were imposed on it.
Companies like Indigo, which is India’s largest airline, have already confirmed that their losses have been wider than they expected. This is despite the quick reinstatement of the operating services across India as soon as the restrictions were lifted.
The fact that the industry is an unexplored arena and yet a very risky platform makes the new initiative of Mr. Jhunjhunwala more unpredictable and yet attractive. It cannot be denied that this investment is going to alter the airline industry for good. This article will analyse all sides of this ambitious plan.
The successful investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has clarified his plans on investing $35 million in Akasa airlines where he would own 40% of carriers, which means 70 aircraft within a span of four years. After he invested $35 mn on Akasa, the airline company was quick to receive the no objection certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India in October 2021.
The Akasa airline company, “Akasa Air”, is designed to serve as an ultra-low-cost carrier that is led by a very enviable team that one could imagine. It includes former CEOs of successful airline companies like Indigo, Delta airlines et cetera.
The current leadership team of Akasa has Vinay Dube, who was the ex-CEO of Jet Airways and Go First as the Founder, CEO, and MD of the company. Praveen Iyer, the former GoFirst Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), and GoFirst Head of Flight Operations, Nikhil Ved, are some others who are leading the Mumbai-headquartered, low-cost Indian airline company.
Their focus will be more on air carriers that can accommodate 180 passengers. In the face of exclusive expensive fare wars and the high cost of maintenance and operations, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s initiatives will be a game-changer.
If materialised properly Akasa Air could be the golden feather in the fastest-growing aviation market in the world.
Will Air Travel Become Economical?
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala with his confident proposal has made it clear that his intention is to capture the mass market. The ULCC or ultra-low-cost carrier will democratise the hitherto expensive transportation method.
The initiatives by earlier companies like Air Deccan have significantly helped in bringing down the ticket fares of aeroplanes. It is expected that Akasa Air’s initiatives will further bring down the prices.
This will also align with the UDAN scheme of the Government of India, which aims to make air travel well-furnished, available, and affordable. However, it will heavily depend upon the slots that they will get in airports.
The fact that even vendors and lessors are also in a very battered state after the pandemic, will enable the airline company to renegotiate its terms and costs so as to raise fresh funds and trim costs, which will in turn, help them to afford lower ticket fares.
Akasa Air will alter the market of plane makers into a very competitive sector as the industry is trying to wriggle out of the burdening losses that it had to incur as the pandemic struck them hard.
It is anticipated that there will be heavy competition between plane makers like Boeing and Airbus. As far as Boeing is concerned, it is indeed a valuable opportunity for them to make a comeback to the Indian industry since the only operator for their 737 aircraft in India is SpiceJet.
As per the statistics, Indian carriers own more than 900 planes of which more than 700 are owned by Airbus and only 100 by Boeing. The latter is also losing its position in the wide-body aircraft market as well. This means that the plane makers will be ready to give competitive rates if Akasha wants to lease an aircraft from them.
These rates are expected to be better than the pre-Covid rates, according to Nithin Sarin who is a managing partner at a law firm that functions as an advisory to airlines and lessors. Such a competition is highly beneficial as far as the air travellers are concerned since it will assure them quality travelling at affordable prices.
The vision of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala through Akasa Air, will be a hard nut to crack. Out of all the industries it can be said without any doubt that the aviation industry is one of the riskiest and most unpredictable markets.
Lack of The First Comers Benefit
In India, 50% of the low-cost air carrier market is held by just one player – Indigo. When a new airline with an ambitious mission like Akasa is entering the market, it not only has to compete with the wide network of Indigo but also its potential.
Akasa should calculate the ways in which Indigo can scale up its game as they attempt to do the same. At least, initially, it will be very difficult for Akasa Air to get attractive time slots in important metro airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, etc., which will have a direct impact on its revenue.
The Contrast between High Cost and Low Price
One of the trademarks of Akasa Air, as proposed by Jhunjhunwala, is its low ticket fare. However, the reason why air travel is expensive is widely known. During the pandemic, turbine fuel charges have further increased along with other Covid related uncertainties.
The ground handling charges and labour costs also constitute a large part of the operational cost of an airline. The former holds 75% of the whole non-fixed cost that an airline operation should incur.
Amidst other expenses like airport fees, taxes, luggage et cetera the aim to democratise airline travel might cost a fortune for Akasa Air. Here, high cost is contrasted with low price, which if handled carelessly can even lead to the failure of the entire endeavour.
Rising Competition
Apart from the first-comer advantage that it lacks, the timeline of its entry into the airline industry is also marked by the rise of other companies who had lost their strategic position in between.
Along with Jhunjhunwala, the Kalrock Capital-Murari Lal Jalan consortium is all set to revive Jet Airways which had suspended its operation earlier. They have also got approval from the National Company Law Tribunal as well.
At the same time, Air India is also likely to find a buyer which will further alter the nature of competition in the sector itself. GoAir can also be an important competitor if it successfully gains investor interest during its listing.
The Present State and Growth of Akasa Air
Akasa Air has finally commenced its commercial operations. The airline company has last announced that it will be starting its flights from August, 7, 2022, onwards, which it did on the mentioned date. In its first flight Akasa Air flew from Mumbai to Ahmedabad after it received the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Akasa Air witnessed an inaugural ceremony conducted at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, where the Co-founder of the airline company Vinay Dubey gave a speech. Besides, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala joined the other passengers onboard in the maiden flight of the company. The passengers of Akasa Air, elated as they were on the first flight, shared numerous photos and videos of the iconic Akasa Air flight.
Akasa Air has also disclosed that it will offer 28 weekly flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Akasa Air has already revealed the destinations and has started bookings for the same as well. Some of the destinations along with their starting dates are:
State in India
City
Airport
Dates
Gujarat
Ahmedabad
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
August 7, 2022
Karnataka
Bengaluru
Kempegowda International Airport
August 13, 2022
Kerala
Kochi
Cochin International Airport
August 13, 2022
Maharashtra
Mumbai
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport
August 7, 2022
The company got its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from DGCA after it completed the proving flights that were required to be done, on July 7, 2022. Akasa Air started taking flight bookings on its website on July 22, 2022.
Akasa Air Crew Members’ Dress
#AkasaCrewLook | Comfortable, Eco-Friendly & Fun. Presenting the all-new Akasa Air crew uniforms designed to keep our organisation’s core value of putting the comfort of our employees and the environment first. Read More: https://t.co/aAmFbywJIapic.twitter.com/T9jmztMNb7
The Akasa Air dresses for the crew members are designed keeping in mind the all-around comfort of the airline’s crew. Akasa Air is the first Indian airline that introduced customer trousers and jackets.
The clothes of Akasa Air were specially made for the airline service provider. The fabric of the jackets and the trousers are weaved out of recycled polyester fabric, made from pet plastic bottles salvaged from marine waste. The uniforms are stretchable.
Beauty and comfort were kept in mind while designing these clothes. Rajesh Pratap Singh designed the uniform of Akasa Air. Akasa Air uniforms have combined soft colour combos that include black, white, and blue for the pilots, and orange and black for the crew, which ooze class and comfort. The sneakers that the crew members will sport are designed by Vanilla Moon. These shoes will be light and are lined with an extra wall of cushion from heel to toe. The sneakers are made out of recycled rubber and don’t use plastic in any way.
How to Book Akasa Air Flights?
If you are wondering how to book Akasa Air flights, then booking your seat in the next Akasa Air flight is a cakewalk. Here are some simple steps you need to follow to do it successfully:
First, you need to visit the Akasa Air website and log in to your account through the mobile app of the airline operator using your mobile number.
Then, you need to add the details of your travel which would include whether it is a one-way or a round trip and more. After entering these details, you would get all the information about the flights and their fares.
Next, you would have the option to enter add-ons including your favourite meals and more.
Then, update your passenger information
In the last step, you need to choose your preferred payment option to complete the process.
Akasa Air – Logo, Symbol, and Tagline
Akasa Air – Logo
Akasa Air chose “Sunrise Orange” and “Passionate Purple” for its branding, which reflects warmth and energy. The company announced its symbol and tagline on December 22, 2021, and mentioned that they were inspired by the elements of the sky.
