Online jewellery portal Voylla.com raises angel funding Voylla will use the money to expand its operations team as well as for marketing

About 70% of the company’s revenues are generated from jewellery and 30% from accessories. 

 

Voylla.com, a jewellery and accessories shopping website run by Bangalore-based Voylla Retail Pvt. Ltd, has raised an undisclosed sum from an angel investor.

Voylla declined to reveal the deal terms, only saying it had raised a seven-digit figure in rupee terms and that the investor was a Bangalore-based serial entrepreneur who recently sold his company.

An angel investor is typically a wealthy individual who funds start-ups with money from his personal wealth.

Voylla said it will use the money to expand its operations team as well as for marketing the shopping portal. Voylla.com sells semi-precious, precious metal and gem stone jewellery as well as accessories for women.

“When we started we were offering both apparel and jewellery but we later found that demand for jewellery and accessories was very high. We have now completely pivoted from apparel,” said Vishwas Shringi, chief executive and co-founder of Voylla.com.

About 70% of the company’s revenues are generated from jewellery and 30% from accessories. The average order ticket at Voylla is Rs. 1,100, Shringi said.

Earlier this year, another online jewellery portal Bluestone.com raised $5 million from venture capital firm Accel Partners and serial entrepreneur Meena Ganesh, chief executive and managing director of Pearson Education Services. Last year, Chennai-based Caratlane Trading Pvt. Ltd, which runs diamond and jewellery portal CaratLane.com, raised $6 million from Tiger Global Management Llc.

The number of Internet users in the country have crossed 100 million and this includes 17 million people who shop online, according to Internet and Mobile Association of India. The trade body estimates that the number of Internet users in India will triple by 2015, as will the number of online shoppers.

Experts say that with more customers buying even expensive products online, jewellery can emerge as a scalable category, particularly as more designs are made available at a wide price range.

“Even is traditional jewellery shopping, buyers’ end up trusting what the goldsmith says. In the case of online jewellery portals, the ornaments come with a guarantee card,” said Anil Joshi, vice president at Mumbai Angels, a grouping on angel investors.

Voylla’s diamond range is certified by Diamond Trade India and starts at ` 820.

Joshi added that the top online jewellery stores could consider selling their shares to the public while the smaller ones could seek to be bought by larger ecommerce companies.

On the overall ecommerce investment market, Deepak Srinath, director at Bangalore-based boutique investment bank Viedea Capital Advisors (P) Ltd, said companies in the sector are finding it difficult to raise more funds.

“Companies are burning cash, brand loyalty by customers does not exist. It’s gloom and doom in ecommerce right now and funding activity is almost zero,” said Srinath.

In the first six months of this year, India’s ecommerce sector saw 27 deals valued at $103.6 million while in the same period last year there were 18 deals valued at $177.83 million. The entire 2011 calendar year saw 38 deals worth $392 million in the sector, according to VCCEdge, which tracks PE and VC activity.

Groupon faces uncertainty as daily deals fade The discounts given on Groupon coupons have been costly, and the repeat business they generate uncertain

Groupon last week reported another quarter of disappointing earnings as its core business stagnated, sending its stock down 30% to an all-time low of $2.76. Photo: Reuters

Chicago/ San Francisco: Groupon and its compatriots in the much-hyped daily deals business were supposed to change the very nature of small-business advertising.

Instead, it is the daily deal vendors that are racing to change as evidence mounts that their business model is fundamentally flawed.

Groupon last week reported another quarter of disappointing earnings as its core business stagnated, sending its stock down 30% to an all-time low of $2.76.

Its biggest rival, Living Social, is piling up losses, and part-owner Amazon.com earlier this month recorded a quarterly loss after writing down its Living Social investment.

Both companies are racing to diversify, venturing into more generic ecommerce areas such as off-price sales through ventures such as Groupon Goods and LivingSocial’s Shop. Meanwhile, upstarts are developing new variations on the discount coupon theme.

“It’s clear that they need to have other models besides the email daily deals business,” said Aaron Kessler, an analyst at Raymond James. “The problem is that a lot of these newer businesses have lower margins.”

Critics say the torrid growth that enabled Groupon to go public at $20 a share just a year ago was fueled by merchants buying into a new type of marketing that they didn’t fully understand.

The discounts offered through the Groupon coupons have turned out to be costly, and the repeat business they generate uncertain.

“A lot of people made the mistake of overlooking the price-promotion part of this model,” said Utpal Dholakia, professor of management in Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business.

