This post is going to be exactly how you expect it to be. We are focusing on What makes Yebhi.com an attractive bet in the upcoming E commerce industry of India.
Manmohan Agarwal started out in the 90's as part of the mining industry. In 2007 he jumped onto the E commerce bandwagon with BigShoebaazaar which has now evolved into a wholesale business and is also the parent company for Yebhi.com
His main purpose behind the whole E commerce move was his belief that if supply chain issues could be resolved, this was one of the most profitable business sectors. In 2009, he stepped onto a multi-product retail website in the form of Yebhi.com.
With an employee base of just over 500, today Yebhi lists 17 product categories on the website and is in the process of adding even more.
So let us have a look at some key marketing and delivery features that are part of best practices being followed at Yebhi.com, one of the best online retailers in the country right now.
Yebhi Champs
Agarwal hired delivery boys who were MBA's. Yes, management graduates would deliver goods to customers and at the same time help them understand the importance of buying goods online.
Keep Shopping Keep Talking (KSKT)
In December 2012, Yebhi announced its KSKT scheme in association with Aircel where depending on purchase value, users could receive free talk time on their Aircel connections. Example, user could get a Rs 200 talktime to talk free on their Aircel connection whenever they make a purchase of Rs 1000. Conversely, they could get some cash back whenever they recharge their Aircel connections.
Try n Buy
Under this scheme, which was launched on 27 May last year, customers can order products online and then try a dress in their own own while delivery boy waited. This way, if they did not like it, they could return it and get their money back on the spot. It is aimed at mainly trying to promote sale of clothes and apparel online.
Free delivery for purchases above Rs 500 (Rather self explanatory innit?!!)
30 Day Return Policy
For customers who are not satisfied with their purchase they have an option for returning the product within 30 days. Although, this option is available as a one time offer only and has clauses to it that can be found on the site's adequately updated FAQ page.
QR code and NFC codes at CCD
Recently Yebhi in collaboration with Cafe Coffee Day launched its new scheme under which products pictures placed at CCD will have QR codes and NFC codes embedded on them. This way you can use your QR code or NFC scanner to directly link to the product page and can buy it right there and then. How effective is it going to be in reality is still to be found out but it sure seems to be a great way to increase conversion rates.
Yebhi Wallet
One of the most interesting schemes has been the Yebhi Wallet. It allows the user to establish an account with the website through which he can make credit purchases. Something very useful for increasing the loyalty rate among customers. A demo flash video is available on the website itself.
Apart from these marketing and product features, Yebhi has a 24x7 customer care unit that unfailingly looks after the customer queries.
In terms of logistics, Yebhi has one of the largest warehouses in the country (500,000 sq foot approx). It is an Inventory based model and therefore it becomes necessary for it to reduce its logistics costs. ( Recently, CBO Nikhil Rungta has indicated that Yebhi might be shifting to a marketplace model).
The Yebhi management boasts of delivering products to over 11,000 pin codes in Tier 1 and 2 towns and this reflects in the fact that more than 50% of their business comes from customers in these smaller cities and towns.
It also prides itself on its 'Click to Ship' time which is basically the time it takes for products to be shipped from the warehouses after a customer has placed his order on the website. The average time is less than 2 hours. It is enough to bill them the best in the Indian E commerce market in terms of logistics but still miles behind Amazon which specializes in its logistics department.
Of the huge traffic that the site gets 40% of it are women. 10% more than what other sites witness. Something that has come by hard analytics and a dedicated research team, something that has helped them drive their store of home lifestyle and fashion products.
However, their conversion ratio is only as good as some of the other players partly because even now 50% of the sales take place through COD (IAMAI). Something that they are sure to be working on improving with all their customer programs.
Funding
 |
| Proud owner of Yebhi.com, Mr Manmohan Agarwal |
His main purpose behind the whole E commerce move was his belief that if supply chain issues could be resolved, this was one of the most profitable business sectors. In 2009, he stepped onto a multi-product retail website in the form of Yebhi.com.
With an employee base of just over 500, today Yebhi lists 17 product categories on the website and is in the process of adding even more.
So let us have a look at some key marketing and delivery features that are part of best practices being followed at Yebhi.com, one of the best online retailers in the country right now.
Yebhi Champs
Agarwal hired delivery boys who were MBA's. Yes, management graduates would deliver goods to customers and at the same time help them understand the importance of buying goods online.
Keep Shopping Keep Talking (KSKT)
In December 2012, Yebhi announced its KSKT scheme in association with Aircel where depending on purchase value, users could receive free talk time on their Aircel connections. Example, user could get a Rs 200 talktime to talk free on their Aircel connection whenever they make a purchase of Rs 1000. Conversely, they could get some cash back whenever they recharge their Aircel connections.
Try n Buy
Under this scheme, which was launched on 27 May last year, customers can order products online and then try a dress in their own own while delivery boy waited. This way, if they did not like it, they could return it and get their money back on the spot. It is aimed at mainly trying to promote sale of clothes and apparel online.
Free delivery for purchases above Rs 500 (Rather self explanatory innit?!!)
30 Day Return Policy
For customers who are not satisfied with their purchase they have an option for returning the product within 30 days. Although, this option is available as a one time offer only and has clauses to it that can be found on the site's adequately updated FAQ page.
