AlooTechie.com | Railways is successful in selling = tickets online because it=92s a monopoly and competing against its own = offline counters // India Digital Summit 2007

The=20 second session, which discussed how to leverage = internet=20 to E-nable businesses, was moderated by Sanjeev=20 Bikhchandani, founder and CEO, Info Edge. The = other=20 members of the panel were Mark Fox, chairman and = CEO,=20 Novator; Sandeep Murthy, CEO, Cleartrip.com; = Vivek=20 Nayak, chief operating officer, Avenues India; = and=20 Virender K Ahluwalia, CEO, Fobaz.

Mark = Fox said=20 offline retailers need to move into the online = if they=20 want to maintain their market share. He said the = line=20 between offline and online is blurring. The web = has=20 become the dominant place where customers = research for=20 offline purchases. And so if the retailers want = to keep=20 up and compete not just in India but globally = they will=20 have to integrate their offline businesses with = the=20 online. Fox even suggested retailers to extend = their=20 businesses into social networking sites and = simplify=20 ordering from mobile phones.

Vivek Nayak = said=20 there are 12 million retail enterprises, = according to=20 2003 figures, in India, out of which only 4500 = are=20 e-enabled. And out of these 4500 online business = enterprises, 85 per cent are pure play internet=20 merchants. To drive his point across, Nayak said = even=20 well established offline enterprises such as = Shoppers=92=20 Stop, Samsung India and Louis Philippe don=92t = allow their=20 customers to purchase the goods online. On this = Sanjeev=20 Bikhchandani responded by saying offline people = are=20 smart, may be they don=92t see enough customers = online!=20 Unimpressed, Nayak said if you create value = people would=20 come online.

Now the question remains = what=92s=20 holding back offline businesses from embracing = the=20 online opportunities. According to Vivek Nayak, = the=20 possible reasons could be low level of internet=20 penetration, ~~non-availability of easy and = secure=20 payment gateway~~, and technology challenges. = He said=20 it=92s often difficult for brick and mortar = businesses to=20 understand and figure it out how to deploy the = necessary=20 technology to create the online efficiency. = Clearly the=20 need is for technology companies to become = friends of=20 brick and mortar enterprises and create offline=20 solutions that seamlessly integrate with online=20 solutions.

[Update: In an = email to=20 AlooTechie, Vivek Nayak has clarified, =93I have = never=20 said that 'non-availability of easy and secure = payment=20 gateway' is one of the reasons eCommerce is not = growing=20 in this country. That certainly is not true. = India has=20 one of the best online payment mechanisms in the = world=20 where an independent payment gateway service = provider=20 like us have been empowered by the system to = offer 6=20 credit card payment options and 13 net banking = direct=20 debit options. These options are more than = adequate for=20 current levels of eCommerce. As and when new = payment=20 options come to life, we will be tying up with = them too=20 - recent examples being Paymate and ItzCash Card = - with=20 whom we have already tied up. On the safety = issue, let=20 me say that in the five years plus that CCAvenue = has=20 been in existence, I have yet to meet a customer = who has=20 lost money because of making payments on an = insecure=20 payment gateway. This has never happened. The = encryption=20 standards are very high and almost impossible to = crack.=20 99% of frauds one read about in the media = originate from=20 unsafe offline transactions in restaurants and = shady=20 outlets where the cardholder lets the card out = of his=20 sight and leaves himself vulnerable to = cheating.=94=20 (Editor: I sincerely regret for my inadvertent = lapse in=20 reporting the session deliberation)]

While= =20 comparing the success of online travel, = especially=20 online booking of railway tickets, with that of=20 e-retailing, Vivek Nayak suggested may be it=92s = because=20 delivering services is far more easier in online = travel=20 than in retail. To put the issues in = perspective,=20 Sanjeev Bikhchandani added Railways is = successful in=20 selling its tickets online because it=92s a = monopoly and=20 also because it=92s competing against its own = offline=20 booking counters!

Vivek Nayak emphasized = the need=20 for evangelising the benefits of internet for = the=20 traditional businesses; the way internet could = enable=20 offline merchants to provide their customers = 24x7=20 availability of goods and services, and realise = faster=20 closing of sales. He further said lots of people = don=92t=20 understand online marketing, SEM (search engine=20 marketing), pay per click and online brand = management.=20 And so evangelising the concept and benefit of = online=20 marketing could play an important role in = bringing more=20 and more offline businesses online.

While = talking=20 about the credit card security in the light of = its=20 reported misuse in online payment, Vivek Nayak = suggested=20 the media needs to play a responsive role here. = He said,=20 unlike the common perception, it=92s more risky = to use=20 credit cards offline than = online.

Virender=20 Ahluwalia said e-retailing is no different from = brick=20 and mortar retailing. In online retailing too = the key to=20 success is to understand your customers and = competition=20 and offer your services through an online = platform which=20 is easy to use and has been designed to provide = a better=20 experience to its users. Ahluwalia said online = is just=20 another form of business model which gives more = control=20 to users. However, the need for e-retailers is = to shift=20 their focus from product selling to solution = selling so=20 as to provide their customers a much enriched = and=20 satisfying experience.

While talking = about the=20 way online has revolutionised travel industry, = Sandeep=20 Murthy said more and more people are entering = the online=20 travel space making more options available to = the=20 customers. Illustrating his point, Murthy said = if one=20 searches for an air ticket from Delhi to Bombay = he could=20 get upto 78 travel options to choose from. No = wonder,=20 travel forms almost 60 per cent of the total = online=20 business in the country. According to Murthy, = India is=20 the second fastest growing travel market in the = world.=20 And it is expected that online travel agents = (OTAs) may=20 capture 25 per cent of the total travel business = in the=20 country by 2008. However, he added, the = continued=20 success and prosperity of online travel players = will=20 depend on their ability to add value to their = customers=92=20 experience.

Related = Story

Subscription=20 as a revenue model will not work for news // = India=20 Digital Summit 2007

In future=20 content will exist only to connect people // = India=20 Digital Summit 2007

Online is=20 clearing the garbage created by non-responsible = media //=20 India Digital Summit 2007

Availability= =20 of local language content plus low cost = broadband will=20 drive the growth of internet // India Digital = Summit=20 2007

Web 2.0=20 is all about understanding the economic value of = social=20 interaction // India Digital Summit = 2007

Comment

Hi,
I=20 am so glad someone has finally belled the = railways=20 cat! Sure, it's great that the railways = made a=20 move and provided online booking = facilities that=20 actually work, buit it is also a fact that = they=20 inadvertently did their online site a = great=20 service by having the most miserable = offline=20 booking options possible. In fact, I = remember when=20 i first booked tickets on IRCTC, my family = thought=20 the computer lying in the corner had = finally done=20 something useful!
Posted=20 by Prasanna=20 = 1/22/2007

Want To=20 Comment...

Full=20 Name

Email

Website/Blog = URL

Comment

Editor: = Please = note that it=20 may take some time to get your comment=20 = published.


	EMAIL=20 ID: