Things You Need to Know Before Starting an Online Business in India

Online business is getting popular these days and it has grown ten times from past 6 years. Internet is penetrating very fast in India. Users from rural India are also growing at fast rate as penetration of smartphones is also increasing fast rate. Indian Government is promoting Digital India campaign to expand the internet network across India. India is third highest country in the world with 250+ million users followed by US and China but still internet penetration is very low (19%) in India and soon it will overtake US in next 10 years.

Online business is increasing at very fast rate than any other industry in India and revenue from online business has grown 10 times since 2009. Many urban users prefer to shop online than offline shopping. You can't buy each and every product online as some product needs to be checked physically to check quality of products. Electronic items, Gadgets, Apparels, Computer Accessories, Backpacks, and Shoes etc. don't need too much research to buy so users directly search it on ecommerce portals and buy it. Online shopping helps you to save time as well as money as you don't need to visit store physically. You can also get real reviews from users so we will definitely come to know whether products are good or bad. Users directly post their real life experience so it helps to new users who want to buy products.

Let's see how eCommerce industry has grown from past 6 years:

You can also create your online store on eCommerce portals like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Shopclues, IndiaTimes, eBay etc. If you have a shop or store or you are working from home then you can also create own store and sell products directly to users. There are some prototypes or rules you need to follow to be eligible as a Seller.

Things You Should Have to be Eligible as a Seller:

• You should have VAT (Value Added Tax), CST (Central Sales Tax), TAN or TIN (Tax Identification Number) Number. You will be eligible to sell products within your home state if you have VAT Number. You will be eligible to sell products across India if you have CST Number.
• You need to upload your documents like PAN Card, Adhar Card, Cancelled Cheque (personal or business savings or current account)
• If you don't have anyone document mentioned above then you seller account will be declined. Their seller account executives will help you through the registration and verification process.

How to Create a Seller Account?

I will show the procedure of only one eCommerce portal as process is almost same for all portals.

Step 1: Sign Up with Email ID and Mobile Number and Password then click on confirmation email.

Step 2: Once the registration process is done then you will need to fill-up business details by putting business address, product pick-up address etc.

Step 3: You need to upload Individual or Business document for business verification process. It will ask you to upload Adhar Card, PAN Card, Cancelled Cheque, VAT and CST Number and the account will go through seller account verification process (it might take 48 hours for verification).

 

Step 4: Once the verification is done then they will guide you how to upload products. You don't need technical knowledge to upload products. You need follow a standard procedure by putting details in excel sheet by standard format. They have various products formats i.e. excel sheet product attributes are different for different types of products (electronics, clothing, back packs, kitchen ware etc.)

Step 5: Once the products are uploaded then it will go through automatically system process and will add products directly on website if they are error free.

Distribution Management: Most of ecommerce portals have tied-up with courier services so you don't need to ship products directly to users. Courier service providers will directly come to your shop to receive the products to deliver customers. It also saves your time and money.

Note: You can manage products at basic level through mobile application and mobile app is best way to get connected with online store. Online inventory management is also possible through mobile app  but to some extent.

You don't need a million dollar business to start you business online as online business doesn't need a big shot with huge rent and labors. You can manage your own store without depending on other. In this way online store will remove various operating cost like shop rent, labors wages, electricity charges, administration expenses etc.

If you want to make your business successful then you need have following things:

Good Product Quality: If product quality is poor then users might post negative reviews and it may lead to account termination.

Delivery: Products need to deliver on times as users will switch to other seller if they find quick delivery.

Product Replacement: How soon can you replace products if they are faulty or defective.

Inventory Management: Keep your product inventory to minimum level so then it should serve the client until next consignment reaches your warehouse. It should not happen than you don't have products in hand to deliver and you already have orders. It may harm the reputation your seller account on eCommerce portals.

Product Defect Rate: You should know the product defect rate before putting it on online store as it will help you keep minimum cost of product.

Pricing or Commission Structure on eCommerce Portals:

They have commission structure for products based on their categories. They have different price structure of electronic items, clothing, kitchenware, hand craft times etc.

Let's see an example here:

 

Conclusion: Why don't you take an advantage of online business which is getting popular these days. It's not a rocket science to start an online store on Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc. You just need to have basic documents to avail a seller account. Online business is better than traditional offline business as operating (Rent, Electricity, Labors, Administration, and Infrastructure etc.) is not incurred so you save a lot of money even if you sell product as lesser cost.

Article Source: http://www.anuraggolipkar.com/online-business/things-you-need-to-know-before-starting-an-online-business-in-india/

Why You Should Not Buy Vodafone Postpaid connection Ever?

Bloody Cheater – Vodafone

I had to stop using my 3 years old Vodafone Number due to your bullshit, fake, fraudulent, bad services.

I was using Vodafone Prepaid connection from past three years. I never wanted to switch from Prepaid to Postpaid connection but unfortunately I lost my Smart Phone so I wanted to get the same mobile number. I visited the local Vodafone store Vashi, Navi Mumbai and I demanded for Prepaid connection but they refused to give me Prepaid and offered me Postpaid connection because I was claiming the mobile number just after 5 days when my phone was stolen. I insisted one girl from Vodafone Store Vashi to give me Prepaid connection but she refused and told me that I can switch form Postpaid to prepaid just after three month so I agreed upon it. They said that one offer is going one where you will get Rs.100 off on postpaid connection. I took a minimum plan of Rs.199 (Without Internet and SMS services) with Rs.100 discount so I thought I will be charged on Rs.99 per month with 200 local minutes. I told them I frequently travel to Maharashtra Circle (Roha, Raigad) but never told me that I will be charged Roaming charges. I was there in Mumbai for first 15 days and I got first bill of Rs.100.2 (Dec 2015) and I was very happy with the services. I visited my native place after 15 days. I was out of Mumbai for 7 days out of 30 days (Jan 2016) and I got a monthly bill for the month of Jan 2016 as Rs.449 with Internet Charges Rs.150, Roaming Charges Rs.39.2 and Monthly Rental as Rs.299 (my last month’ rental was Rs.199) I was told that I will get Rs.199 plan with Rs.100 discount for first three months and I can switch from Postpaid to Prepaid but just before 3 months they cheated me. I called up Vodafone call center but didn’t take serious connection but they forwarded my complaint to concerned person but it didn’t resolve my queries. I think something is wrong with their Customer Services. I talked to my friend regarding this issue but all friends told me that Vodafone is Big Cheater in a Telecom Industry. I am going file a complaint against them in Consumer Forum and TRAI.

