StartupTalky

Tag: 🔍Insights

  • What Went Wrong with Ola’s Used Cars and Quick Commerce Business?

    The famous ride-hailing platform Ola has decided to shut down its used cars division, Ola Cars and its quick commerce business, Ola Dash.

    At a time when the quick commerce segment in India is expected to reach $5.5 billion by 2025, growing 15 times its current size, why did Ola decide to close Ola Dash operations?

    Ola Cars which allowed customers to buy and sell second-hand cars is also being closed down within one year of its launch. For what reasons Ola Cars was shut down? Find answers to all of these questions in this article.

    Why Did Ola Shut Down Ola Dash and Ola Cars?
    Future Plans of Ola

    Why Did Ola Shut Down Ola Dash and Ola Cars?

    Ola said that they decided to shut down both of their businesses since they wanted to focus more on Ola Electric. But, is that it? Or is there something more to it? Let’s uncover the exact reasons that led to the closing down of Ola Cars and Ola Dash.

    No Laser-Sharp Focus

    Ola originally started with a ride-hailing business model. In that sector, Ola became very successful. Although the company has always tried to enter new sectors. This is not the first time that Ola is closing one of its startups.

    In 2015, the company founded a food delivery service Ola Cafes, a similar service to UberEats.

    Ola Cafe
    Ola Cafe

    The company also launched a grocery delivery service Ola Stores. Both of these businesses were shut down a year later because the company was not able to attract a lot of customers.

    In 2019, the company again tried to jump into the food delivery service by acquiring Foodpanda. However, the company was not able to gain the expected revenue and the company was shut down.

    Even after shutting down 3 of its subsidiaries Ola’s will to experiment didn’t stop. In 2019, the company launched Ola Foods, a cloud kitchen business where the company planned to build 500 facilities across the country. But, only 50 cloud kitchens were set up in 2020.

    Unfortunately, Ola Foods also failed and now the company is selling its cloud kitchen equipment at a 30-50% discount.

    This year Ola tried to leverage the rapidly growing quick commerce segment with Ola Dash but, as you know, this business failed as well.

    All these things show us that the company lacked the laser-sharp focus that any business needs in order to be successful in the market. There is nothing wrong with entering different markets but, you should first understand the market conditions.

    Ola has 4 failed startups because the company never understood the competition and market conditions. When Ola tried to enter 3-4 different markets where the company didn’t have any expertise the company was not able to properly strategize and allocate resources to different sectors.

    On top of that, Ola’s primary ride-hailing service was incurring heavy losses as well. A lot of drivers were leaving the company due to huge salary cuts. Customers as well were not using Ola due to a surge in prices.

    Due to all of these reasons the company had no option other than closing down Ola Cars and Ola Dash.

    Uncertain Nature of Quick Commerce

    As we all know all the companies which are in the quick commerce segment are facing heavy losses. Be it Dunzo, Zomato or Swiggy Instamart.

    Ola was also one of those companies which were incurring heavy losses in the quick commerce segment. But, why are these companies incurring losses?

    There are two reasons for this: No customer loyalty and heavy discounts. Let’s understand both of these aspects in great detail.

    To acquire customers in the quick commerce segment, you need to give heavy discounts to customers on groceries and other items in order to encourage them to try the app. When companies are giving discounts they are not making any profits. But, still, the companies are giving heavy discounts because this is the only way to make customers habituated to your app.

    But, here the question arises: How long can you give customers discounts? At a certain point in time, any company like Zomato or Ola Dash have to stop giving discounts.

    As customers are using their service just for discounts, there is no customer loyalty. Due to this Ola was not able to make a loyal customer base.

    Apart from this, the increased competition in the market from newly launched startups like Zepto and Dunzo made things worse for Ola and the company decided to shut down Ola Dash.

    Future Plans of Ola

    The quick commerce segment is booming in India. There is a tough fight going on with so many startups like Zepto, Dunzo and Swiggy Instamart in order to capture the quick commerce market in India.

    In December 2021, Swiggy invested $700 million into Instamart.

    On the other hand, Zomato recently acquired Blinkit, a quick-commerce grocery delivery platform for Rs 4,447.

    Zepto, a very popular 10-minute delivery platform, raised $200 million, taking the total valuation of the company to $900 million.

    If so many companies are draining millions of money in this sector why did Ola decide to shut down Ola Dash?

    Ola said that the company wants to focus more on Ola Electric. Instead of dabbling between multiple businesses Ola has reassessed its priorities and decided to use all of its resources in strengthening its electric sector.

    Ola Car’s infra, technology and capabilities will be repurposed towards growing Ola Electric’s sales and service network, the company said in a statement.

    Ola’s decision to shift its complete focus on the electric business makes sense because, within months of its launch, Ola Electric has already become India’s largest EV company.

    Ola Electric
    Ola Electric

    Ola Electric is delivering huge profits for the company, Rs 500 crore revenue in its first two months of FY 22-23. The company is on its way to surpassing a $1 billion run rate by the end of this year.

    Due to all of these positive correlations the company has understood that if they want to stay in the race for a long time it must focus on its electric scooters. Ola has also planned to launch its second electric scooter before the end of this year.

    Apart from focusing on its electric sector the company also wants to invest in new areas like cell manufacturing and financial services. To enter the world of fintech Ola has acquired Avail Financeï»ż, India’s first neobank that aims to provide financial services to the blue-collared workforce.

    Conclusion

    As Ola is now allocating all their resources towards Ola Electric it would be interesting to see the future of this company. Even though Ola Electric is India’s largest EV company, it did face a lot of problems in the past for its faulty batteries.

    The competition in the electric sector has increased tremendously with players like TATA Motors, Mahindra, Okinawa, Tunwal and Kia Motors. Ola needs to continuously innovate and understand the market conditions if they want to be successful in the EV sector.

    FAQs

    Why did Ola shut down Ola Cars and Ola Dash?

    Ola decided to shut down its used car division, Ola Cars and its quick commerce business, Ola Dash because the company wants to use all of its resources in strengthening Ola Electric. Ola Car’s infra, technology and capabilities will be repurposed towards growing Ola Electric’s sales and service network.

    What is Ola Cars?

    Using Ola Cars customers could buy and sell their used cars. Under this business, the company would purchase used cars from people and from the company’s driver-partners and would sell them to interested buyers.

  • Toppr: A Journey into Student-Centric Learning and Innovative Solutions

    The worldwide education sector is seeing a major shift towards online platforms in the quickly changing field of educational technology (EdTech), where digital transformation impacts the future of learning. As the need for customized and easily accessible learning experiences grows, EdTech is essential in meeting the many needs of students in today’s dynamic learning environment.

    In the evolving EdTech landscape, Toppr stands out as a dynamic platform, redefining learning by placing students at its core. It addresses the changing demands of learners in the digital era by exploring the larger EdTech context. Toppr anticipates a time when learning is an immersive experience and responds to the demands of education today with tailored learning paths and creative solutions.

    In this article, let’s explore the world of Toppr—its founders, business and revenue model, funding, growth, and more

    Even amidst the unprecedented times of the Covid19, one sector that has seen exponential growth is the EdTech industry. With the nationwide lockdown, as announced at the end of March, and many other successive lockdowns and strictures in numerous Indian metropolitan cities, most industries faced severe roadblocks to barely run their operations let alone, maintain or improve profitability. However, amidst the pandemic, online education and e-learning platforms have seen astonishing adoption and growth. This, however, is not surprising because the educational institutions are shut, making 1.5 billion students resort to a variety of digital education sites like Toppr to ensure learning continues. The company had seen good growth before it was acquired by Byju’s on July 24, 2021, in a deal consisting of cash and equity shares, as it acquired Great Learning.

    According to a report by BARC India and Nielson, there has been a 30% increase in the time spent on education apps on smartphones since the lockdown. The Edtech sector worth Rs 15,000 crore, has been battling challenges with the low B2C market penetration. The current surge of usage is thus, proving to be pivotal.

    Edtech startups are attracting many more investors in the post-Covid19 world, thanks to the increased adoption of digital learning during the lockdown. The learning app Toppr focused on students in classes 5 to 12 and had managed to raise around $112.1 million till July 29, 2020, it’s Series D funding round. Toppr had previously competed with unicorn companies like Byju, Unacademy, Vedantu, Meritnation and more. However, after it was acquired by the edtech giant, Toppr’s revenue declined. The revenue of Toppr noticeably shrunk by 40% in FY21, as per the reports dated January 19, 2022.

    After the lockdown subsided, and the coronavirus became less active in terms of potency and the people affected, the edtech sector has been seeing a huge downfall. Layoffs or job cuts and decreased security now wrap the edtech domain. So, here’s learning about when Toppr was founded, how it has served in the pandemic, Toppr’s funding, Toppr’s business model, Toppr revenue, valuation and more.

    Toppr – Company Highlights

    Company Name Toppr
    Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra
    Founded On 2013
    Founders Zishaan Hayath and Hemanth Goteti
    CEO Zishaan Hayath
    Employees 501-1000
    Operating Revenue $6.80 mn (Rs 50.6 crore in FY21)
    Products & Services Toppr Learning App

    About Toppr
    Growth of Toppr During Covid Pandemic
    Toppr – Subscriptions
    Toppr – Educational Products
    Toppr – Funding
    Toppr – Business and Revenue Model
    Toppr – Growth and Revenues
    Toppr – Layoffs

    About Toppr

    About Toppr

    The logo of Toppr
    The logo of Toppr

    Toppr is a Mumbai-based Edtech startup, which had seen a 100% growth in paid users on a monthly basis, with free user engagement witnessing a 100% spike. The company was founded in 2013 and offered questions, solutions, concepts, practice tests, videos, and more to students. It also prepared them for competitive entrance exams such as IIT-JEE mains, BITSAT, and NEET.

