Have always looked forward to the work Ashini delegates to me... but writing! Hope this doesn’t happen much ;)

But here’s my side of the story –

One morning while reviewing my credit card statement for the previous 6 months, I realised that 85% of my transactions were online... with an average of about 14 transactions each month!

The ease and convenience of shopping online, the variety of options available, the speed of delivery, the low pricing, the smooth return and refund policies, and having a clear upper hand in every transaction – the Indian e-commerce environment had everything that could spoil a customer. And for me, there was no escaping this e-space addiction!

Slowly, I began to dig into the detail. The various offers, email campaigns, marketing tactics, the user experience, payment options, tracking of shipments, customer service, and how the marketplace as a whole came together. I was captivated at how this universe was emerging in the Indian marketplace.

It was quite intriguing to see how every little piece came together to complete a transaction. And the daily news stories about the future potential of e-commerce had an obvious growth story to tell.

And as the global market was warming up to the colossal valuations and acquisitions in this space, I happened to see a panel discussion with Supam Maheshwari, co-founder & CEO of firstcry.com, India’s biggest kids e-commerce site, where he was asked “How does it feel to miss out on this acquisition trend, with no suitable target or competition to acquire?” Two days later, with this question fresh in my head, I received an email from Ashini.

And the brainstorming began..