The airline, which is operated by SNV Aviation and backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, mentioned that the symbol, which resembles ‘The Rising A’, reflects “the warmth of the rising sun, the effortless flight of a bird, and the dependability of an aircraft wing”.
The logo of Akasa Air and its tagline helps in “translating our purpose to serve every traveller with an innovative yet simple alternative required a modern and confident symbol”, said Vinay Dube, Founder, MD, and CEO of Akasa Air.
“It’s Your Sky”, says the Akasa Air Tagline.
The brand symbol and tagline of Akasa were weaved in by 26FIVE India Lab, which is a brand engagement firm headquartered in Mumbai, Maharastra.
Akasa Air – Future Plans
Akasa Air has planned to have 18 aircraft by the end of 2022, as confirmed by Vinay Dube, the CEO, Founder, and MD of the airline company. Furthermore, it looks to add 12-14 aircrafts per year. Within the next 5 years, Akasa Air is planning to possess nearly 72 aircraft, added Dube.
Dube further announced that Akasa Air will initially have services from metro cities to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and will also operate flights to major cities across India.
Conclusion
Even with its risks and unpredictability, the foundation set by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala through Akasa Air is revolutionary without any doubt. The changes it can bring to air travel by democratising prices can be phenomenal.
They have a very efficient and talented team to fall back on, which further increases the probability of a successful materialisation of their idea. There is absolutely no doubt about the anxiety that the loss of Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways, and SpiceJet brings to the table.
However, it will be rather interesting to learn the ways in which Akasa Air with heavy support from a brilliant investor like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala will make his dream of ULCC come true for the good of all!
FAQs
What is Akasa airline?
Akasa airline company, Akasa Air, belongs to SNV Aviation Private Limited, and is an airline company, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and is created to serve as an Indian low-cost airline service operator.
Who is the founder of the Akasa airline company, Akasa Air?
Akasa Air is an ultra-low-cost carrier backed by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.
Who are the competitors of Akasa Air?
Jet Airways, Air India, and Indigo are some of the competitors of Akasa Air.
When will the Akasa Air flights commence?
The flights of Akasa Air are expected to start on August 7, 2022, and will begin to be operational between the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route.
What is the Rakesh Jhunjhunwala airlines company called?
The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala airlines company is named Akasa Air.
What are the Akasa Air destinations?
Akasa Air is expected to operate in the Indian states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, and Maharashtra.
As early as a day ago, the news headlines screamed about Snapchat losing USD 10 billion as its stock fell at a 52-week low. The company lost nearly 40% of its value and reported a net loss of USD 422 million. This is a consecutive loss after it reported a loss of USD 152 million the previous year as well.
Snapchat Inc. later renamed Snap Inc., developed the American multimedia instant messaging app Snapchat. It was created by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown, all former students of Stanford University. Snapchat app became known for representing the new mobile-first direction for social media. It places significant importance on users interacting with virtual stickers and augmented reality objects.
Snapchat’s principal feature is that pictures and stories are available only for a short time to their recipients. Over time the app has evolved from a person-to-person photo sharing to now sharing ‘stories’ of 24 hours of chronological content. It also allows brands to show ad-supported short-form content. Its privacy includes allowing users to keep their personal photos in a password-protected space called ‘my eyes only’.
Snapchat exchanges more than four billion snaps a day. It registered a 23% growth last year in its user base registering a total of 293 million daily active users. Due to its popularity among the younger generation, specifical users under the age of 16 years, it has raised privacy concerns for the parents.
The Rising Fame of Snapchat
Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown worked closely together to develop the app, which was initially, launched in July 2011 as ‘Picaboo’. The app was so named due to its feature of disappearing pictures. It was relaunched as Snapchat in September 2011. From thereon, the company turned its focus from branding efforts to usability and technical aspects.
2012 – Trouble started brewing between the three app developers over the partnership and it took on the form of a legal battle.
2012 – The CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel described the company’s mission – “Snapchat isn’t about capturing the traditional Kodak moment. It’s about communicating with the full range of human emotion—not just what appears to be pretty or perfect.” He further elaborated and positioned Snapchat as the solution to the stress that was created due to the longevity of personal data on social media
2012 – This resulted in an increase of Snapchat images sent per second from 25 in May 2012 to 20 million images per day by November of that year. Within a space of 6 months, users had shared over one billion photos on the Snapchat iOS app
2012 – Snapchat also released the Android app in October this year
2013 – A new version 5.0 of Snapchat was released for iOS. New features were available in this updated version like speed and design enhancements, swipe navigation, an improved friend finder and in-app profiles
2013 – In June Snapchat introduced Snapkidz. This app was made for children under 13 years of age. It was a part of Snapchat and activated only when the user verified their age by keying in his/her birthdate. This app only allowed users to click photos and draw restricting them to send to other users. Also, any photos could only be saved locally on the device being used.
2014 – In September Reggie Brown settled with Spiegel and Murphy for USD 157.5 million and was also credited as one of the authors of Snapchat
2015 – Snapchat’s users were sending 6 billion videos per day by November
2016 – In a few short months that figure reached 10 billion videos per day
2016 – By May of this year, Snapchat had generated strong investor interest and raised USD 8.1 billion in equity offering
2017 – The app’s popularity had grown its daily active user base of 166 million by May
2017 – In November Snapchat ran into a spot of trouble when its redesign was not received enthusiastically. This caused Snap Inc., to lose USD 1.3 billion in market value
2019 – Snapchat rallied and by the end of the year had ranked as the fifth most downloaded app of the decade
2020 – Snapchat acquired AI Factory, a computer vision start-up to boost its video capabilities
2020 – In November Snapchat announced ‘Snapchat Spotlight’. It declared a total pay out of USD 1 million a day to users posting viral videos. However, the criteria for a video to be considered viral was not specified, nor was there any clarification on the distribution of the prize money
2022 – Last month Snapchat announced its plans to launch Snapchat Plus – a subscription-based model. The subscription will allow its users access to additional features and an ability to change the app icon.
The Reason for the Loss
Snap Inc., the camera and social media company went public in 2017 with a share value of USD 27. In October of 2021 its stock price peaked at USD 83. The stock saw a deep plunge of 25% just a few days before after the company posted a Q2 loss of USD 422 million.
The company’s second-quarter investor letter read – “The second quarter of 2022 proved more challenging than we expected, Our financial results for Q2 do not reflect the scale of our ambition. We are not satisfied with the results we are delivering, regardless of the current headwinds.”
Although Snap’s user base has grown from the first-quarter’s 332 million to second-quarter’s 347 million daily active users, the company’s losses have been attributed to a few broader reasons
Increase in cost of revenue – payments to content partners, costs of creating content and inventory costs for Spectacles – the company’s camera-enabled sunglasses.
Snapchat’s rejection of USD 3 billion from Facebook resulted in Facebook turning Instagram into a formidable competition to Snapchat. Instagram offers the same features made better than Snapchat.
The reduced advertising content on Snapchat is increasing pressure on revenue.
Economic challenges mean Snap is facing rising inflation and interest rates, supply chain shortages, labour disruption, policy changes as regards to the platform and, of course, the effects of the ongoing war.
The company has announced a significant slow-down of the hiring process.
The Future of Snapchat
Apple’s change in privacy policy has adversely affected many social media platforms and Snapchat is no exception. In April 2021, Apple announced it would ask iPhone users for permission before allowing social media apps to track their activity. This move is likely to be replicated by Google for Android devices. This move threatens companies like Snap whose revenue is largely dependent on selling smartphone ads.
However, the company is already on a quest of diverse revenue streams. It has already launched or has begun developing several new features designed to encourage users to buy products from brands within the app. It will allow Snap to earn commissions and increase revenue.
The company is, although going through a troubled time, by no means finished. It is already ideating and creating new revenue streams to emerge stronger and post substantial profits in the future.
FAQs
Why did Snapchat lose $10 billion?
Apple’s change of privacy policy, tough competition, and rescued advertising content were some of the reasons why Snapchat stocks dropped.
What is the future of Snapchat?
The future of Snapchat depends on the new features the app may introduce and its subscription services.