    When the platform announced free access to live classes and video classes, the CEO and Founder of Toppr, Zishaan Hyath said, “in the view of the evolving situation around the Covid19 pandemic, many schools are shut, hence why we are making Toppr live classes completely free for all students in classes 5 to 12. Besides that, our video classes have always been available as a free learning resource”.

    Growth of Toppr During Covid Pandemic

    Toppr Operational Revenue FY18-FY21
    Toppr Operational Revenue FY18-FY21

    The Edtech firms have also taken to the digital media to acquire users and inform people about the free live classes on offer. There had been a 128% growth in digital ad spending by edtech apps during the lockdown, as per the BARC Nielson report. It is not just the big players that spent on advertising as they also acquired an impressive count of users abroad.

    Amid Covid, there were more than a dozen Edtech startups including Byju’s, Vedantu, etc., that have raised funding as investors through platforms that have registered strong growth during the pandemic. The learning sessions on its app per month had also witnessed a 2x growth, which was 14 to 15 million before Covid and became 32 million post-lockdown.

    Toppr already had around 60,000 students on its learning platform and was aggressively seeking to bring around 2.4 lakh students onboard. The Edtech segment is likely to be on a roll ahead as investors globally are expected to put $87 billion in the world market over the next 10 years. The Indian market is also believed to grow at over 20% per annum to hit $2 billion sizes by 2021.

    Though Toppr, which is now a part of Byju’s, showed good growth in FY20’s financials when the company recorded its operational revenues at Rs 84.3 crore from Rs 56.4 crore, which it saw in FY19, FY21’s revenues for Toppr dipped by 40% to stand at Rs 50.6 crore. The last known Toppr valuation was over $100 mn, when it was sold to Byju’s.

    Educational Tools for Students for Online Classes, Learning, and Assessment
    Educational tools for students for online classes, fun learning, engagement, and assessments including Edmodo, Socrative, ClassDojo, Animoto, and Toppr learning
    StartupTalkyAnsh Mehrey

    Toppr – Subscriptions

    The company had emerged as the highest traffic destination for K-12 learning and hosted over 1 million sessions every day. The community of 50,000 educators from across the country had contributed to the platform with over 35 lakh learning pieces, including questions, solutions, concepts, games, and videos curated for the students.

    This is was because the annual subscription for the academic year 2020 to 2021 on Toppr started at Rs 20,000, which is cheaper than its competitors. For example, Vedantu’s annual subscription for all subjects for a class 10 student costs Rs 48,599. Given the high costs, the penetration of Edtech platforms was limited, which is why Toppr decided to bring down the cost of their subscription to get more users to the platform.

    Some of the well known competitors of Toppr
    Some of the well-known competitors of Toppr

    Furthermore, the company changed its product strategy and created packages of shorter duration to help people tide over the current crisis. Toppr now has a 3 month and six-month package, starting at just Rs 3000. Both Toppr and Byju’s have registered an increase in paid users during the lockdown, Toppr has seen a four-fold increase, while Byju’s has seen its paid subscriptions double. However, things toppled in FY21, when the company’s operational revenue plunged by 40%.

    Facts About Edtech Market Expansion In India
    Educational technology is the integrated use of computer technology (software, hardware), educational theory, and training. The emergence of coronavirus has a major impact on the Edtech sector of India. Educational institutions changed into online because of lockdown.
    StartupTalkyATHUL C K

    Toppr – Educational Products

    Apart from the main product, which is the school learning app, Toppr also spends on teaching coding to kids and their school operating system (OS) built for teachers and administrators. Toppr School OS is an app for schools and teachers through which they can map curriculum, plan lessons and manage class timetables, automate attendance, assign homework.

    Toppr school is an artificial intelligence-based Operating System to run “in school” and “afterschool” learning, creating a standardized and personalized experience. This helps in continuing to engage and explore various features and includes parents and students who are trying online learning as a go-to learning resource in these difficult times.

    It also helps in taking tests, correcting test papers, etc. during or after school hours to save time. On the other hand, the coding product, which is called Toppr codr, launched recently, is another opportunity for the company to raise at least $50 million, if let’s say, the overall opportunity for us in digital learning is around $200 million.

    List of Top Edtech Startups in India | Education Startups in India
    Although people are underestimating the value of education
    [https://startuptalky.com/tag/education/]these days because of the “drop out”
    tag, we all know how important education is. People need to upgrade their skills
    instead of just getting a degree. Schools & colleges are important but equally
    imp

    StartupTalkyAshwini

    Toppr – Funding

    Toppr raised a total of $112.1M in funding over 11 rounds. The latest funding of Toppr was raised on Jul 29, 2020, from a Series D round as edtech startups continue to benefit from the pandemic-driven online learning boom. This last round of Toppr funding was worth $44.31 mn. A Dubai-based investment firm, Foundation Holdings, led the fresh investments into the Mumbai-based e-learning platform. Existing investors such as Kaizen Private Equity also participated, according to a statement.

    Date Name of the Funding Round Deal Value Lead Investors
    July 29, 2020 Series D $44.31 mn Foundation Holdings
    June 12, 2020 Series C $189.90K Kaizenvest
    April 10, 2019 Debt Financing $5.57 mn Milestone Trustee Services
    December 19, 2018 Series C $35 mn –
    May 9, 2018 Debt Financing $1.96 mn Alteria Capital
    October 23, 2017 Series B $5.69 mn –
    April 24, 2017 Venture Round $336K WGG International
    October 30, 2015 Debt Financing $2 mn –
    May 7, 2015 Series B $10 mn Eight Roads Ventures, Helion Ventures, Elevation Capital
    May 24, 2014 Seed Round $2 mn –

    Toppr – Business and Revenue Model

    The Toppr business model is similar to a freemium business model, which remains the same even after it is acquired by the edtech giant, Byju’s. The company offers free live and offline classes, which can be availed full-fledged if the users go for paid subscriptions. The majority of the Toppr income comes from the classes and their subscription fees. The Toppr revenues witnessed a 3X growth between 2016-2019, where revenues received from the students from 5th-12th grade was equally split.

    Toppr – Growth and Revenues

    The operating revenues of Toppr grew by 49.5% to $11.44 mn (Rs 84.3 crore) during FY20 from $7.65 mn (Rs 56.4 crore) earned in FY19. Furthermore, the income from financial assets of Toppr also witnessed a 46% growth to nearly $814K (Rs 6 crore) during FY20.

    Looking at the side of expenses of the company, Toppr spent around $27.63 mn (Rs 203.7 crore) in total during FY20. Thus, it has registered a 31.6% increase when compared to the aggregate costs, which were Rs 154.8 crore during FY19. Coming to the unit level, Toppr has spent Rs 2.41 to earn a single rupee of revenue during FY20, which can be stated as a marginal improvement from what it was during FY19.

    However, it is evident that Toppr failed to save its scale in terms of its financial performance in FY21 when BYJU’S acquired edtech startup reported a 6.2X of cash outflow, which increased from Rs 20.74 crore in FY20 to Rs 128.07 crore during FY21. The revenue of the company in FY20 was recorded to be Rs 84.32 crore, which plunged by 40%, thereby recorded at Rs 50.6 crore. The company has also been noted to have lost Rs 128.3 crore in FY21, which increased by 13.1%.

    Coming to the unit level, Toppr spent Rs 3.54 to earn a single rupee of revenue. This is reported to be around 46.3% more in contrast to what Toppr spent (Rs 2.42) during FY20. Besides, the acquisition of the company might also be a result of Toppr’s inability to raise follow-on capital, and to scale.

    Toppr – Layoffs

    Toppr has announced that it would be firing close to 300 employees as of June 30, 2022. This news came when BYJU’S owned WhiteHat Jr. has already reported laying off around 300 employees. The Toppr layoffs would be close to 300 with immediate effect, and this can also go up to 500 later on, according to some reports.

    FAQs

    When was Toppr founded and who is the founder of Toppr?

    Toppr edtech startup has been founded by Zishaan Hayath and Hemanth Goteti in 2013.

    Who are Toppr’s competitors?

    Some of the top competitors of Toppr are:

    • Unacademy
    • Brainly
    • Meritnation
    • Vedantu
    • Khan Academy
    • TutorVista
    • Mockbank
    • Embibe
    • WizIQ

    What is Toppr codr?

    Toppr codr is an app for learning coding made specifically for kids.

    What is the revenue of Toppr in FY21?

    The revenue of Toppr stood at INR 50.60 crore in FY21, which decreased by 40% from INR 84.32 crore in FY20.

    Is Toppr acquired by Byju’s?

    Yes, Byju’s acquired both Toppr and Great Learning on July 24, 2021. Therefore, Toppr currently stands acquired by Byju’s.

  • Metro AG Selling Its Indian Unit | Why Is Every Big Company Eyeing It?

    German retailer Metro AG which is trying to sell its Indian cash-and-carry operations for around $1.5-1.75 billion has caught the attention of a lot of big companies.

    Companies like Reliance Retail, Amazon, TATA Group, Avenue Supermarts — which runs the DMart chain, Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, Swiggy, Lulu Group, and PE fund Samara Capital are in the race to buy the Indian unit of Metro AG.

    But, why are these companies eyeing Metro AG? What does Metro AG exactly do? To find answers to these questions, keep reading this article till the end.

