Big boys of retails Croma and Vijay Sales are finally going online with their e-commerce stores cromaretail.com and vijaysales.com respectively. Both of them have enjoyed their share of market in off-line retail. In fact both of them maintain respectable position in electronic gadgets and home appliances categories. With so many players crowding the e-commerce segment it makes one wonder why did these two biggies decided to go online when there is a pressure on margin and e-commerce sentiment is all time low. Earlier in 2011 plenty of daily deal players established their online stores promising 90% of discounts to the customers but most of them have either closed down or converted themselves into a regular e-commerce shop. All this has led to thinking that e-commerce segment is going through some correction. But experts still believe that e-commerce is still nascent in India and out of 100 million active internet users only a handful of doing online shopping. This when compared to a population of 1.2 billion gives you hope of future opportunity. No one wants to miss the golden chance so better be late than never. The Tata owned Croma, which began it is operation 2006, has seen a strong brand value due to its Tata tag and aggressive promotions.
- Croma and Vijay Sales goes online launch e-commerce stores
Offline retailers like Croma and Vijaysales has intelligently capitalized on their offline brand value by launching online stores which will help their loyal customers to shop anywhere, anytime. Unlike other ecommerce players who ride on the back of VC’s these retailers know where to put their money and how to make the most of it. The customers won’t be able to see imminent price cuts because of these online stores but in the long run it will surely create a healthy eco-system. Many changes will be incorporated by this e-commerce unlike usual ones who always say “YES” to anything. Say for example COD or Cash On delivery although it is convenient to users and brings more people to the website but it put pressure on the margin on their earnings. IndiaPlaza CEO says COD has no future and if companies want to improve their margins then they need to look at their logistic and payment model.
Though it is early to comment on the future prospects of both the retailers but it done in the right way then they can set some pristine example to their followers or their competitors.