QR code and NFC codes at CCD
Recently Yebhi in collaboration with Cafe Coffee Day launched its new scheme under which products pictures placed at CCD will have QR codes and NFC codes embedded on them. This way you can use your QR code or NFC scanner to directly link to the product page and can buy it right there and then. How effective is it going to be in reality is still to be found out but it sure seems to be a great way to increase conversion rates.
 |
| CBO Nikhil Rungta (L) and CEO Manmohan Agarwal (R) at the launch of the QR code store at CCD |
One of the most interesting schemes has been the Yebhi Wallet. It allows the user to establish an account with the website through which he can make credit purchases. Something very useful for increasing the loyalty rate among customers. A demo flash video is available on the website itself.
Apart from these marketing and product features, Yebhi has a 24x7 customer care unit that unfailingly looks after the customer queries.
In terms of logistics, Yebhi has one of the largest warehouses in the country (500,000 sq foot approx). It is an Inventory based model and therefore it becomes necessary for it to reduce its logistics costs. ( Recently, CBO Nikhil Rungta has indicated that Yebhi might be shifting to a marketplace model).
The Yebhi management boasts of delivering products to over 11,000 pin codes in Tier 1 and 2 towns and this reflects in the fact that more than 50% of their business comes from customers in these smaller cities and towns.
It also prides itself on its 'Click to Ship' time which is basically the time it takes for products to be shipped from the warehouses after a customer has placed his order on the website. The average time is less than 2 hours. It is enough to bill them the best in the Indian E commerce market in terms of logistics but still miles behind Amazon which specializes in its logistics department.
Of the huge traffic that the site gets 40% of it are women. 10% more than what other sites witness. Something that has come by hard analytics and a dedicated research team, something that has helped them drive their store of home lifestyle and fashion products.
However, their conversion ratio is only as good as some of the other players partly because even now 50% of the sales take place through COD (IAMAI). Something that they are sure to be working on improving with all their customer programs.
Funding
Since 2009, Yebhi.com has managed to get 3 rounds of funding.
In 2010 it managed to rise an initial capital of Rs 10 crore from Nexus Venture Partners and again in mid 2011 another Rs 40 Cr from N.R. Narayana Murthy's Catamaran Ventures and Nexus Ventures Partners in a Series B round of funding.
And in October last year they raised another Rs 100 crores with the help of Catamaran Ventures and also roped in Qualcomm Ventures and Fidelity Growth Partners.
One of the biggest steps that Yebhi took was appointing Nikhil Rungta former marketing head of Google India as its Chief Business Officer. And it is already starting to bear fruit with another round of Rs 60 Cr funding secured internally by the existing investors this April. It goes to reflect their confidence in the great intent that Yebhi is promising in taking up competition head on.
The site also launched a revamped look including a new logo on 23rd April in its efforts to woo in new customers and rebrand itself as Young, Energetic and Simple (YES!). (That's the official motto!!)
All this must at the end of the day give results. And Yebhi does not disappoint. Agarwal says that the company has been growing at more than 200 percent year on year, including a 100% rise in profits this year with the E commerce industry expected to reach an inflection point where the customers are going to grow at an exponential rate. All this makes him optimistic enough to declare that Yebhi could break even in the next 15-18 months time.
With such best practices and professionalism under an able management. Yebhi is sure to become a familiar brand in the E commerce retail market in the next decade.
If you feel this article is useful and informative, give us a facebook thumbs up. Also, feel free to comment if you have any particular Yebhi experience you'd like to share or have something more to add. Would be delighted to hear from you.
- Zain Siddiqui
In 2010 it managed to rise an initial capital of Rs 10 crore from Nexus Venture Partners and again in mid 2011 another Rs 40 Cr from N.R. Narayana Murthy's Catamaran Ventures and Nexus Ventures Partners in a Series B round of funding.
And in October last year they raised another Rs 100 crores with the help of Catamaran Ventures and also roped in Qualcomm Ventures and Fidelity Growth Partners.
One of the biggest steps that Yebhi took was appointing Nikhil Rungta former marketing head of Google India as its Chief Business Officer. And it is already starting to bear fruit with another round of Rs 60 Cr funding secured internally by the existing investors this April. It goes to reflect their confidence in the great intent that Yebhi is promising in taking up competition head on.
The site also launched a revamped look including a new logo on 23rd April in its efforts to woo in new customers and rebrand itself as Young, Energetic and Simple (YES!). (That's the official motto!!)
All this must at the end of the day give results. And Yebhi does not disappoint. Agarwal says that the company has been growing at more than 200 percent year on year, including a 100% rise in profits this year with the E commerce industry expected to reach an inflection point where the customers are going to grow at an exponential rate. All this makes him optimistic enough to declare that Yebhi could break even in the next 15-18 months time.
With such best practices and professionalism under an able management. Yebhi is sure to become a familiar brand in the E commerce retail market in the next decade.
If you feel this article is useful and informative, give us a facebook thumbs up. Also, feel free to comment if you have any particular Yebhi experience you'd like to share or have something more to add. Would be delighted to hear from you.
- Zain Siddiqui
Hey nice information, thanks for sharing this. Ecommerce website helps a business owner to promote his business over internet and also sales its product online.
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