    Metro AG- About
    Why Metro AG Wants to Exit the Indian Market?
    Companies Wanting to Buy Metro AG’s Indian Unit
    Why Big Companies Are Eyeing Metro AG?

    Metro AG- About

    Relative Market Share of Metro Cash and Carry India from FY17 to FY20
    Relative Market Share of Metro Cash and Carry India from FY17 to FY20

    Metro AG is a German international specialist in wholesale and food retail which has made its footprints in 34 countries. The headquarters of this company is in DĂŒsseldorf, Germany. The company operates under the cash and carry wholesale business model.

    In the cash and carry model, retailers, caterers, hotels, restaurants and other special businesses purchase the goods from a wholesale warehouse and pay the invoice on the spot in cash. Customers have to arrange the transport of the goods themselves.

    The Indian subsidiary of Metro was established in 2003 when the Indian government allowed 100% foreign direct investment in wholesale trade on a cash and carry business model.

    The company has a chain of 31 cash-and-carry stores in India under the brand, Metro Wholesale. Only business customers can buy goods from these wholesale centres.

    Main Products and Services of Metro AG

    Metro Cash and Carry India provides 7,000 products to its business customers across various categories like fruits & vegetables, dairy, frozen and bakery products, general grocery, health and beauty products, media and electronics, confectionery, detergents and cleaning supplies, household goods and apparel – all under one warehouse at wholesale prices.

    Target Audience of Metro AG

    On Metro’s official website, the company has mentioned that its core customers in the Indian market include small retailers and Kirana stores, SMEs, and all types of offices, companies and institutions. The company also targets HoReCa- Hotels, Restaurants and Caterers.

    Why Metro AG Wants to Exit the Indian Market?

    Metro AG India
    Metro AG India

    Metro AG generated a whopping revenue of $898 million in FY21 (Oct-Sept) and is likely to close the current fiscal year with more than $1 billion in revenues with an EBITDA growth of 30-40%. Last fiscal the EBITDA growth was 50%.

    Even after earning so much revenue, why does the company want to exit the Indian market? The reason is increased competition. When Metro AG entered the Indian market in 2013, there were not a lot of players. But, now the situation has completely changed. Metro AG is facing tough competition from Reliance and Udaan.

    To fight the competitors the company has to spend $300 million to stay relevant in the market in the short term. But, the parent company METRO is not ready to spend this huge amount to beat its competitors.

    Although tough competition is not the only reason for the company to surrender their Indian unit.

    “Selling below cost and free delivery of goods are the issues. Most competitors are operating at negative 20-25% EBITDA,” said an industry veteran who doesn’t want his name mentioned in the article.

    “At Metro, we regularly assess our international portfolio, such as our market position in the respective country, the life cycle of our operations, and the growth potential of our business. This is a general approach and normal business applied to all countries, including India,” said Gerd Koslowski, the company’s global director of corporate communications.

    Metro wants a profitable business in India which is not possible in the near future and that’s why the company is selling its Indian unit.

    Last year the company exited Japan and Myanmar due to increased competition. The company has also closed its business in Russia due to its war with Ukraine.

    The company has appointed JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, the most respected investment banks, to find a buyer for their business.

    List of All the Companies That Suspended Operations in Russia Due to Ukraine Invasion
    Amidst the Russia-Ukraine war, major companies have suspended their operation in Russia. Check out the complete list of companies leaving Russia.
    StartupTalkyDamini Bhandary

    Companies Wanting to Buy Metro AG’s Indian Unit

    In the beginning, the following companies were in the race of buying Metro AG:

    • Reliance Retail
    • Amazon
    • TATA Group
    • Avenue Supermarts — which runs the DMart chain
    • Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group
    • Swiggy
    • Lulu Group
    • PE fund Samara Capital
    • Walmart – Flipkart
    • PremjiInvest

    But, now Flipkart-Walmart, DMart and Amazon have opted out of this race.

    So, now the fight for Metro AG is between Reliance Retail, TATA Group, Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, Swiggy and PremjiInvest.

    Top Countries with Most number of Billionaires 2021
    There are a lot of billionaires all around the world but which country has most number of Billionaires?, Lets find out
    StartupTalkyAlan Joseph

    Why Big Companies Are Eyeing Metro AG?

    Metro AG Selling Its Indian Unit
    Metro AG Selling Its Indian Unit

    According to Statista, the Indian retail market in 2020 was worth 800 billion USD. By 2026, this figure will reach 1.7 trillion USD. The Indian quick commerce market will reach $5 billion by 2025.

    Since Metro AG already has a huge chain of warehouses, wholesalers and retailers, this gives these companies a big chance to tap into the booming retail and quick commerce market. This is the very reason why all of the big companies are fighting to buy the Metro AG.

    The company which is trying to disrupt the retail and quick commerce segment is Reliance. The company has already made huge efforts since 2021 to build a large number of wholesale centres for food and grocery, apparel, electronics, and medicines. Reliance is also integrating numerous small shops into its business strategy. Mukesh Ambani has said that they are planning to onboard more than 10 million merchant partners over the next three years.

    The main goal of the company is to supply a range of products to consumers through its eCommerce platform JioMart. Reliance already has a huge chain of warehouses and if they acquire Metro AG they would achieve this goal really fast.

    But, let’s look at the bigger picture. Reliance is trying to build its own ecosystem. The company wants Indians to use its services from the morning to the night. Consumers can buy products from their eCommerce platform, JioMart using Jio’s mobile or WiFi networks, watch movies on Jio Cinema and pay the money via Jio wallet. Like this, the customers will stay in their eco-system for a long period of time.

    Another company that wants to leverage the retail and quick commerce segment is Swiggy. The company wants to expand its current food delivery business model to the quick commerce segment. By acquiring Metro AG the company wants to accelerate Instamart’s growth.

    “Swiggy has evinced interest in the acquisition, and a potential deal would enable Metro Cash & Carry’s wholesale stores to feed Swiggy’s Instamart delivery model,” one of the executives said.

    “The idea is to create a hub-and-spoke model where Metro stores will supply to Instamart stores, which could be delivery-only or even stores where consumers can walk in.”

    Conclusion

    All the companies know the bright future of the retail business and quick commerce segment. The companies know that if they acquire Metro AG, they would be able to capture the market quickly. Now, it’s very tough to predict which company will buy Metro AG but, this race would be quite interesting to watch.

    Big players in the quick commerce segment like Zomato and Swiggy are not making huge profits. But, if the companies build a smart business model then the quick commerce field can help generate huge profits for any company.

    FAQs

    What is a cash and carry store?

    In cash and carry stores customers buy products from warehouses and settle the invoice in cash and carry the goods with them. Customers have to arrange the transport of the goods themselves. Usually, these customers are retailers, caterers, hotels and restaurants.

    Is Metro cash and carry closing in India?

    Yes, Metro cash and carry is exiting the Indian market by selling its Indian operations for $1.5-1.75 billion.

    How many Metro wholesale stores are there in India?

    Metro has 31 wholesale stores in India.

    Is Metro an Indian brand?

    Metro AG is a German international specialist in wholesale and food retail which has made its footprints in 34 countries. The headquarters of this company is in DĂŒsseldorf, Germany. The company operates under the cash and carry wholesale business model.

  • Reverse Merger: How Does It Work, Examples, Advantages and Disadvantages

    Ever wondered what Reverse Merger means, even though it appears all over the internet? Well, in simple words, it is nothing but a private company holding ownership over already public companies. In this way, the private stocks and assets are now available to the general public.

    To understand Reverse mergers thoroughly, one has to understand what IPO means. Initial Public Offering or IPO is a process of offering a private corporation’s share to the public in a new stock issuance.

    Here both the private, as well as public parties, are benefitted, such that, Private investors obtain shares through the primary market, whereas, public investors get a chance to be a part of this globalized offering.

    What is Reverse Merger?
    Advantages of Reverse Merger
    Disadvantages of Reverse Merger
    Examples of Reverse Merger Companies in India

    What is Reverse Merger?

    To understand Reverse mergers in-depth, shall we dive in deeper? A reverse Merger is also known as a Reverse Takeover or reverse IPO.  It is one of the efficient ways in which a private company can go public and monetize its share effectively.

    To put it in more simple words, this process is a blessing in disguise for a weaker or smaller company, that wants to acquire a bigger company. Similarly, it is a reverse merger, when a parent company merges with its subsidiary, or when a company that is losing money acquires a company that is profitable. So, in order to enjoy these perks, a few processes are to be undergone, which are listed below:

    • Identification of a Suitable Shell Co.
    • Recruiting Financial Staff
    • Financial Audits
    • Transaction Documents like a letter of intent, agreement, super 8-k
    • Issuance of Stock Certificates

    Advantages of Reverse Merger

    A simple process

    A reverse merger is quite a simple process compared to IPO.  It takes only a few weeks for a company to become public without raising capital under this process. Meanwhile, IPO does take a lot of months to complete the merging process, but, in the case of reverse mergers, it can be done within thirty days. And for its time and safety management, several companies prefer reverse merging to IPO.

    Less risk

    IPO is an uncertain process, which cannot assure that a company will go public in the end. However, a reverse merger can promise you that. Because, whenever, stock market conditions fluctuate, the time invested by the managers associated with IPO,  in the deal also extends until a favourable outcome is ensured. Accordingly, a reverse merger is a time-saving process, so eventually, it will take down the risk of non-use.

    A less reliant on the market

    IPOs are considered to be a combination of the public offering and the capital raising function. By virtue of reverse mergers being the only mechanism for converting private companies into public companies, the process is less dependent on market conditions (because the company does not need to raise capital).

    In a reverse merger, market conditions are not relevant since the offering is simply a conversion mechanism. In other words, the process attempts to capitalize on the benefits of being a publicly-funded organization.

    Perks of a public company

    Public companies have a high amount of revenues, which in turn is a key feature to consider converting into one. Over and above, the company’s securities then enjoy higher liquidity when they are traded on an exchange.

    By gaining the opportunity to sell their interests, the original investors have a handy exit option other than having the corporation purchase back their shares. Since management may now issue extra shares through secondary offers, the firm has better access to the capital markets.

    If stockholders had warrants, which give them the power to buy more shares at a certain price, exercising those rights would bring more money into the firm.

    Disadvantages of Reverse Merger

    An extensive investigation is needed

    It is important to go through every nook and corner of the private and public companies before starting the merging process. Starting from looking into their motives to checking whether the company is neat and clean, pending liabilities, or other things that might disturb the merging. It is therefore imperative to conduct appropriate due diligence and to expect transparent disclosure (on both sides).

    Dump of risky stocks

    After the merger, the stock price may or may not suffer significantly if the public shell’s shareholders sell a sizable amount of their shares. So it is a must-need merger agreement to have clauses defining necessary holding periods, subsequently, lessening or completely eliminating the possibility that the shares will be dumped.

    Insufficient demand shares

    There is no assurance of the investors obtaining sufficient liquidity after the merger. Due to financial and operational crises, sometimes, small companies may not be ready to be in public.

    In the wake of the reverse merger, the original investors may find that their shares are little in demand. Therefore, a company itself needs to be financially and operationally attractive to be a desirable investment to potential investors for its shares to be worthy.

    Regulatory and compliance complexities

    Inexperience managers sometimes can harm a potential private company’s journey to a publicly-traded company. In other words, when managers spend a great deal of time on administrative concerns rather than running their businesses, they can result in a stagnant and underperforming company.

    What Happens When a Public Company Goes Private?
    Privatization is attracting public firms. Public sector firms are going private. Read to know what changes when a public company goes private.
    StartupTalkyMansi Maheshwari

    Examples of Reverse Merger Companies in India

    Godrej Soaps

    Godrej Soaps merger with Godrej
    Godrej Soaps merger with Godrej

    In 1994 Godrej Soaps, a consumer product manufacturing business did a reverse merger with its loss-making subsidiary unit ‘ Gujarat Godrej Innovative chemical’ and named it ‘Godrej Soaps Ltd’.

    ICICI Bank, India

    ICICI merger with ICICI Bank
    ICICI merger with ICICI Bank

    Only a few Indian companies have used the reverse IPO, making the reverse merger concept relatively new to India. In 2002, ICICI became the first firm to choose a reverse merger when it merged with its arm company, ICICI Bank, and renamed the combined entity ICICI Bank. ICICI also had two subsidiaries, ICICI Personal Financial Services Ltd. and ICICI Capital Services Ltd.

    In order to offer both urban and rural consumers a wide variety of loan services, the ICICI group made the decision to do a reverse turnover. As a result, we could see the new venture’s profitability. ICICI Bank is now among the top financial institutions around the globe.

    IDBI Bank

    In 2005, the Industrial Development bank of India followed the reverse merge method with its commercial bank IDBI Bank.

    IndiaBulls

    Indiabulls merger with Indiabulls Housing Finance
    Indiabulls merger with Indiabulls Housing Finance

    Later in 2013, Indiabulls financial services Ltd consolidated capital with its subsidiary Indiabulls housing finance Ltd

    REO Motor Car Company

    REO merger with Nucor
    REO merger with Nucor

    Ransom E. Olds created an automotive manufacturing firm in 1905; by 1907, it had $4.5 million in total sales and was regarded as one of the richest automakers. The corporation itself turned into a tax loss carryover following the great depression that hit Western nations, and the company’s dissident shareholders coerced it to perform a reverse turnover in order to secure a respectable revenue by buying a minor publicly-traded company called Nucor.

    New York Stock Exchange

    NYSE merger with Archipelago Holdings
    NYSE merger with Archipelago Holdings

    One of the world’s oldest and largest stock exchanges, which is situated on Wall street, New York city since 1792. NYSE had a reverse merger with Archipelago Holdings to go public in 2006.

    Aerospatiale

    Aerospatiale merger with Matra
    Aerospatiale merger with Matra

    Launched in 1970 and operating as a State-owned corporation until 1998, Aerospatiale is primarily known as an aerospace and defense manufacturing company. In order to reclaim its previous status in the market—that of a public limited company—Aerospatiale reverse-merged with Matra’s defense division to create Aerospatiale-Matra.

    ValuJetAirline

    ValuJet merger with AirTran
    ValuJet merger with AirTran

    An airplane manufacturing company established in 1992 that regularly operates international flights in the eastern United States and Canada. The company experienced many aviation crashes in 1996, which contributed significantly to the company’s downfall. The following year, the corporation bought a tiny company called AirTrainAirways and renamed the new company “AirTrainAirways” to increase its customer base again.

    US Airways

    U.S Airways merger with America West Airlines
    U.S Airways merger with America West Airlines

    It was founded in 1937 and ceased its operation after the airline company went insolvent in the early 2000s. Later, the government filed for ‘chapter 11 bankrupt’ permitting the airline to reorganize. That’s when American West Airlines was acquired with the goal to remove the chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005.

    ABC Radio

    ABC merger with Disney
    ABC merger with Disney

    American Broadcasting Company was an American radio network that was reverse merged with Citadel Broadcasting corporation to spin off its former parent- Disney in 2007.

    CBS Radio

    CBS merger with Entercom
    CBS merger with Entercom

    One of the renowned news radio networks, which was launched in 1928 has more than 1000 radio stations in the United States of America. In February 2017, CBS acquired a majority of shares in Entercom and acquired it for the purpose of spinning off its former parent CBS radio.

    T-mobile US

    T Mobile merger with MetroPCS
    T Mobile merger with MetroPCS

    It is an American public wireless telecommunication corporation, which is owned by its parent German telecommunication company- Deutsche Telekom (DT). Later, the company had a reverse IPO with MetroPCS, an American prepaid wireless service provider.

    VMWare

    VMWare merger with Dell
    VMWare merger with Dell

    It is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company, founded in 1998 by Mendel Rosenblum, Diane Greene, Scott Devine, Ellen Wang, and Edouard Bugnion. VMWare did reverse turnover with Dell, an American technology enterprise for a price with a plan to be back as a public company in the stock market.

    Eddie Stobart

    Eddie Stobart merger with Westbury Property
    Eddie Stobart merger with Westbury Property

    Eddie Stobart commenced as an agricultural business in the mid-19th century, which was later turned into the largest privately-owned transport & distribution company by William Stobart and Andrew Tinkler in 1976.

    Eventually, the company demerged with two separate public enterprises- Stobart Group and Eddie Stobart Logistics to function their operations under one company ‘Eddie Stobart Logistics’.  

    In 2007, Westbury Property fund purchased Eddie Stobart Logistics for ÂŁ137.7 million: ÂŁ62 million in cash and ÂŁ76 million in new Westbury Property Fund shares that made Eddie Stobart gain stock market listing.

    Fisker Inc.

    Fisker Reverse merger with Spartan Acquisition
    Fisker Reverse merger with Spartan Acquisition

    Recently, in 2020, the famously known American electric vehicle automaker which was established by Henrik Fisker and his wife Geeta Gupta Fisker in 2016 decided to go public after reverse merging with Spartan Acquisition corporations.

    List of All the Upcoming IPOs in India 2022
    2021 was the year full of new startup IPOs from Zomato to Nykaa. 2022 also has many new listings, take a look at companies going public in 2022.
    StartupTalkyBhoraniya Huda Hifzur Rehman

    FAQs

    What is a reverse merger example?

    Some of the popular examples of the reverse merger in India is ICICI merging with its arm ICICI Bank.

    Why would a company do a reverse merger?

    Private companies acquire a public company to avoid the process of IPO and raising capital.

    What is a reverse merger?

    A reverse merger is when a private company acquires a public company.

  • Amazon Cloudtail India: Why Did It Shut Down? | Is It Good News for Retailers?

    If you have ever tried to buy or sell products on Amazon, you must have come across this brand “Cloudtail India”. It used to be the largest seller on Amazon in India but has recently ceased its operation.

    This joint initiative of Amazon and Catamaran Venture was shut down on 19th May 2022 leading to the end of a seven-year-long partnership between the two well-recognized organizations.

    Before announcing the end of the partnership Amazon India announced a 100% acquisition of Cloudtail India. The employees earlier working for the joint venture has been given the option to continue at Amazon or take a voluntary exit.

    In this blog, we will discuss everything about Cloudtail India, how it worked and why this successful partnership was brought to an end with mutual agreement between the two parties.

    If you are associated with Amazon, either as a seller or a buyer, this is important for you. If you are asking “Why”, keep reading this blog till the end.

    What is Cloudtail India?
    How Did Cloudtail India Work?
    What Went Wrong With Cloudtail India?
    Is Shutting Down of Cloudtail India Good News for Retailers?

    What is Cloudtail India?

    Catamaran Venture is a venture capital firm i.e. it funds the startups or other organizations that require capital. The net worth of the company is around $ 127 million. It is headed by N.r. Narayana Murthy has made investments across high-growth sectors such as technology, eCommerce, healthcare, etc.