I again got a bill for the month of Feb 2016 and billing amount was Rs.425.48 and I never used 1 minute of call or SMS and Internet but still they billed me Rs.425.48. I was shocked and I came to know that Vodafone is a bloody cheated me .I when I got Postpaid connection I told them I don't internet connection as I was using Idea 3G internet but still they charged me for 500MB internet services from Jan 2016. I am very disappointed by their bullshit services. I am using Idea Postpaid connection but I never charged extra from them. They charge you less if you don't consume your monthly calling and SMS.

I will never recommend Vodafone Postpaid connection as they are cheating us. Now, I am thinking that they must be cheating Lacs of people across India. If you cheated by Vodafone then please do mail me your complaints to Email ID info@anuraggolipkar.com. We will forward the cheating case to TRAI and they will take the serious action on them.

We should throw them out of this country and they would never get succeeded in 4G connection and they will get a severe loss from 4G network. I am going to post this feedback on all social network sites, review sites, LinkedIn etc.

Why More Than Half of the Money Spent on Advertising is Wasted in Real Estate Business?

A famous marketing guru Mr. John Wanamaker said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”  This motivational line has inspired thousands of marketers globally.

Advertising is nothing but any paid activity which is done for brand awareness or brand promotion. Advertising could be online or offline but online i.e. digital advertising is getting more popular these days. SMEs all over the world are started doing online advertising to improve the brand awareness and sales. Only big players used to do advertising i.e. mostly offline advertising like TV, Radio, Print, Outdoor etc. earlier but online advertising has changed the way of advertising from past 5 years. Digital mediais become one of the efficient, affordable and convenient way of advertising where you can stop the ads any time which is not possible in traditional advertising.

I have run many media buying & planning and digital marketing ads for many clients in Mumbaiespecially in Real Estate and Finance field. I have analyzed each and every campaign i.e. radio, print, outdoor, seo, ppc, social media, email marketing, sms marketing, watsapp marketing by using lead tracking software. I recently ran media buying & planning and digital marketing campaign real estate Company in Mumbai. I suggested client to use CRM software to track and analyze the leads and which helped us to know the quality of leads. CRM software helped us to know how many leads came from which platform and quality of leads.

We spent around 10 crores for online and offline ads and we allocated 80% of budget for offline ads and 20% budget for online ads. We were able to generate more than 10,000 leads but still we could have generated leads around 15,000 if we would have optimized the campaign in terms of media spent. We got around 6,500 enquiries from offline ads and 3,500 from online ads. We wanted to get more than 5,000 leads from online ads and 10,000+ leads from offline ads.

Why half of the money spent on advertising was wasted?

We wanted to get more than 5,000 leads from digital marketing and 10,000+ enquiries from offline ads but it didn’t happen due to campaign targeting. We could have skipped some activities to get better result by spending more money on performing mediums or activities. So we should be aware of the performance of online and offline mediums.

Why many Real Estate Developers waste money?

I have seen many real estate players from mumbai are spending heavily on Digital and outdoor media for brand awareness and lead generation. Most of real estate players get failed due to wrong objectives and targeting. They should know their Target Group but sometimes they don’t understand which websites or medium they are targeting for promotion. They should do the analysis of the website by looking at the audience which daily visits on their website. I wouldn’t take name of some real estate players here because it may violate the terms and conditions. I would suggest them to analyse the website audience first then it will help to reach the right audience. They are spending not only on Digital but also on Print, Outdoor. If you are roaming or travelling anywhere in Mumbai, you would always see real estate projects’ ads. They should monitor leads coming from different mediums by conversion optimizer or CRM software.

What should they do to save their money?

• They should hire a professional ad agency which would help them to track spend and leads of each medium by using CRM or lead management software.
• They should know whether TG lies on particular medium or not.
• If TG is HNI or CXO people then they should select only those sites or medium where these people will be targeted.
• They should do emailer campaigns to only those users who come under their property ticket size i.e. if x user’ yearly income it 5 lacs and he is getting emailer of property cost is more than 50 lacs then such kind of emailer campaigns would get failed. The same thing happens with SMS marketing; most of the times SMS campaigns get failed due to mass SMS blast.
• They should do print ads only on those news papers where TG audience read.
• They shouldn’t spend heavily on Outdoor ads as cost per leads is quite high if compared other advertising platform.
• They should spend money only on those platforms where leads are delivered e.g. PPC, SEO, Real Estate Portals, Email Marketing etc.

Conclusion:

In real estate business more than half of the money spent on advertising due to mass advertising.Offline advertising is costly than online ads and we can’t stop offline ads even if it is not forming but in online marketing it is quite possible. We should target only those medium or platforms where TGspends their time. You can generate good number leads if all the activities are implemented smartly by using leads management software or CRM software.

Source: http://www.anuraggolipkar.com/real-estate/why-more-than-half-of-the-money-spent-on-advertising-is-wasted-in-real-estate-business/