India’s long history of promising and successful eCommerce startups also includes some well-known crashes too. ShopClues, an online shopping marketplace venture is a great example here as it rose to great heights before facing a hard fall. The startup tasted success so well that it even acquired the status of India’s fourth unicorn in 2016. But it couldn’t maintain its status for long as a series of events contributed to its downfall. This article will go through the reasons behind ShopClues’s failure.
The advent and wide use of the internet have ensured at least one element – the ability to create branching platforms. In this manner, most aspects of the pre-internet era have transformed to become more accessible and attainable. One such facet is the marketplace.
The traditional physical marketplace has been replaced almost completely by an online space for selling and buying. Contrary to the belief almost 30 years ago, eCommerce spaces are here to stay and thrive at it. There are various reasons why the eCommerce marketplace is booming throughout the world. These include:
It covers almost all borders and distances to bring products to a marketing platform.
It ensures more widespread access to products that were previously closed off to people because of geographical distances, low awareness, lack of access, etc.
It promotes and employs a greater amount of employees than any traditional selling platform.
These are some of the many reasons why eCommerce conglomerates like Amazon, eBay, Joi, Nykaa, etc., have created a successful space for eCommerce to flourish in most parts of the world.
In recent years, the Indian market has opened up multiple avenues to small businesses looking to transform into sustainable eCommerce businesses. The country also promotes established online commercial platforms. Therefore, eCommerce platforms like Amazon India, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Nykaa, Myntra, and more, have gone on to see great success in the Indian subcontinent.
However, these successes are balanced by major businesses that have failed to sustain themselves and secure a long-term future. One such company is ShopClues. Its rise and crash have been among well-noted cases in the eCommerce world.
ShopClues is an online marketplace, similar to Snapdeal and Amazon India. The eCommerce platform was founded 11 years ago in July 2011 by Sanjay Sethi, Sandeep Aggarwal, and Radhika Aggarwal. Owned by Clues Network Pvt. Ltd., the headquarters are situated in Gurugram, Haryana, India. The brand served the interests of the Indian consumerist client as an online shopping space.
The brand operates under the banner of ‘Made in India.’ At a time when Indians were beginning to look for ways to reduce dependency on China for goods and materials, platforms like ShopClues came to the forefront. People saw these online establishments as the perfect solution to a more patriotic and unified image of India. ShopClues certainly profited off of this value, offering goods made in India as well as foreign products at considerable discounts. Moreover, instead of focusing on large urban metro cities, the brand concentrated on selling basic and practical products related to cleaning, kitchen, apparel, electronics, and other items to Tier II and Tier III cities. Within two years of its existence, ShopClues boasted one million active users.
As a result, the brand saw major investors like Tiger Global, Helion Ventures, and Nexus Venture Partners invested in ShopClues. According to Forbes India, the brand possessed a value of $1.1 billion in 2016 and therefore, acquired the status of a unicorn startup in India.
With such success, where did the brand go wrong? How did ShopClues lose such a massive chunk of its revenue in later years? Let us go on to find out the answers.
The success of an eCommerce venture goes beyond selling its products. From rival companies to internal affairs, a lot more goes behind the brand’s capability of running operations smoothly. Sustaining a project as well as ensuring a stream of profits at the end of every fiscal year is not as easy as it sounds. ShopClues also faced many hurdles that led to its downfall. Below, we are going to take a look at some of the most prominent issues ShopClues had to deal with and ended up failing disastrously:
Aggressive Rival Tactics
When ShopClues came about and gained traction in the Indian consumerist sector, eCommerce businesses were a thing of rarity. Its founders took advantage of this in 2011 and began to market its products accordingly. However, by 2014, Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart began to focus their attention on establishing online shopping platforms in India.
Whereas Flipkart was seen as only an online bookstore and Amazon as a western organization. Both began to aggressively market themselves to remove rivals. This affected the growth and consolidation of ShopClues, which became the small fish surrounded by sharks. New rivals with better and more refined marketing skills overpowered any model ShopClues could produce. This was one of the reasons behind the failure of ShopClues.
False Branding
The company also suffered losses in terms of its offerings. In 2011, the vision was to bring urban goods to sub-urban and rural spaces that lacked the opportunity to access the same. However, complaints from consumers began to stream in that the products were fake. The Luxottica Group, the owner of Ray-Ban, alleged that ShopClues had been selling Ray-Ban products under fake labellings. The accusation prompted the Delhi High Court to pull up the Indian brand for selling the products despite previous warnings. This adversely affected the image of ShopClues among the public.
Poor Quality Products
Alongside fake products, reports also came in that the brand was dealing people with poor-quality products. Despite the low costs and exciting offers, the products were not up to par. Many users complained of scams and dupes perpetrated by the company. People did not receive their goods or refunds on time. The customer support option was unavailable to most pleas for help. This created bad blood among users towards the brand and affected ShopClue’s image.
Internal Scandals
Multiple scandals rocked the company over and over. The founder and CEO of ShopClues, Sandeep Agarwal, was charged with insider trading allegations in 2013. Consequently, Aggarwal was arrested in the United States where he accepted a plea bargain on the accusations and pleaded guilty. He resigned from the post of CEO of ShopClues the same year.
2017 saw a stormy year for the brand internally. Sandeep Aggarwal blamed Radhika (his estranged wife) for forcing him out of the company. Subsequently, the couple split up and continued to spar publicly over voting privileges and charges of fraud. Aggarwal then made a humiliating Facebook post regarding his wife and also filed a case of criminal defamation against Sethi and Radhika. He accused them of downplaying his contribution as the creator and founder of ShopClues. All such scandals among the founders created a false image of the platform in the public eyes.
ShopClues – Negative Reviews and Scandals
Migration of Consumers
With a clear lack of invigorating and innovative business foundations and adaptability, ShopClues was slated for failure when the big names came into the fight. Platforms like Amazon and Flipkart started gaining popularity and trust among the consumers and ShopClues did not have an adequate plan to retain its consumer base, leading to a collective exit of many consumers towards other platforms.
Extreme Cost-Cutting Measures
Due to continued failures, ShopClues decided to undergo extreme measures to save costs. Hundreds of employees were regularly laid off every year after 2016. In fact, more than 200 employees were laid off in 2017 itself. ShopClues’ expenses decreased by a whopping 60% between 2018 to 2020. The financial year of 2018 saw Rs. 363.4 crores in expenses which went down to Rs. 278 crores in 2019. 2020 saw a further dramatic decrease of Rs. 148.6 crores.
ShopClues shortened its budget for ads and promotions down to 80% in 2018. It further slashed costs to 60% in 2019. The shipment cost dropped completely down to 100%. There were no reports of transport or charges for hiring in the fiscal year of 2020, so it is assumed that these costs were also slashed.
Conclusion
ShopClues had all the makings of being a successful eCommerce platform with viability. However, various factors like competition, a lack of business initiatives, and unclear modules of operation left the company in the dust. Its internal affairs and state of handling procedure also had a hand in ShopClues becoming a redundant business that was once a shining avenue.
FAQs
Is ShopClues an Indian company?
Yes, ShopClues is an Indian company founded by Sandeep Aggarwal, Radhika Aggarwal, and Sanjay Sethi in the year 2011. The company has its headquarters in Gurugram, Haryana, India.
Who acquired ShopClues?
ShopClues was acquired by Singapore-based Qoo10 in a stock deal in the year 2019 for a valuation between 70 to 100 million USD.
Is ShopClues a failure?
ShopClues had many reasons that led the startup towards its failure. These include false branding, rival tactics, internal scandals, and the lack of trust among the customers.
Is ShopClues unicorn?
ShopClues acquired unicorn status in the year 2016 with a valuation of around $1.1 billion, making it the fourth unicorn startup in India. However, the company could not hold this valuation for long and ultimately got sold to Qoo10 at a valuation between $70-$100 million.
An accounting software package developed and marketed by Intuit Inc., Quickbooks was first introduced in 1983. It is mainly geared towards small and medium enterprises and offers on-premises accounting applications. It also offers cloud-based versions that accept business payments, payroll functions and bill management and payment.
In June this year the company made a surprising announcement – “As of July 1, 2022, no new sign-ups to QuickBooks products in India will be accepted. Prior to July 31, all existing customers will be switched to a free subscription that will enable them to continue using QuickBooks until January 31, 2023, with no charges applied. Customers who paid an annual subscription will receive a pro-rata refund for the unused part of their subscription.”
It also announced – “The decision to retire QuickBooks products in India does not impact Intuit’s ongoing presence and commitment to investing in top tech talent in the country. The 1,300+ strong team in India continues to deliver bold innovation that impacts more than 100 million Intuit customers around the world,”
What comes as a surprise is that Intuit announced an exit at a time when Indian SMEs are increasingly digitizing their processes including bookkeeping, inventory and even delivery. This has gained speed since the pandemic. Many SMEs are, also, collaborating with SaaS startups to increase efficiency.
This move by Intuit will help its Indian competitors like Zoho and Tally to increase their market share. In fact, Zoho has already stepped in to fill the gap caused by Intuit’s exit.
“At Zoho, we understand how challenging it can be for businesses to find a replacement for their existing financial system. Zoho Books will be glad to serve the needs of those businesses looking for an alternative solution, and help them transition smoothly,” said Prashant Ganti, head of products tax, accounting and payroll, Zoho.
So, the question is – Why has Intuit QuickBooks decided to exit the Indian Market? To understand this, here’s a quick look at what is Quickbooks and what are the services it offers.
Quickbooks – When, Where and How Was It Developed?
In 1983, Scott Cook and Tom Proulx co-founded Intuit Inc, in California, USA. The company first developed ‘Quicken’, a product for individual financial management that will be immensely successful. Following this, it developed similar services for small business owners.
The first Release
Quickbooks was initially released as a DOS version based on the Quicken code base. The software gained success among small business owners with no training in accounting. Quickbooks continued to grow and soon claimed 83% of the local market in the USA by 2013.
Professional Accountants, however, were quick to point out the weak links in the software – poor security control, absence of audit trail and non-conformity with traditional accounting standards.
Subsequent Releases
The criticism from Professional Accounts did not go unheeded. Intuit is set to work improving upon their software constantly.
Year 2000 – Intuit developed Basic and Pro Versions and included full audit trail capabilities, double-entry accounting function and increased functions.
Year 2002 – Intuit launched Quickbooks Enterprise Solutions for medium-sized businesses.
Year 2003 – Started offering industry-specific versions with workflow processes and reports including terminology specific to the trade.
Year 2005 – Cornered 74% of the US market
Year 2008 – More than 50,000 accountants, CPAs and independent consultants were a part of the Quickbooks ProAdvisor Program.
Year 2014 – Quickbooks released the Quickbooks 2015 versions including features being requested by users in the past. It included improved version of the income tracker, pinned notes, an improved registration process and insights on the homepage.
Year 2015 – Release of Quickbooks 2016 with improvement to existing features and new features like batch transaction, bill tracking, continuous feed label printer support, batch delete/void transactions etc.
Year 2016 – Release of Quickbooks 2017 with improvements like automated reports, smart search and improved viewing of report filters.
Year 2017 – Release of Quickbooks 2018 with added features like mobile inventory barcode scanning, multi-monitor support, search in the chart of accounts and mobile inventory scanning.
Year 2018 – release of Quickbooks 2019 with added unique features like a history tracker for customer invoices, the ability to transfer credits between other jobs for the same customer and a payroll adjustment feature.
Year 2019 – release of Quickbooks 2020 aiming at improving experience quality and reliability. All desktop versions were packed with new features like the ability to add customer PO numbers in email subject lines, send batch invoices to customers, automated payment reminders, collapse and expand columns and easy updates.
Year 2020 – release of Quickbooks 2021 with improved payment processes and automated features. Desktop editions of this version have streamlined bank feeds, automated receipt management, rule-based customer groups, payment reminders, customized payment receipts, data level permissions and batch delete sales orders.
Intuit’s Quickbooks versions are available in many different international markets. The Canadian, British and Australian divisions of the company offer Quickbooks that support the unique tax calculation needs of each of these regions.
QuickBooks India Journey
Quickbooks entered India in 2012 providing its products and services for accountancy and small businesses. Its product portfolio included cloud accounting, inventory management, cash flow management and invoicing.
With its entry, Quickbooks positioned itself to target 2 million broadband-connected small businesses. With its friendly features like affordability, accessibility, ease of use and ease of installation and maintenance, it quickly gained popularity.
In 2017, Quickbooks covered a major milestone by making the software GST compliant. It also announced an agreement with Visa to strengthen business propositions for SME customers.
The Indian Disconnection
After a decade of operations in the country, it has announced its exit. It has also requested all its clients to download their data and transition out of Quickbooks. With a customer base of four million globally, Intuit’s Indian customers barely constitute 1-2%.
Its official statement for exit declared – “This difficult decision to discontinue QuickBooks has been made as the company can no longer deliver and support a product that meets the needs of customers in India,”
There are compelling reasons for the discontinuation of Quickbooks.
Indian SMEs constitute anything from a local grocery store to manufacturers or suppliers to big brands. This poses a unique challenge to the design of the accounting software.
It is mandatory to have a precise understanding of the challenges and requirements of the SME industry
The short time frame, especially for an international player, is a huge roadblock to developing an understanding of an SME market like India which is not straightforward.
Standardising a product or a service for this segment is not easy
Indian Government’s initiative of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ has also played a key role in promoting homegrown businesses like Zoho and Tally which offer similar services and are also cost-competitive
Conclusion
With this exit announcement, an era is coming to an end. It’s a story that, on one side reflects the inability of a company to keep abreast of the SME requirements in the country, and, on the other spells triumph for homegrown SaaS companies offering similar services with a deeper understanding.
FAQs
Why did QuickBooks exit India?
One reason QuickBooks is planning to leave India is the Indian market is really competitive.
Can I still use QuickBooks after the subscription expires?
Yes, you can use QuickBooks after your subscription ends but you will not receive any security updates.
Ola is a Bengaluru-based ride-sharing company that only a few people are ignorant of. Ever since Ola cabs became operational in all the major cities throughout India, it has become our go-to option. Along with the US-based Uber, Ola is one of the most dominating ride-sharing companies that offers the users a wide range of vehicles and renting options to choose from!
India’s leading mobility platform, Ola has been operating since 2010, when it was founded and has already streamlined its ride-booking and car renting service and its different modes throughout these years with a focus on its users to add to its growth.
Now, Ola has also chosen to empower sustainable development and therefore, came up with its unique concept of “e-scooters” or what we term as “electric scooters”. With Ankit Jain, Anand Shah, Bhavish Aggarwal, and Ankit Bhati as Co-founders, Ola Electric was founded in 2017 and is set to conquer the world with its unique electric vehicles. However, except for Bhavish Aggarwal, everyone else has stepped down from being Co-founders and has also exited the firm eventually. The Founder and CEO of Ola, is also the CEO of Ola Electric, along with being its Founder.
If you have already heard about them and are curious to learn everything about electric scooters, then you can keep this article handy because here we bring you all that you would like to know about these vehicles, including Ola electric scooter booking, Ola E-vehicle price, Ola Electric scooter price Bangalore, Ola Electric scooter range, Ola Electric scooter specifications, Ola charging scooter, Ola Electric scooter helmet and more.
Why Ola Electric Scooter is much like a “Revolution on two wheels”?
Yes, coming up with Ola electric scooters will certainly help people lose track of the rising costs of fossil fuels and all the morbid thoughts about the exhaustion of our fossil fuel reserves and their likes.
Ola electric is certainly a revolutionary idea and even its tagline says so. The tagline for Ola electric scooter says, “Ready or not, a revolution is coming” along with a motivating hashtag #JoinTheRevolution.
Here are the 3 key features that the Ola Electric scooter boasts of:
Big on Acceleration – The Ola electric scooters would be furnished with acceleration to envy and will allow the users to stay ahead on the road.
High on handling – Along with providing a remarkable acceleration, these bikes are also slick and promise exceptional handling on any surface.
Larger boot space – Ola Electric vehicles also come with a large boot space that is capable of storing two helmets and more important things you would need along the ride.
Ola Electric – Birth of the Entity
Ola has announced that its electricity-powered scooter manufacturing company would be different from its ride-sharing wing. They are two different lines of businesses under ANI Technologies where the former will continue to be a ride-hailing business whereas the latter would be associated with the manufacturing and selling of electric scooters.
Ola Electric Scooters – Built, Colour Variants, Specifications, and Charging
Ola has disclosed that their electric scooters will be made available in 2 versions – the Ola Series S – Ola S1, and the top-of-the-line Ola S1 Pro. The company has already launched S1 and S1 Pro scooters with prices starting from Rs 99,999 and Rs 1,29,999, respectively.
Ola electric acquired Etergo BV back in 2020 and announced that the Ola electric scooter is based on the Etergo Appscooter. The company has already adopted the platform of Etergo to be used in India in order to deliver better performance.
Etergo Appscooter
Looking at the Ola Electric scooter specifications, it is great to announce that the Ola electric scooters paces on 12-inch black alloy wheels. Talking about the design of the vehicles, they are clean and sleek in appearance and devoid of any other redundancies. The Ola e-scooters also feature a twin-pod LED headlamp that has an LED strip running around it.
Ola electric scooter
Furthermore, these also have single-sided telescopic front suspensions and their rear shock absorbers are mounted horizontally, with the disc brakes slotted front and in the rear. The pillion footpegs of the scooter fold flush into the bodywork of the vehicles, and at the back, there are chunky pillion grab handles, ending in clear-lens tail-lights.
These scooters are also claimed to be launched with the largest boot space ever, which are capable of accommodating two half-face helmets and still have space for packing in more.
Ola Electric Scooter boot space
As per the batteries, Ola bikes’ batteries are not swappable types. It will rather run on a standard charging system. The Ola S1 Pro charging time, when charged at home is 6 hours and 30 minutes, while the Ola S1 will be fully charged at home in about 4 hours and 48 minutes.
Ola electric scooter’s riding range for the S1 model is 121 km and for its S1 Pro model, it is around 181 km per charge. The latter also includes the Hyper Mode, which is not present in the former model. However, as per the reports in December 2021, the Ola S1 Pro will have a range of 135 km at full charge, which is the true range of these scooters. The earlier mentioned range by the mobility giant was clarified as the range of the E-scooters only on test conditions.
Ola’s electric scooters are reportedly equipped with a 7.0-inch TFT colour display that will feature in-built navigation, onboard diagnostics, and other infotainment functions, and will be powered by an Android operating system.
Matte black, matte pink, and matte sky blue were some of the colour options that were disclosed by Ola initially. However, currently, the S1 Pro model comes in 10 different colours, which are:
Midnight Blue
Matt Black
Millenial Pink
Liquid Silver
Anthracite Grey
Porcelain White
Neo Mint
Marshmallow
Jet Black
Coral Glam,
On the other hand, the S1 model of Ola Electric scooters comes in 5 colours – Porcelain White, Midnight Blue, Coral Glam, Jet Black, and Marshmallow.
The owners of Ola Electric vehicles will be able to charge their scooters using a standard 5A socket by using the portable 750 W charger that comes with the Ola Electric scooter. Furthermore, you can also charge it at one of its ‘Hypercharger’ charging stations. The company has already announced that it will make the stations live for charging scooters in over 100 cities initially, which will eventually cover over 400 cities.
The first Ola Electric Hypercharger was launched on October 25, 2021, ahead of the planned test drives of the Ola electric vehicles scheduled for November 10, 2021. The S1 test rides of the vehicles have already started, and have received an encouraging response from all across the country, as per the reports of November 20, 2021. Furthermore, after witnessing the overwhelming response that Ola S1 scooters have received, Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO of Ola, has decided to extend the test rides to over 1000 cities by December 15, 2021.
Amazed and proud to see the strong response to our S1 test rides! Thousands of you have tried & loved it! We’re now expanding test rides to 1000+ cities across India by Dec 15. This is the largest direct to consumer outreach in Indian automotive history! #JoinTheRevolutionpic.twitter.com/ErxXkflQzO
Ola Electric has invested in StoreDot and thereby partnered with the Israel-based company that works on batteries to develop them for drones and electric vehicles and replace the lithium-ion component in the batteries. With this partnership, Ola Electric plans to equip its EVs with extremely fast-charging batteries that will be charged from 0-100% in just 5 minutes. The EV giant also happens to eye towards foraying into the battery-making space in India soon. Here goes the latest tweet from Ola Chief on March 21, 2022, when he spoke on the same:
We’re investing big into future cell tech. Excited to announce a strategic partnership with StoreDot of Israel. Will be working together to soon bring to market and manufacture its pioneering extreme fast charging cell tech, capable of charging 0-100% in 5 mins in India. (1/2)
The electric vehicles of Ola are currently manufactured in its electric scooter factory in Tamil Nadu, which has a capacity of producing 2 million vehicles annually and the numbers will rise to 10 million by the end of 2022.
Yes, Ola Electric is in process of building its factory, OLA FutureFactory in Tamil Nadu, which will cover an area of around 500 acres. Having 100 acres of forest cover, 2 acres of forest inside, and with negative carbon footprint, Ola FutureFactory is hailed as the world’s most sustainable two-wheeler factory.
The Ola factory boasts a production capacity of 10 million units per year and will operate with the help of over 3000+ AI-powered robots that will have precision robot welding, an advanced automotive paint shop, 100% in-house battery manufacturing, and more. The FutureFactory of Ola will assemble 25000+ motors per day, which will make it the world’s most advanced two-wheeler factory.
The Ola FutureFactory that is set up at Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, is believed to be the world’s largest 2-wheeler factory that is planned with the facilities to roll out 1 vehicle every 2 seconds. Phase 1 of the plant is nearly complete. The FutureFactory of Ola celebrated 1 year of its production facility on February 10, 2022.
Exactly a year ago we bought the Futurefactory land and did bhumi pujan. Yesterday we celebrated the foundation day with 2000 women.
Saluting the Girl power at the Futurefactory who showed what it takes to start a revolution. Inspired by their energy and enthusiasm! pic.twitter.com/o9CtkiP4ew
One of the most unique aspects of this FutureFactory is that the Ola factory’s workforce only consists of women, which is the first of such initiatives in the history of Indian automobiles. When it celebrated its 1 year of existence, the Ola FutureFactory had 2000+ women employed, which has a capacity of employing 10,000+ women. This initiative of Ola furthers the possibilities for women leading industries by a step.
Ola might install a solar rooftop to power its factory and cut down on the electricity bills.
What is the price of Ola Electric Scooters?
The website of the Indian multinational ride-sharing company initially declared that the Ola e-scooters would be competitively priced. According to sources close to Ola, these scooters were expected to be priced around Rs 1 lakh mark.
The prices, as unveiled, later on, are tagged at Rs 99,999 and 1,29,999 for S1 and S1 Pro models respectively. At this price segment, these vehicles will compete with the likes of the Bajaj e-Chetak, Ather 450X, and TVS iQube.
Here’s looking at the current prices as per the Ola Electric website:
Ex Showroom Prices in India
Ola S1
Ola S1 Pro
Gujarat
INR 79,999
INR 1,09,999
Delhi
INR 85, 099
INR 1,10,149
Rajasthan
INR 89,968
INR 1,19,138
Maharashtra
INR 94,999
INR 1,24,999
Other Indian States
INR 99,999
INR 1,29,999
Now, as we see, the Ola E vehicle price varies from state to state where Gujarat is apparently having them at the least available ex-showroom prices. Apart from the mentioned states, all other states like Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and more will have their Ola vehicles with starting prices of INR 99,999. Now, if you are looking for Ola electric scooter price in Bangalore, then it would also be starting from INR 99,999.
If you are eager to learn about OLA Electric bike booking and purchase one of such vehicles, then you don’t have to worry anymore because here are some easy steps that will help you with the Ola scooter booking without any hassles. Here’s answering “how to book an OLA scooter online?” with some easy-to-follow steps:
First, you need to visit the official website of Ola electric: www.olaelectric.com and then click/tap on the ‘Reserve for Rs 499’ button, which appears at the top-right corner of your screen.
Now, you need to enter your mobile number, click on the captcha verification box to verify the same, and then click/tap on the Next option.
You will then receive an OTP on your mobile number, which you will need to type in and then click/tap on the Next option.
Then you will get a dialogue box that says ‘Total Payable – Rs 499’ and will offer 3 payment options – Debit/Credit card, UPI, and Netbanking.
After that, you need to choose your preferred payment option, after which you will be redirected to the payment gateway.
After making the payment you will see the final screen, which will confirm your Ola booking by saying “Congrats, you are now part of the revolution.”
As soon as you have completed making the payment, you will receive the order ID and other details via SMS or email to the mobile number and the email address provided.
Ola Electric – Founders and Team
Ola Electric had earlier listed Ankit Jain, Anand Shah, Bhavish Aggarwal, and Ankit Bhati as Founders, but later on, everyone else left the company, making Bhavish Aggarwal, the sole Founder of the company, as of May 12, 2022. Anand Shah was the first founder to leave the company, Ola Electric in 2019. This resignation was followed by Ankit Jain, one of the closest confidantes of Bhavish. Jain left the company in August 2020. Ankit Bhati also left the company in 2020.
Bhavish Aggarwal
Bhavish Aggarwal – Founder and CEO of Ola Electric
Bhavish Aggarwal is the brain behind Ola Electric and Ola, who founded Ola Electric with the other founders. The Co-founder and CEO of Ola and Ola Electric is a B.Tech engineer from IIT Bombay and has been a Research Intern and an Assistant Researcher at Microsoft before he founded Ola.
Ola has already roped in Wayne Burgess, a Jaguar design veteran who also served as the Design Director of Jaguar Production and SVO Vehicles, and plans to make their vehicles big on design, bringing in the global appeal to the vehicles.
Wayne Burgess
Besides, Ola is also planning to launch an indigenously built car in order to foray into the electric four-wheeler industry, which will also get a major boost in its design with Burgess leading their team as the VP of Design. The Ola electric cars are expected to be launched in the next 2-3 years and would be produced in a new Ola 4W factory, which will be a new factory that is yet to be built. The Ola Electric Futurefactory would only stay for 2-wheelers. According to the latest update by Ola chief Bhavish Aggarwal, the Ola electric 4-wheeler would be the sportiest car ever built in India. The 4W factory of Ola would need an additional 1,000 acres of land for its 4-wheeler factory and its proposed gigafactory, which will manufacture cells for both its 2-wheelers and 4-wheeler vehicles.
Funding received by Ola Electric Mobility
Ola Electric Mobility, the subsidiary of Ola responsible for manufacturing Ola Electric scooters, has raised a total funding of $1.5 billion to date over 12 funding rounds and is powered by 21 investors in total. The last Ola Electric funding round was raised on October, 26, 2023 when the company raised $240 million.
The lead investors of Ola Electric Mobility include big names like Softbank, Tata Sons Private Limited, Matrix Partners India, Tiger Global Management, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors, and more.
Here’s a glimpse into all the prominent funding rounds that OLA Electric has seen so far:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
October 26, 2023
Debt Financing
$240 million
State Bank of India
September 7, 2023
Venture Round
$140 miilion
Temasek Holdings
May 22, 2023
Private equity Round
$300 million
–
January 24, 2022
Venture Round
$200 mn
Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, Edelweiss, and others
December 8, 2021
Series C
$53 mn
Temasek Holdings
September 30, 2021
Series C
$200 mn
Alpha Wave Global, Softbank
July 12, 2021
Debt Financing
$100 mn
Bank of Baroda
March 12, 2020
Series B
$1 mn
Pawan Munjal Family Trust
September 16, 2019
Corporate Round
–
Kia Motors, Hyundai Motor Company
July 2, 2019
Series B
$250 mn
Softbank
May 6, 2019
Series A
–
Tata Sons
March 1, 2019
Series A
$53.58 mn
Matrix Partners India, Tiger Global Management
Ola ELectric – Growth
Ola Electric, which started taking bookings in July 2021, has already begun achieving some memorable milestones. Some of them can be summed up as:
Ola Electric has clocked sales worth Rs 1100 crore in just 2 days
It was hailed as the best-selling electric 2-wheeler after Hero Electric in March 2022, when it clocked the sale of 9000+ units.
With over 12689 units of Ola Electric scooters sold in April 2022, Ola Electric was recognised as the highest-selling electric two-wheeler company in India.
Ola has sold 41,024 units in 2022, as reported on June 25, 2022.
Ola Electric New Product
Ola Electric is up for a new product launch on the Independence Day of 2022. There are speculations that this new product is an Ola Electric car. It is on the 15th of August 2021 that the EV manufacturers launched the S1-series of electric scooters. So, we need to keep an eye on that for sure!
Here’s what the Ola chief tweeted with regards to the same:
Super excited to announce a new product this 15th August!
The Independence day launch of Ola Electric would be another Ola Electric scooter, at least as per the trailer that Bhavish launched on Twitter on August 7, 2022. The trailer had a scooter just like Ola S1 Pro, carved out as a silhouette, where he mentioned the “greenest scooter just got greener”.
On 15th August, we’ll be revealing the greenest EV we’ve made! Any guesses? 🇮🇳 😉 pic.twitter.com/aMFxToOSTo
Though there are only subtle mentions of the new launch, the Ola product might be an updated version of the S1 Pro model, or it might be an updated colour of the same. Besides, it might also be an affordable version of the Ola scooters. The launch event of the company will be livestreamed by Ola on the Independence Day.
Ola Electric Scooter Sales
After witnessing a noticeable decline in the number of registrations of EV companies MoM, in April and May, the registrations for EVs rose slightly in June 2022, which increased by 6.8% MoM. The situations or growth stories for big companies like Pure EV, Okinawa, and Ola Electric are a little different though. Ola Electric witnessed a 27.3% decline in May, and then again witnessed a 36.5% decline in June, the registration of which counted to 5874 units. This also resulted in Ola losing out its last month’s second position to Hero Electric, whose registration figures, after witnessing a decline over the last 2 months, sprung back again in June, rising by over 128% MoM. Entities like Ather, Ampere, and Revolt, all witnessed a rise in their vehicle registrations in June 2022 unlike Ola, as of July 2, 2022.
Ola, which peaked in its registrations by registering 12,705 units in April 2022, witnessed a prominent downfall, where the Ola Electric sales fell over one-third, to register 3856 units in July 2022.
Manufacturing Batteries
Ola Electric declared that it would be manufacturing batteries for its scooters, which is why it is in talks with numerous global suppliers to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in India. The battery manufacturing plant will have a capacity of up to 50 gigawatts (GwH) hours, as per reports dated June 8, 2022. The manufacturing expenses of such a plant will be around $1 bn. The capacity of the battery manufacturing plant might initially be 1 Gwh, which would eventually be further upgraded. Suppliers from Korea, Japan, Germany, and other countries might serve as the suppliers of Ola Electric. As per calculations, Ola Electric would be needing 40 GWh of battery capacity to successfully power 10 mn. The company has received incentives along with a few other companies, under the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme, where the Indian government announced the investment of around $2.4 bn worth of funds. This government of India scheme aims to boost the local manufacturing of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries.
The EV manufacturers revealed the first indigenously manufactured Li-ion cell, NMC 2170 on July 13, 2022. This cell is completely manufactured in-house, the mass-production of which is expected to begin in 2023 at its upcoming Gigafactory.
Ola developed the country’s first indigenously developed Li-ion cell, NMC 2170
Ola Electric announced on July 18, 2022, that it will invest $500 mn in its Battery Innovation Centre (BIC), which will be set up in Bengaluru. The BIC will serve as an R&D facility for electric vehicle battery cells. However, the electric vehicle manufacturing company hasn’t disclosed the funding round, and whether it will pour money by itself or depend on external funds.