    Amazon started functioning in India in 2013. It was the time when the online market in India was least developed and Amazon had to work hard to get customers.

    For this reason, in 2014, Amazon India and Catamaran Venture initiated a joint venture under the name Prione Business Services. The basic objective of this venture was to bring more small retailers and businessmen online.

    This on one hand would help the retailers to expand their market and reach more customers and on the other hand, helped Amazon to earn a reputation and recognition in the country.

    Prione Business Services contributed quite a lot to advancing the online market in India. It provided support systems for the retailers or merchants by helping them with issues as small as listing or describing their products on Amazon.

    According to the statement, Prione enabled more than 300,000 sellers and entrepreneurs to establish their online market. Also, it helped 4 million merchants with digital payment capabilities.

    However, in the same year i.e. 2014, Prione also established its very own subsidiary company in India, under the name “Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd.” which was engaged in the B2C retail business.

    Under Prione’s ownership, Cloudtail worked as an online retailer and by the end of 2020, it was selling over 30 lakh products under multiple categories such as fashion, apparel, appliances, media, consumables, etc. on Amazon.

    No doubt, Cloudtail India became the largest seller on Amazon leaving its other competitors behind with a great margin.

    How Did Cloudtail India Work?

    At present, Amazon has over four lakh sellers and more than two crore customers registered with it.

    The normal procedure for retailers to sell their products on Amazon includes registering themselves on the website. After this, the sellers list their products on the website with the price that also includes the profit share of Amazon.

    Generally, this profit share lies between 5-25% depending on the product category and price. This share includes commission, fixed fees, and other similar charges.

    As the seller has to earn profit by selling these products, some amount of profit share is included in the price of the product due to which the customer has to buy the product at slightly higher rates.

    The price of the product further increases as the vendor also has to pay delivery charges to Amazon which start from Rs. 82/- onwards. Moreover, these sellers also have to bear the promotion charges for their product which again adds to the price of the product. Therefore, the prices at which the customer has to buy the products of these brands are quite higher in comparison to what the seller would offer without including these charges.

    However, as Amazon had its own equity in Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd. the company does not pay any commission to Amazon for listing or selling its products. There is no delivery or promotion fee included for any of the products sold by Cloudtail.

    Due to this the prices of the products obviously remain quite low in comparison to its competitors. This gave Cloudtail India an edge over other retailers.

    Moreover, being the parent company Amazon prioritizes the products sold by Cloudtail India by always listing them at the top of the page. This further increased the sale of products making Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd. the biggest seller on Amazon.

    Amazon Cloudtail India Business Timeline
    Amazon Cloudtail India Business Timeline

    How to Start an Ecommerce business in India 2022?
    Are you thinking about starting an ecommerce business in India in 2022? This is your complete guide to successfully start an ecommerce company!
    StartupTalkyParnas Ghosh

    What Went Wrong With Cloudtail India?

    As per the law, India prohibits Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in inventory-based models for eCommerce. This means that the companies such as Amazon and Flipkart are only allowed to work as a marketplace.

    These companies are only permitted to provide platforms to other sellers or merchants or businesses to enlist their products and sell them but they cannot list their own products on the platform.

    Due to this legal concern, a number of objections were being raised by other retailers and merchants selling their goods on Amazon about the close partnership between Amazon and Catamaran Venture.

    In this regard, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a Press Note on 26th December 2018.

    This note clearly disallowed the participation of marketplaces in any type of seller activity even through any “Group companies”. This means that these platforms are not allowed to sell their own products on their platform as this would hamper the business of other small retailers.

    Here, Group Company meant two or more enterprises that directly or indirectly exercise 26% of the voting rights in another enterprise or appoint more than 50% of the board members in their entity.

    To abide by this law, Catamaran Ventures 2019 increased its stake in Cloudtail India from 51% to 76%. Thus, the stake of Amazon in the joint venture was reduced from earlier 49% to 24% later.

    Therefore, as Amazon now had only a 24% share in the joint venture, and the law spoke about 26% or more share, Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd. could still sell products to Amazon without violating any law.

    Even after this, the small businessmen and other retailers or vendors on Amazon claimed that the parent company of Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd., i.e. Prione Business Services was established with the intention to help small retailers and sellers to start their online businesses.

    However, as the online market has now gained enough popularity in the country, the target has been fulfilled and the company is no longer required.

    In 2019, Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh (DVM) submitted a plea with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against Amazon and Flipkart.

    In this plea, they accused these marketplaces of abusing their market dominance and preferential listing and deep discounting on products sold by selected vendors in which they control indirect stakes.

    They alleged that these marketplaces were drawing indirect benefits from these brands indicating a conflict of interest. Due to this, the online market of small businesses is getting hampered as they are unable to efficiently reach their target customers.

    In this regard, the Director-General of the Competition Commission of India launched an inquiry for alleged violation of Section 3 of the Competition Act, in January 2020.

    To resolve this issue, Catamaran Venture and Amazon India first approached Karnataka High Court and later the honourable Supreme Court of India. However, both the courts stated that the companies should be open to such anti-trust investigations in their business practices.

    In the light of this statement, as well as the changing regulatory environment and unfavourable eCommerce operating guidelines, both the companies announced the end of their seven-year-long partnership.

    Hence, Cloudtail India was finally shut down.

    Is Amazon Killing Small Businesses? [Case Study]
    Is Amazon killing small businesses or is it helping them?. If you are a small business owner should you trust Amazon for selling your products?. Let’s find out.
    StartupTalkyPratyusha Srivastava

    Is Shutting Down of Cloudtail India Good News for Retailers?

    Honestly speaking, Yes. This decision will provide small businesses and other online retailers and vendors a level playing field. Strict regulatory rules were required in this field for a long time which have now been implemented.

    This will also reduce the monopoly of these marketplaces to endorse a few specific brands that bring more indirect profit to them.

    Overall, the small sellers will be benefitted who will now be able to sell their products in a healthy competitive environment.

    Conclusion

    With the partnership between Amazon and Catamaran Venture coming to an end, this is certainly an issue of concern for Amazon as it has invested around $ 1 billion in India.

    Also, the customers might have to buy the products at slightly higher prices as the subsidiary brand is no longer available to provide the products at the least rates.

    However, this will provide equal rights and symmetry to the small businessmen, sellers, vendors, etc. who will now have better opportunities to expand their online market.

    FAQs

    Is Cloudtail India owned by Amazon?

    No, Cloudtail India was a joint venture with Catamaran Ventures but Amazon has purchased a 76% stake in the company and now Cloudtail is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.

    Is Cloudtail India shutting down?

    Yes, Cloudtail India will shut down its operations on May 1.

    Who is the owner of Cloudtail India?

    Prione Business Services Private Limited was the owner of Cloudtail India.

    Why did Cloudtail India shut down?

    As per e-commerce regulations, online marketplaces cannot own any direct stake in seller entities which is the reason Cloudtail India has to shut down its operations.

  • What is Impulse Buying and How Can You Use it to Increase Sales?

    We all have been there, where we saw an Ad on Google/ Instagram and instantly bought the product. It could be some skincare item, an earphone, or something else. A similar pattern is noticed when we enter a store with a â‚č500 budget in our hands and a list of items we need. Yet, we end up at the counter with a bill of over â‚č2000.

    We all hate it, regret it, and want to end this habit of impulse buying. However, if you run a retail or eCommerce store, you want more of such people. They buy more than they intend to, leading to rising sales by a huge margin. But is there something that as a store owner you could do? Could you influence the people in your store to buy more?

    What is Impulse Buying?
    Factors Affecting Impulse Buying
    11 Ways to Increase Impulse Buying in Retail or Online Store

    What is Impulse Buying?

    Impulse buying is an impromptu purchase without a planned intent. In simpler words, when a person purchases more than they planned. It is a sudden urge to buy, often driven by emotions. Triggering and manipulating buyers’ emotions is the primary tool for increasing impulse buys. Let us quickly understand the factors that impact it.

    Factors Affecting Impulse Buying

    As mentioned above, external and internal factors can impact impulse purchases. Internal factors such as emotions, and external factors such as advertising, store architecture, promotions, etc. play a big role in influencing people. They can majorly impact your sales. If leveraged, they can increase the sales by 40-80%. You only need to aim at:

    Perceived Value

    Do buyers find your store products worth the pricing? We don’t mind spending â‚č5000 at Zara but would not spend that kind of money in a local clothing store. You need to ensure that users find your products ‘value for money’. Stores barely play around with their prices and rather offer discounts to enhance perceived value.

    Urgency Factor

    How many times have we spent thousands on the Pink Friday sale or Independence Day sale mindlessly? Time-restricted discounts and promotional offers can motivate buyers to buy from your store more so than often. They create a sense of urgency and buyers end up buying products they intended to.

    Novelty (Uniqueness + Freshness)

    BTS X McDonald created hype across the globe amongst the BTS Army. Even though the meal items weren’t really innovative, they brought more than Rs 16,000 crore in profit for Mcdonald’s.

    When buyers are provided novelty products, people who are excited about that category end up spending a lot. For example, sneakerheads spend thousands on a pair of sneakers just because they find them unique. Your aim should be to offer novelty products to boost impulse buys.

    The main aim of a store owner should be to excite people when aiming at impulse purchases. If you are a small store owner try to leverage the pricing factor to induce buyers. Contrarily, if you run a big store, use product displays and promotions as sales drivers. But what is the primary and most effective tool for impulse buying?

    Role of Social Media

    Imagine sitting on the couch on a fine Sunday evening and you see a promotional post advertising Pasta. Aren’t we automatically tempted to eat some pasta? Although this is not restricted to food only. People end up buying so many products just as a result of social media ads. So, these ads can encourage impulse buys. But how?

