Cashing in on e-retailing

The Rs 600 crores e-retailing business in India is fast catching up and firms who are only focused

on e-retailing are logging in good growth. One such example is the sales portal 99Labels, launched in 2009, it now has about half a million subscribers. In fact, many international brands which don’t have a presence in India have started to look at 99Labels as a vehicle to showcase their merchandise and products. This is a members-only flash sale site offering luxury brands in fashion apparel, lifestyle products, accessories, footwear, watches, jewelry, fragrances and home décor. It offers up to 90 per cent discounts on branded merchandise. The brand has some 2,000 international brands like Calvin Klein, D&G and Mango available. Since Indians are not used to making purchases through credit cards, the cash-on-delivery as a payment option was introduced. The portal has more than 120 employees across Delhi and Mumbai and 99Labels, today, delivers to more than 200 cities in India. They have also set merchandising operations in New York and Paris, the portal attracts 50,000 visitors everyday and powers over 700 transactions daily.

In May, Info Edge, which runs the top recruitment site Naukri.com and other classifieds like matrimonial site Jeevansathi, invested Rs 16 crores in 99Labels. The funds are being used to increase the number of international brands on the website as well as invest in ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) systems. India today is the third largest internet market place.