The MoveOS 3 Firmware Update for Ola S1 and S1 Pro Revealed
The Ola S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters would be receiving the Move OS3 software. It is still being put together, as revealed by the automaker company on July 16, 2022, and would likely be released on October 24, 2022, during Diwali. This new firmware update would equip the scooters with advanced features like Hill hold, proximity unlock, moods, regen v2, hyper charging, calling, key sharing, and more.
Pre-Sale Bookings and Sales Records for the Ola Electric Scooters
Ola opened the option for pre-booking their customers on July 15, 2021. Therefore, everyone who was eager to buy the much-awaited e-scooters, and wanted to stay ahead of their peers could pay a refundable deposit amount of Rs 499.
Ola electric vehicles have witnessed pre-bookings of more than 1 lakh vehicles, as reported on July 17, 2021, the numbers of which increased each second.
The purchase for Ola electric bikes was geared to start from September 8, 2021, and the brand was set to kick start the delivery of the products from October 2021, as of the website status on August 2021. The brand also mentioned then that the purchase of the S1 Pro vehicles will be starting from September 8, 2021, and the Ola scooter delivery will tentatively begin from October 2021 onwards. The booking for Ola S1 and S1 Pro had already started back then and you can also find it live on their website as well as the Ola app even today.
However, Ola S1 scooters couldn’t be bought on the mentioned date due to technical glitches in the developer’s end of the website that failed to make it up and running. The website that would be a one-stop solution for digital purchases, which would also guide the customers with a fully digital loan process without any paperwork, wasn’t live on September 8, 2021. Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal apologized on Twitter for the frustrating experience the customers had to go through and postponed the purchase date to September 15, 8 am. He further reassured that the reservation of the customers in the purchase queue will remain unchanged.
The purchase of the Ola e-scooters went live on the mentioned date, September 15, 2021, at the end of which it was declared by Bhavish Aggarwal that Ola Electric sold 4 scooters/second, which resulted in the sale of scooters worth Rs 600 crores+ in a single day. The total sale of Day 2 was even better as goes the Twitter post of the Co-founder of Ola Cabs, Bhavish Aggarwal:
Day 2 of EV era was even better than Day 1! Crossed ₹1100Cr in sales in 2 days! Purchase window will reopen on Nov 1 so reserve now if you haven’t already.
Ola is also looking to transport their electric scooters to the US by early 2022 as part of its international trade. The CEO of the company, Bhavish Aggarwal has mentioned,
“Yes soon! We will be shipping to the US by early next year,”
in a reply to Vivek Wadhwa, a US-based entrepreneur on Twitter, who earlier referred to the Ola Electric scooters as “the Tesla of Scooters,” further adding, “would love to get one here in Silicon Valley.“
Ola, however, had to postpone the deliveries of the e-vehicles from the month of October to November 2021 due to a global semiconductor shortage. However, the delay has further extended, as per the reports dated November 22, 2021, where the company has decided to defer the first batch of deliveries of its e-scooters to December 15 – 30, 2021, which was earlier expected to happen between October 25 – November 25, 2021.
Ola Electric – IPO
In order to be ready for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), Ola Electric has changed its status to that of a publicly traded corporation. Ola Electric Mobility Private Limited was the company’s previous name and now Ola Electric Mobility Limited before it underwent a corporate restructure in order to reach this noteworthy milestone.
Ola Electric – Partnership
Reliance General Insurance, a private general insurance business, announced a partnership with OLA Electric to offer an Extended Warranty Product in September, 2023.
Ola Electric – Acquisitions
Ola Electric has acquired 1 company to date that goes by the name Etergo.
Name of the Company Acquired
Date of Acquisition
Deal Value
Etergo
May 27, 2020
–
Ola Electric – Investments
Ola Electric has invested in StoreDot, a Tel Aviv-based battery innovating and developing startup that aims to replace the lithium-ion component on the batteries.
Name of the Company
Date of Investment
Funding Round
Lead Investor
StoreDot
March 21, 2022
Corporate Round
Yes
Ola Electric – Challenges
Aiming to transform the types of vehicles and the fuel that fuels them is itself a huge challenge that Ola has embraced with its e-scooters. Ola Electric has also faced many other challenges in its path of making EVs popular, and one of the major challenges is the fire incidents that the vehicle manufacturing company has seen in March 2022. Here are some of the prominent challenges faced by the EV giant so far:
Ola Electric Production Suspended in Tamil Nadu Futurefactory
Ola Electric has paused its production at Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri plant, as of July 30, 2022, for nearly a week. It has piled up 4000+ units at the same factory. Though an ET news previously reported that the company has decided to shut down the factory, an OLA Electric spokesperson refuted the reports, and stated that like all factories need annual maintenance, the Ola Futurefactory did too!
Ola’s Change of Payment Model Reduces Sales
Ola Electric initially used to set multiple payment windows for the customers, which opened on 4 specific dates and helped them pay in 4 instalments. However, on May 28, 2022, the Electric vehicle manufacturer changed that payment model to a one-time full payment model, where the customers will have to pay for their vehicles in full on a single occasion. This change has been impacting Ola Electric sales ever since. In the past 2 weeks, Ola has sold only 130-200 units, as per news dated June 25, 2022. Though this model is allowing the company to offer INR 10,000 discounts to its employees, the total vehicle sales were down by 27.3% MoM in May to 9230 units. The total vehicle sale of Ola stood at 41,024 units on June 25, 2022, so far in 2022.
Fire Incident in Pune
An Ola Electric vehicle set itself on fire in Pune in March 2022. This caused widespread fear and anxiety among all and has also led the company to recall 1441 bikes in order to diagnose them and check their overall health including their batteries, thermal, and safety systems.
Guwahati Accident
Amid the fire incident woes, Ola Electric has faced another criticism involving the son of Balwant Singh, a Twitter user, who alleged that he bought an Ola S1 Pro for his son, which met with an accident on March 26, 2022. This accident, he alleged, was due to a fault in the regenerative braking system. However, Ola Electric, in response to this, posted the telemetry data to prove that there were no issues with their scooter and that the accident was purely due to overspeeding and panic-braking. It also revealed the telemetry data in the form of an official statement on its Twitter handle.
As soon as Ola Electric posted the detailed telemetry report along with relevant graphs, proving that the son of Balwant Singh was overspeeding, and met with an accident, Ola Electric started facing huge backlashes for tracking customer data and publicising the same without the consent of the customers. This led Balwant Singh immediately mail Ola Electric and its authority to take down the personal telemetry data of Balwant’s son that was shared. Any further action taken by Ola was not known, but the fact whether the telemetry data can be considered as a customer’s own private data is debatable truly.
Balwant Singh’s son’s case was shot into the spotlight once again on May 12, 2022, when, as per the reports, Ola Electric responded to Singh, asking him to delete the negative reviews on social media within 24 hours or else, he would be facing legal action. The company’s response was backed by its earlier claim that it hasn’t breached data privacy.
Ola Electric Resignations
Ola witnessed another top-profile resignation on May 8, 2022. After Arun Sirdeshmukh, the CEO of Ola Cars, Dinesh Radhakrishnan is the next person to follow. Radhakrishnan was the CTO of Ola Electric who handled critical engineering functions of the company.
Ola Electric – Marketing, Brand Ambassadors and More
Ola Electric has already been a grand pre-booking success and is innovating its marketing strategies to attract the present generation of customers. The company is targeting all the available forms of media including traditional media, print media, and online media to empower the Ola scooter marketing strategy. The company has already roped in Bhuvan Bam, singer, songwriter, actor, and one of the most popular YouTubers of India, famous for his Youtube “BB ki Vines,” as its brand ambassador to hook in the young generation of buyers.
Bhuvan Bam was hired on August 27, 2021, on a contractual basis, the agreement of which declares that the popular Youtube personality would collaborate with the electric scooter manufacturers to create entertaining and eccentric content revolving around the new-age Ola Electric scooters.
Bhuvan Bam seemed thrilled to be an Ola Electric brand ambassador and said,
“I am really happy that Ola Electric considered me as one of their ambassadors. It’s truly exciting to be a part of this green revolution, something I’ve always wished for. The scooters are sleek, attractive, and are designed as per the Indian electric vehicle market. I have joined the green revolution already and I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on it.”