    These ads aim to trigger certain emotions in the viewer and create a sense of urgency. We have seen those Ads about 20-45% off on XYZ brand for today only. These help a lot to bring traffic to these companies.

    Let us say you are an online store selling marketing services. You can curate an Ad copy that targets customer pain points: “get more traffic” or “10X your revenue”. Pain points help in targeting a particular emotion- fear, happiness, etc.

    In addition to this, you could leverage the urgency factor by adding a time-limited deal. Now, you can target these ads geographically or based on people’s activity. It generates a lot of revenue and encourages impulse buying.

    Not only do these ads bring sales but also enhance brand recognition and foot reach. It’s a great way to tap the top of the funnel audience.

    Now, we will look at some other actionable tips that you could use to enhance your sales through impulse buys.

    What drives customers to buy products impulsively
    What drives customers to buy products impulsively

    How to Reduce Customer Churn Rate: 5 Proven Strategies
    A churn is a user or revenue loss in a given period. If you don’t want to lose your customers, follow these strategies to reduce the churn rate.
    StartupTalkySunita Singh

    11 Ways to Increase Impulse Buying in Retail or Online Store

    With the surge of online advertisements, social media marketing, and influencer marketing, impulse buys are at their highest. Here are 11 ways you can subconsciously trigger buyers to spend more time and money at your store.

    Strategic Product Placement

    Product placement is crucial to increase average order value and boost impulse buys.

    Place complementary products/services together. This acts as a great way to cross-sell and avoids buyers from running to other stores to buy these items. For an eCommerce store, try adding suggestions of complementary products next to the items.

    Place popular or best-selling items at the buyer’s eye level to increase the reach and chances of selling. If you are running an eCommerce store, position these products on your home page at the top to grab maximum attention.

    In addition to this, add products with higher value at a better position on the shelf. For eCommerce stores, target best-selling high-end products on various pages of your website.

    Utilize Check-out Counters

    We see how when we are checking out of stores or any eCommerce stores, there are product recommendations at the checkout page/ counter. You need to utilize them strategically. Here are a few tips on the items you should add at the check-out.

    1. Don’t add expensive products.
    2. Don’t give too many options which might leave room for doubt.
    3. Add smaller products that don’t demand too much thinking.

    Your aim at this stage is to increase the revenue by smaller margins instead of making a big sale.

    Offer Free Samples/Demos

    Stores like Sephora offer free samples and demos to the people that walk into the store. These generally result in impulse purchases if they end up liking the product. This doesn’t really cost a lot and helps in boosting revenue. You can offer free samples at a purchase threshold at your eCommerce store to increase order value.

    Leverage In-store Staff

    In-store staff can play an important role in inducing more sales. A staff that works around with enthusiasm and guides properly can help to boost impulse buys. For an eCommerce store, this role can be filled by chatbots and chat support to help solve buyers’ queries. Nonetheless, a congenial staff is advantageous for a retail store.

    Promotion

    Apt promotion beforehand can impact impulse purchases. The aim is to provide conditional offers and limited-time deals. They bring more sales in a short time and create an urgency factor. This also enhances perceived value when buyers think that they back a deal worth their money. Some examples are:

    1. Buy one get one free
    2. 20% off on all items till coming Sunday
    3. Get 10% off on apparel purchases every weekend
    4. 25% off on purchases over 4000.

    Window Display

    Window displays in retail stores and home pages in an eCommerce store can make or break the deal for the store revenue. Add best-selling items and most trendy/ popular products here. This is a great place to highlight novelty products offered in your store. It is like a cover page for your store that can enhance impulse buys.

    Cross Merchandise

    Bundling is a great way to enhance impulse buys. It could be in either cross-sell or upsell format. You can pair complimentary or highlight an upgraded version. This acts as a great way to enhance impulse buys.

    Ease the Buying Process

    The buying process should be easy. A hasty process can lead to customers dropping the products from the cart which negatively impacts store revenue. You might lose a customer as well. Hence, an easy process coupled with cooperative staff plays a major role for a store.

    Offer Novelty Items

    Novelty items in your store can get a lot of eyeballs to your store and eventually help you in impulse buys. Not only do you end up selling novelty items but as and when more people walk into the store, more revenue is guaranteed.

    Highlight Social Proof

    Social proof is another driver for impulse buys. At times people when they read good reviews or see happy customers, end up purchasing the goods from the store. If not, they don’t hesitate to check the store which ends up in a purchase eventually.

    Enable Free Returns

    Free returns can help stores to build credibility and ensure customers that even if they don’t like the product they can return it. Although it can be a big hindrance for your business if buyers exploit it. So, offer limited day conditional free return.

    Conclusion

    Customer psychology can help a lot with increasing revenue. All these tactics can bring more impulse buys to your store. Social media can be the biggest driver for impulse buys whilst all these techniques surely help too. Just focus on customer needs and trigger the right emotions to skyrocket revenue for your business.

    FAQs

    What is impulse buying?

    Impulse buying is when a buyer purchases a product or service without giving it much thought.

    What are the 4 types of impulse purchasing?

    Pure impulse purchase, Suggestion impulse purchase, Reminder impulse purchase, and Planned impulse purchase.

    What do impulse buyers buy?

    A common example of impulse buying is when consumers buy candies, gums, or drinks when they are at the checkout line.

  • Zluri Founder on Developing Develop Your SaaS Product

    Zluri is an enterprise SaaS Management Platform founded in 2020 by Chaithanya Yambari, Ritish Reddy Puttaparthi, and Sethu Meenakshisundaram. The startup is headquartered at San Francisco, United States. StartupTalky took the initiative to get insights around building how to build a SaaS Product.

    Insights shared by Mr.Ritish Reddy, Founder & CEO, Zluri.

    How did you get your first 10 clients for your SaaS Company?

    We got out initial customers through referrals and content marketing.

    Each of the co-founders – Ritish, Sethu, and Chaitanya – had a decade of experience building/selling enterprise software before starting Zluri. They were founding members of Knolskape and made some excellent connections while working there.

    During the ideation phase (of Zluri) itself, we had pitched ideas within our circles. So, when our MVP (minimum viable product) was ready, the first thing we did was to reach out to our network for feedback. Not only did they give helpful feedback, but a few of them were also interested in the product, and a few referred to the right people, who later became our customers.

    What’s 1 pain which you are solving for your customer?

    We help companies solve the challenges of managing SaaS applications.

    Though all companies know the benefits of SaaS, not many are aware of the problems it brings. The high adoption of SaaS in the post-pandemic era has brought new problems for IT teams, like SaaS sprawl.

    When employees themselves start purchasing apps without the purview of IT, it leads to shadow IT and SaaS sprawl. This leads to budget wastage (in the form of unused & underused apps, many apps with similar functionality, unsuitable licenses ) and brings security and compliance issues if not dealt with.

    Traditionally, these apps were managed in spreadsheets but spreadsheets have their own limitations. It is time-consuming to update the app details every time a new one is bought, but they are also prone to errors.

    Further, many tasks are not possible in spreadsheets, like app discovery, visibility into SaaS usage, automation of giving and revoking access to apps while onboarding and offboarding, etc.

    Zluri solves these issues by eliminating SaaS wastage, reducing security and compliance risks, and automating IT tasks, like provisioning and deprovisioning of apps.

    Top 25 Profitable Micro SaaS Business Ideas in 2022
    If you want to make extra money on the side micro SaaS is the best way to do so. Find out about micro SaaS and the best ideas you can implement.
    StartupTalkyBharath

    Finding an Ideal Customer Profile is very important for SaaS startups. How did you go about doing that?

    We knew one thing from the beginning that our product would be most useful for companies using a large number of SaaS apps. So, we reached out to IT and finance directors at many enterprises, where we got many insights on who would need our product the most.

    What we found was that big organisations were still relying on on-premise software. Though they were moving towards the cloud, most software apps were still not consumed as SaaS.

    On the other hand, though recently founded startups were using SaaS apps, the problems were not painful enough to solve for immediately.

    What are your views on the Indian SaaS market?

    Indian SaaS startups are in a position to grow rapidly today. What makes this possible is the demand for software and the availability of talent and capital in the Indian market.

    The software revolution powered by the SaaS delivery model is giving rise to SaaS consumption in the domestic and international markets. Companies have seen the benefits of SaaS in events like a pandemic.

    Then we have very talented people in the Indian market who can build high-quality products quickly. We can make a prototype, iterate at high speed, fail fast, and pivot.

    We have a lot of communities that support Indian startup ecosystems, like SaaS Boomi, TiE, etc.

    Further, Indian startups can launch in multiple markets simultaneously and win big in the international markets like the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

    What are a few things a founder must take care of during SaaS product development?

    A SaaS product needs to be developed based on the industry and customer you will be selling to. If you take SaaS, two kinds of people will be your customer: a buyer and a user.

    Before building the product, it is essential to understand them. Your product must help the end-user deliver value, and the value must be viewable to the buyer. So, before deciding to build a product, the first step is to talk to at least 100 users to understand their problems.

    Of course, you aren’t going to come up with a solution for each of those pain points initially, but you can go after the common ones to build an MVP (minimum viable product).

    Make sure to keep note of the other problems as well and include them in your product roadmap for the next few quarters.

    After completion of the minimum viable product, get the users feedback, validate the problem-solution fit with users, and analyse the scope for improvements.

    In some cases, users might suggest a better solution for some of their problems. In those cases, instead of going blindly with their solution, see how you can use innovative emerging technologies to provide the best solution for their problem.

    Remember, customers are good at telling their problems, but their solutions are mostly not good. It’s your job to think and come up with the best solution.

    Once you get the initial users, take their feedback regularly and keep improving your product.

  • A Comprehensive Look at Changing Domains and Its Impacts on SEO!

    So, you have got a website that is successfully registered with a particular domain name and is hosted for the audiences. Here’s when you think of changing your domain name, but you are unsure whether or not it would be a wise decision!

    Stop! Never decide on it on your whim, rather you can take help from the internet and the viral articles that are knowledgeable too. Such articles/blogs will direct you with the same, just like this StartupTalky article, which will help you understand domain changes and whether they will impact your SEO.  

    Do you want to change your domain name? In this article, we’ve explained how changing domains can affect your SEO, along with detailed steps to change it without compromising your hard-earned link juice!

    So, let’s get started.

    Does Domain Name Change Really Impact the SEO Performance?
    How Far can Domain Changes Affect SEO?
    How to Change Domains Without Affecting SEO?
    1. Check the New Domain’s History
    2. Back-Up Your Website
    3. Implement a 301 Redirect
    4. Inform Google About the Changes
    5. Submit Your New Sitemap
    6. Test Your Website
    Should You Go For Domain Name Changes?
    Why is Strong SEO Crucial?

    Does Domain Name Change Really Impact the SEO Performance?

    Domain changes are seldom required, but they are also required at some times for some businesses even after they are registered with one of the best domain registrars. Such a change is mostly needed by the companies if they are merging with another company or are looking for another more relevant domain name. Though none of the companies would want to risk their online visibility, brand image, or marketing and SEO, they simply rethink at times whether it would be wise to change their domain names.

    Now, if you are in one such position where you have hosted your website with the help of a reputed hosting company and are wondering whether changing the domain would affect your SEO performance, then the answer is nothing but a YES!

    Changing the domain name would make it harder for the Search Engine, its crawlers and the audiences to find your website. However, it is also true that the change in the domain name shall not erase what you have done in terms of SEO for your brand. So, how far can domain changes affect the SEO?

    Okay, let’s check it out below!          

    How Far can Domain Changes Affect SEO?

    When you intend to buy a domain name from some of the best domain marketplaces and use it as your new website name, you might wonder whether or not it is a wise thing to do.

    When you change your domain, your SEO will suffer to a certain extent. Some pages are likely to drop in rankings right after moving to a new domain, but the effect should be temporary if done correctly.

    That’s why changing domains shouldn’t be done on a whim. It takes careful planning and time. If you change your already high-ranking domain to a new one, you will have a significant drop in SEO and overall organic traffic volumes. This means that all the links on your site under the old domain will no longer work. Thus, the content cannot be ranked.

    Luckily, there are some steps you can take when changing domains without affecting your SEO.

    How to Change Domains Without Affecting SEO?

    Let’s break down some actions you should take when moving from one domain to another:

    1. Check the New Domain’s History

    You could skip this step if you purchased a new domain name. This step applied when you bought an existing domain either from a domain auction or someone else.

    You’ll want to go to archive.org to receive the web pages’ history report on the domain name. Here, make sure that there wasn’t any spam or low-quality content.

    To get an entire in-depth history, you can use Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker tool. You should also use the Google Search Console to see how well Google ranked the previous web pages or whether they had any penalties before.

    2. Back-Up Your Website

    The next step is to back up all the files on your site. This is to avoid any data loss as you migrate your site’s content from one domain to another.

    You can also do a website audit where you list all your inbound links to minimise the loss of those good links. This can be done by going to your Google Search Console and clicking on the Search Traffic section on the left side menu. You can then export the links you want to keep as your records.

    3. Implement a 301 Redirect

    You should create a 301 Redirect. This is necessary to drive traffic from your old domain to your new one. It’s a crucial step in maintaining your search engine rankings and for Google to understand that your site’s content was permanently moved to a new address and name.

    To do this, you should have access to your server’s .htaccess file and use the wildcard process. Once you’re in, simply replace the old domain with the new one. You can find more specific information depending on your hosting provider.

    The transfer process will take up to a few weeks, but you can accelerate the process by doing the next step.

    4. Inform Google About the Changes

    Using the Google Search Console, head to the Change of Address tool and add your new domain to inform Google that your domain name has changed. Google will then update your domain in their system and migrate everything to your old domain name.

    Ensure that everything has appropriately moved. All your links should be resolved and have a 200 OK status code written next to them. Make sure that all the redirects are 301 and not 307 or 302.

    5. Submit Your New Sitemaps

    Your new site will need a sitemap to represent all the pages on your site. Once you’ve identified the importance of all your pages, you should code your URLs. You can use tools like Sublime Text to help.

    Once you’re done, head over to your Google Search Console and click on your website on the sidebar. Then head to the Sitemaps section and remove your old sitemaps. Then on the Add, a new sitemap, and hit input. Finally, click Submit once you’re done.

    6. Test Your Website

    Once the domain change is complete, you’ll want to double and triple-check everything to make sure it’s working correctly. You can manually do this by typing in both the old and new domain names in your browser.

    You can also use Google Analytics to see if it’s appropriately tracking your website under the new domain. Head to the Site Content section and search for any pages with “Page Not Found.” If there are any, that means something went wrong with your redirects.

    Using the Google Search Console, head to the Coverage report to see any errors on your website. It will also automatically inform you via email if there are any significant issues with your new domain.

    Should You Go For Domain Name Changes?

    Domain name changes for a brand almost always falls under the list of the strict no-nos. Here, if you are thinking of improving your SEO performance by changing your old domain to a newer one, then that is an absolutely unhealthy idea for your website.

    Now, if you also find out a domain name that fits the domain you work in and the products/services you provide, then also, you shouldn’t opt to change your domain name. In such cases, you might enjoy a short hit in your organic rankings, but that will eventually dip far lower than you can probably think of if you don’t support the same with adequate strategies. However, if you need to change your domain name anyhow and the reason is compelling, then do it at your own risk, but keep the aforementioned strategies handy to get over the marketing woes.  

    Why is Strong SEO Crucial?

    SEO is crucial because it helps your website become more visible on the search engine result pages. SEO and domain names complement each other, as you’ll see in the these couple of reasons below:

    • Branding – As your domain name is unique, it can be used to build your brand. Your domain name will then help your SEO because of its unusual name.
    • Business or location-related TLDs – Having specific TLDs that focus on what you do or where you’re located makes it easier for your SEO to rank your website higher in the particular location or business extension.

    Conclusion

    Now you know how changing a domain name affects your SEO and its benefits when done correctly. We’ve also explained the steps to change your domain name without affecting your SEO. So, if you ever decide to change your domain name, you know what to do now.

    FAQs

    What is a domain name?

    A domain name can be described as the name of the website. This name comes right after “www” or after “@” in an email address.

    Is domain name needed for a website?

    Domain names are crucial for a website. It serves as the identity of the website on which the online visibility of the individual or the business as well as its marketing depends. Every website is registered with a particular domain, which needs to be done for all of the websites.    

    Why should you not change the domain name of your website?

    If you’re thinking of changing your domain name, then don’t. These are the reasons that will make it challenging if you change your domain name:

    • Changing your domain name will adversely affect your SEO
    • It will make the website less recognizable by the audiences
    • It will make many links inside it invalid
    • Changing the domain name will make it difficult even for the Search Engine and its crawlers
    • It might also impact the reputation of the brand/website

  • How BNPL can be a disaster for GenZ and what RBI is doing for it? – A full case study

    Buy Now Pay Later – It’s convenient, accessible, and consumer-friendly. But, is there more to it?

    India’s BNPL market is estimated at around $3 billion as we write this, but, it is about to explode if data science is to be believed. The predictions hint that it will be among the top 10 fastest growing market sizes in India, and in just 4 years, it would be at $45 billion!

    For an industry that big, regulation has to be fail-proof.

    Or so you would think!

    Why Is RBI Examining the BNPL Model?
    What Is BNPL?
    What Is So Tricky About BNPL?
    Problems With the BNPL Model
    What is PPI?

    Why Is RBI Examining the BNPL Model?

    In a recent directive, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it clear it doesn’t trust these BNPL companies. RBI has decided to look deeper into their business models and how they extend credit lines via Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) to their customers, when there is a clear lack of
almost everything: Transparency, Administration, Licenses, and above all, A SYSTEM!

    To be clear, RBI hasn’t come down cold on just BNPL, it is looking at non-bank fintech lenders and even smaller banks that use PPI to load their wallets or extend credit lines.

    But, wait, let’s take the story right from the start. Too many questions, right!

    What is BNPL? What is PPI? Why is the RBI up on its case? What does it look like for users?

    What Is BNPL?

    To begin with, the idea of buying now and paying later isn’t so new. You may be surprised to know it all began in the late 19th century when businesses around Europe started extending loans to industrialists. These loans were material-based. Industrialists had the option to buy goods and pay for them later. Of course, in this model, they had an interest rate.

    In the early 21stcentury, fintech providers made “Buy Now Pay Later” a digital facility.

    In the way BNPL goes around now, there is a no-interest period today. Buy Now Pay Later is a scheme where a consumer, such as yourself, can purchase an item without paying for it instantly.

    Though you will be required to pay back, it gets easier for those who don’t have cash. Instead, you get to divide the cost of the goods in the form of an easy installment or zero-interest loan.