Ola Electric – Future Plans
Ola Electric has plans to launch its electric car in 2024. Ola Electric is currently looking to establish its battery manufacturing plant in India that will have a capacity of 50-gigawatt hours. Furthermore, along with that, the electric two-wheeler manufacturing company will also be investing in advanced cell and battery manufacturing.
FAQs
How much does Ola electric scooter cost?
The Ola electric scooter has 2 models –
Ola S1 is priced at Rs 99,999.
Ola S1 Pro is priced at Rs 1,29,999.
The Ola e-vehicle prices, as mentioned above, are for all other states excluding Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, where people will find the Ola Electric bikes even cheaper.
What is the Ola S1 Pro boot space?
Talking about the Ola S1 Pro boot space, it is safe to conclude that Ola promises to bring you the largest boot space currently available in the market, which will have the capacity of accommodating two half-face helmets, with space for packing in more.
How is the Ola Electric bike booking process?
The Ola Electric scooter booking in India or the Ola Electric bike booking is an easy process where the users would just have to go to the Ola Electric official website and book them online.
What is the range of Ola electric scooter?
The ranges of Ola Electric scooters on a single charge are-
Ola S1 – 121 km
Ola S1 Pro – 181 km
Though Ola has advertised that the Ola Electric scooters would have a range of around 181 km, the true range of Ola bikes is 135 km, as disclosed later on.
What is the top speed of Ola Electric scooter?
The top speed of Ola Electric S1 is 90km/hr whereas for the S1 Pro model the top speed is 115 km/hr.
What are the Ola S1 Pro and S1 charging times?
The Ola s1 pro charging time is around 6 hours 30 minutes, while the S1 variant of the Ola e-scooter will be fully charged in around 4 hours and 48 minutes when charged at home.
How to charge OLA electric scooters?
The Ola Electric scooters can be charged using a 750 W charger that comes with the Ola Electric scooter that needs to be plugged into a standard 5A socket. Besides, the users can also charge their scooters at the nearest Hypercharging stations.
Who is the Ola brand ambassador?
The Ola brand ambassador is none other than the founder of “BB ki vines” Bhuvan Bam.
Everyone seeks to earn a hefty sum of money as well as maximize the long-term growth of capital. All they require is to calculate the expected return to benefit their money value and bankroll.
On the other hand, the calculation of long-term wealth should minimize uncertainty. Therefore, Kelly L.J has developed a theoretical statistical method to measure expected return value in the future, by adjusting the investment size with the use of the Kelly criterion.
People flummox themselves with the Kelly criterion and return on Investment formula. So the difference between these two is simple: interest is considered while calculating ROI. And the Kelly criterion follows the probability.
Generally, the Kelly criterion is a formula that maximizes the expected value of the logarithm of wealth that is equivalent to maximizing the expected long-term growth rate. The idea was derived from an American scientist John L. Kelly, who was a member of a research center at AT&T’s Bells Lab, New Jersey in 1956.
This method is used mostly by gamblers and investors to get double on the investment or bet they have funded. The formula works through a predetermined fraction of assets.
The Kelly criterion method earned recognition in gambling and investment, as people aim to get more returns and save bankroll. So, the Kelly criterion fit the ball in accelerating the earnings.
What are the Pros and Cons of Kelly Criterion?
Pros of Kelly Criterion:
The main purpose of implementing the Kelly criterion is to estimate the expected value in the future which helps maximize the rate of asset growth.
There is no plethora of loss of money on the investment, as it will take less money in case of prolonged series of failures.
Lately, the Kelly criterion is highly dependent on the probability of winning and the probability of loss of the asset value. So, if you have the chance of high returns on the investment, it’s a win-win situation for you accordingly.
Cons of Kelly Criterion:
As said before, The Kelly criterion works with probability whereas if the rate of investment runs positive in the market, you would benefit from its output. Meanwhile, if the asset value faces a bank stake, then it’s a loss for you.
Secondly, people won’t stay in the long-term investment unless it shows propitious promising in the future for the investors.
The Kelly criterion is formulated in two fields- Gambling and investment, which is the only place, where a person can win a hefty amount and manage a long-term growth of capital.
The method is all about the comparison of other strategies to identify the asset value. In the olden days, the Kelly criterion was made for gambling, where the participant bets on the coin and expects a high value.
Besides, the Kelly criterion works on investment by enticing participants to pay off more on such investment which gives him flavorful output in the future.
Participants use the Kelly criterion, where the expectation value of a function is given by the sum, over all the possible outcomes, of the probability of each particular outcome multiplied by the value of the function in the event of that particular outcome.
How do investors use the Kelly criterion?
Kelly Criterion Formula
Kelly criterion is used by investors while trading in the stock market to find the percentage of the money they need to allocate to each investment. This is done by using a mathematical formula.
K% = W – [(1-W) / R]
where,
K%=The Kelly percentage
W=Winning probability
R=Win/loss ratio
The investors have to access their past 50 to 60 trades from their recent tax returns. Investors have to calculate the value of W – the winning probability. The value can be found by diving into the number of positive resultant returns by the total number of trades that can be both positive and negative. Anything above 0.50 and any number close to 1 is good.
Then R – win/loss ratio is calculated by dividing the average gain on positive trades by the average loss on negative trades. It is good if the number is less than one and the losing trades are small.
Both the W and R values are applied to the Kelly criterion formula and the result is noted. The result percentage indicates the size of the positions that should be taken in the assets in the portfolio. If the resultant percentage is found to be 0.31. Then one should take an estimated 31% position in each of the equities in the portfolio.
It is advised that not more than 20% or 25% be invested in one asset or equity as it increases the financial risk.
The Kelly criterion is known to be used by popular investors like Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, and Bill Gross.
Kelly Criterion is a money management principle and can be applied mainly in activities related to gambling and investment. In investment, the formula calculates the percentage of the account that the investor needs to invest. In sports gambling, the formula is mainly applied to maximize the potential returns on wagers and minimize the chances of losing a bankroll entirely.
Let’s take an example on the note of “how do the Kelly criterion formulae apply?” Let’s say probability, the first thing that comes to mind is fifty-fifty chances or a win-loss situation. If you roll a dice, then the chances of getting any number between 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 are unknown. So, take 1,2,3 as 60% possibility whereas 4,5,6 are 40% possibility and vice versa.
For instance; if a company offering a trade of 27.73 per share with an upside range of 37.65 and downside worth of 23.85.
So, out of 100% per share value (27.73)- 70% probability of earning an upside value of 37.65 and 30% of 23.85.
if you calculate the percentage value of upside and downside per share, you will get a 35.77% Gain and 13.99 as a Loss.
So, now perform the Total Expected Outcome (Probability)= (70% x 35.77) + (30% x [-13.99 LOSS]) = 20.84
now, apply Kelly Criterion formulae;
Total capital planning to allot = 20.84/ 35.77= 58.26%
Therefore, the company plans to invest 58.26% of the capital investment.
Conclusion
Kelly Criterion is one famous method used for a long time both in gambling and investments. Kelly criterion helps in minimizing the loss and focuses on achieving efficient returns through diversification. It is necessary and important that proper judgment based on reliable means should be taken while dealing with capital.
Even though the formula was created by John Kelly of Bell Labs, to analyze long-distance telephone signal noise, the Kelly criterion acts as a reliable model to help gamblers and investors in deciding the size of the position they should take which leads to diversification and efficient and effective money management.
FAQs
What is Kelly Criterion?
Kelly Criterion is a formula proposed by John Kelly used by investors to calculate what percentage of their money they should allocate to each investment.
Which investors use Kelly Criterion?
Popular investors like Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger, along with legendary bond trader Bill Gross.
Who developed the Kelly criterion?
The Kelly Criterion was proposed by John Kelly in the 50’s who at that point was working for AT&T’s Bell Laboratories.
What is the formula for Kelly criterion?
The Kelly Criterion formula is K% = W – [(1-W) / R]. Here, K% stands for Kelly percentage, W stands for winning probability and R stands for the ratio of winning or losing.
Kelly Criterion is used for?
Kelly criterion is mainly applied in the field of investment and gambling. It is used to determine the amount of money one should bet in a single round.
Ipsita Acharya