    The payments can be made within 90 days, unlike conventional loans that go on for years. Now, if you settle the payment within the pre-decided time frame, you pay no interest. But, if you cross it, yeah, there is going to be a penalty on the overdue.

    This is the basic working of the BNPL utility.

    BNPL has made quite a mark. 60% of people making purchases online have used BNPL services. Major players in India include Jupiter, Ola Pay, Postpe, ZestMoney, LazyPay, and Simpl.

    Their data show that most of their users are 18-25 years old. The millennial generation made up to 20% of the BNPL users. In 2021, ZestMoney published a report saying that their millennial users increased by 2x, and their GenZ customer base grew by 3x during the pandemic alone.

    What Is So Tricky About BNPL?

    Debt

    Even though BNPL is marketed insidiously as a convenient paying option or a way of life, BNPL is still a debt. When you opt for BNPL, most financial institutions open a loan account in your name. This loan account is added to your credit history.

    Credit score

    Once a loan account in your name is opened, this small debt is added to your credit score. If you default on a single payment, it will go into your credit history. This could affect your credit score and loan-taking ability too.

    Regular shopping via BNPL is a ticking bomb

    The BNPL scheme was introduced to capture a market of 300 million households in India, which did not have the credit score to afford things.

    Tier 1 and 2 cities saw more men spending on fashion and lifestyle while women used BNPL for upgrading their electronics and education. During festive seasons, BNPL services were used 10x more for purchasing smartphones, electronics and fashion.

    Transactions through BNPL services increased by 200% during festive seasons on apps like Amazon, Myntra and Flipkart. Surprisingly people also paid for their travel costs through BNPL services.

    How Customers in Different Cities Spent Using BNPL
    How Customers in Different Cities Spent Using BNPL

    How BNPL Companies Make Money? | Scope of Buy Now Pay Later
    How do BNPL companies make money when various instabilities are associated with it? How is it different from the conventional credit card?
    StartupTalkyAditya Sankaran

    When almost everything is purchased with an option to pay later, we run into a liquidity freeze. We also run into more chances of late payments and bad credit scores.

    High-interest rates

    If you default in payment of this loan, apart from your credit score getting affected, you will be liable to pay interest of about 30% to 45% per annum.

    Spend more

    The Buy Now Pay Later scheme makes you purchase more items by spreading the installments out conveniently over months. Even though these installments are easy to pay, you still pay a higher extra cost. An alarming 59% of BNPL users admitted that they spent more by using the services.

    Young users

    Most of these BNPL companies have young users with no credit score. No one in the credit market will give them a loan; therefore, BNPL is the only way to purchase what they want.

    What makes this worse is that most of these BNPL users do not have a job to pay off these loans. They are likely to default or go under major financial stress. This is reflected in the 5% default rate of payment for ZestMoney, a top BNPL market player in India.

    Inflation

    No one realises that a BNPL utility might as well have a floating interest rate with it. A fixed interest rate doesn’t change for the tenure, irrespective of RBI’s repo rate. However, floating rates do. An increase in inflation will increase the interest rates. This could impact the loan bearers negatively.

    Lack of transparency

    Most firms are opaque in their loose regulations to get more customers. For instance, take the interest rate: is it floating? Is it fixed? In fact, take the recent RBI directive. No BNPL issuing lender has officially declared the ongoing probations and how they plan on complying. It is estimated that these new rules will impact 8 million users in India, who are yet to hear a plan to course-correct this.

    How Often Customers Used BNPL Services in 2021
    How Often Customers Used BNPL Services in 2021

    What is PPI?

    Prepaid Payment Instruments are essentially cards, wallets, or any other avenue where you could store your money, and later use it for shopping, remittance, and even investments.

    Now, the problem with using credit lines to load your PPI is that the customer doesn’t really have that money.

    But, they can spend it! they can also default payments that he/she has to make to the credit provider. This creates a gap. Hence, the RBI directive.

    So, is this a bubble waiting to burst?

    Conclusion

    Well, history would point out that BNPL has been a mess in the past as well.

    A tragic example of the BNPL scheme was the 2002-2008 market crash in America. Many people were offered house loans at a 0% interest rate during these years. The policy-writing and interest regulations were dodgy, and the result was that borrowers defaulted and ended up without houses but with loans to retire.

    The RBI tightening its fists against loose financers is a step in the right direction if it meets execution without much ado.

    FAQs

    Is BNPL available in India?

    Yes, the BNPL model is available in India and has gained massive popularity since it was introduced in India. many consumers are purchasing smartphones, electronics and fashion products.

    What are the risks of BNPL?

    High-interest rates, lack of transparency, overspending, and huge debts are some of the risks related to BNPL.

    Consumers prefer BNPL as they can buy their favourite products without worrying about paying the money upfront.

  • How IKEA Created Buzz Around Its Bangalore Launch?

    Marketing is the heart of a brand. If it doesn’t work properly, then the brand is as good as dead. Companies and brands often look for new ways to attract the attention of the people who can be their potential customers. Creative techniques of marketing are used to obtain the exact attention from the public. Whether, its about launching new product and services or opening a new branch of the brand or just general marketing, brands elevates new ways to market.

    Now, in this digital world, where we live in, competition is higher than ever. So brands are being cautious and more creative to involve people and make their brand noticed. There are different types of marketing techniques that brands follow, especially while launching their new branch. It is naturally done to make people aware and attract them. In this article, we will talk about IKEA and how it creates a big buzz while launching its store in Bangalore, which is the biggest store in India. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

    “Marketing is a contest for people’s attention.”

    -Seth Godin

    About IKEA
    How Does IKEA Promote Their Store Launch in Bangalore?
    The Marketing Trend With Funny Banters
    Wakefit
    DrinkPrime
    CoWrks
    How Does the Trend Help IKEA?

    About IKEA

    IKEA is a multinational conglomerate that deals with home furnishing products. The headquarters of the company is situated in Delft, Netherlands. It was founded in the year 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad. The Swedish company is famous for designer home decor like kitchen appliances and other furniture that can be assembled on your own. IKEA is considered the world’s most famous and successful company. All the interior design items that IKEA sells are eco-friendly plus the prices of the products are low as well. As of now, IKEA has 467 stores in 63 countries and serves its people with its modernized and ready-to-assemble furniture.

    How Does IKEA Promote Their Store Launch in Bangalore?

    The Swedish furniture brand has India covered by having two physical stores in Mumbai and Hyderabad. IKEA opened their biggest store in India in Bangalore. The store is said to be covered in 500,000 sq. ft. and it is said that it will be attracting over 7 million visitors every year, with its low pricing and marketing strategy. Now, the brand has done many marketing schemes to make people aware of the launch of its store. IKEA took the help of drones and hosted a show in Karnataka to invite people to visit their newly formed store. The company used over 520 drones that light up the sky. Apart from that, in different landmarks of the city, the brand created a room set-up that consists of modern-looking home products to showcase it in front of the people of the city.

    The Marketing Trend With Funny Banters

    Now, we have seen brand engaging with each other in funny banters and using sarcastic comments to rile them up. Some of the brands actually did the same thing with IKEA, during the launch of their Bangalore store. They made funny remarks, challenge IKEA, and promote their own brands in a shady way. The trend was started and still is ongoing. The banter was started by Wakefit and many different brands jump into this trend.

    Wakefit

    Wakefit
    Wakefit

    Wakefit is a company that is famous for providing mattresses, pillows, mattress covers and bed frames. Apart from that, the company also deals with furniture products for home decor and appliances. It has released few sarcastic advertisements to taunt IKEA. In the marketing campaign, Wakefit in an open letter gives out a snarky welcome and said how tasty Dosas could be found in CTR and the weather is amazing. It also points out many of its supposed flaws like how IKEA is located on the outskirts of the city. Apart from that it also stated that the audience might face traffic issues as well. They challenge the Swedish company by mentioning that they should visit Wakefit if they Are looking for the best furniture. Not only that, but they have also used Swedish on the front page of the newspaper for their print ad to taunt IKEA. The company still hasn’t responded to this banter.

    DrinkPrime

    DrinkPrime
    DrinkPrime

    DrinkPrime, which is a water purification company that provides water Purifiers from Bangalore, also took part in this trend by posting a digital poster on LinkedIn and using the work ‘KEA’. In this post, they asked their audience if they have visited IKEA? After their visit, if they are tired? Did they have water after that? These questions were ended by ‘KEA’. Basically, in the post, they tried to promote their water purifier brand while using IKEA.

    CoWrks

    CoWrks
    CoWrks

    CoWrks is a company that provides co-working space design in offices and makes it feel like home. The company built spaces for all kinds of startups and businesses. The company welcomed IKEA in Bengaluru in their own style by posting a digital poster on LinkedIn that says “Collaborative Spaces + Brilliant Interiors = A Brilliant IKEA”

    How Does the Trend Help IKEA?

    Many brands got involved in this trend and tries to welcome IKEA in Bangalore, mainly they participated in this trend, to promote themselves. However, this trend helped IKEA make its presence known in front of people. As the brands took turns to welcome or snide remarks, many people got aware of the biggest IKEA store in the country and showed interest in checking it out. This way, the companies not only promote themselves but also promoted IKEA. One of IKEA’s loyal customers also gave a reply to Wakefit’s snide remark and called the brand ‘Fakefit’ and wrote an open letter just like the former.

    A Customer's Post
    A Customer’s Post

    FAQ

    Who was the founder of IKEA?

    Ingvar Kamprad is the founder of IKEA.

    When was IKEA founded?

    IKEA was founded in the year 1943.

    How many stores does IKEA have in India?

    IKEA have three stores in India.