“Normal advertising, yellow pages advertising, it really doesn’t have a price promotion, it doesn’t have discounting component. That’s what makes this difficult to do again and again.”

A Raymond James survey of roughly 115 merchants that used daily deals services during the fall found that 39% of merchants said they were not likely to run another Groupon promotion over the next couple of years.

The top reasons cited were high commission rate and low rate of repeat customers gained through offering a promotion.

The survey also found that 32% of the merchants reported losing money on the promotions, and nearly 40% said the Groupon offer was less effective than other types of marketing.

“I’ve always maintained that this is a hype driven business built on an unsustainable business model both for the merchants and for Groupon,” said Rakesh Agrawal, principal analyst at reDesign mobile, a San Francisco consulting firm.

Existing customers interested in signing up for daily deals have waned—Groupon reported last week that the average revenue per active customer (defined as an account that has purchased a deal from the site in the previous 12 months) fell to $63.96 in the 12 months to 30 September from $76.49 a year earlier.

The company has also suffered a string of high-level executive departures as its market value has shriveled to just $1.8 billion, down from nearly $13 billion when it went public.

Groupon has also been dogged by controversy over its accounting methods, though it said last week that it had $1.2 billion in cash and cash-equivalents with no long-term debt.

Beyond the daily deal

Groupon cites an array of new services and features that it hopes will make the company a crucial partner for many types of merchants over the long run.

Groupon Goods, a more traditional discount online retail operation, already account for much of the company’s revenue growth.

“We’re investing in the development of products and technology that help our merchants run their businesses more effectively, from payments and point of sale (POS) services to our evolving suite of marketing services including the daily deal,” said Kal Raman, Groupon’s senior vice-president of international operations, in an email.

“By this combination we become a true merchant partner, serving the yin and the yang, both the operational and marketing pieces of each business.”

A key part of that is the massive sales force that Groupon has built to market its daily deals to small businesses.

The relationships it has built with merchants and a retail subscriber base that recently hit 200 million could help it beat back competition in daily deals and broaden its offerings, some analysts say.

Groupon controls about 50% of the daily deals market share in North America, according to Yipit, a New York City-based daily deal industry tracking firm. “I don’t think the industry it is completely going away, though it will settle,” said Arvind Bhatia, analyst with Sterne, Agee & Leach.

“There may be some market share shift to the benefit of Groupon.”

The margin pressure, though, could be here to stay. Groupon laid off 80 employees last week, mostly in sales, as it seeks to bring more automation to the sale process and control costs. But a big sales force is central to the company’s strategy.

“It’s a business that scales with bodies, with humans,” said Karim Faris of Google Ventures, which invests in online coupon company WhaleShark Media. “I’m a technology investor, and I like businesses that scale with technology.”

WhaleShark and other competitors such as Coupons.com have focused on bringing traditional coupons into the digital era. Such companies typically get a small percentage of revenue for each sale generated by their coupons.

“Groupon is working with small retailers to give big discounts, irregularly,” said WhaleShark chief executive Cotter Cunningham. “We work with big retailers, to give small discounts, every day.”

Dholakia of Rice University said executives at new startups have told him they plan to make daily deals more attractive to merchants by offering them a bigger cut.

He also cites interest in new models around “perishable inventory,” such as restaurants and spa services, for which big discounts might make more sense for the merchants.

As such competition builds even as the original deals business flattens, there are no easy answers for Groupon.

“The heyday for the daily deals are behind us,” said Bhatia. Reuters

(Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Chicago and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Sarah McBride contributed to this report)

ऑनलाइन खरेदीवर ‘रिअल’ डिस्काउंट

काही वर्षांपूर्वी माहिती वाचणे , संदर्भ पाहणे आदींसाठी इंटरनेटचा वापर केला जात होता. त्यावेळी एखादी वस्तू ऑनलाइन खरेदी करता येऊ शकते , अशी कल्पनाही अनेक भारतीयांनी केली नसेल. देशात इंटरनेटक्रांती येण्यास काहीसा कालावधी लागला. त्या तुलनेत जागतिक पातळीवर अमेरिका आणि युरोपमध्ये ई-कॉमर्सचा व्याप वाढत होता. मात्र , सामान्यांच्या आवाक्यात आलेले इंटरनेट ते थेट फीचर फोनवरही मिळणारा इंटरनेट अॅक्सेस यामुळे देशातील बऱ्याच गोष्टी बदलल्या आहेत.

सुरुवातीस ऑरकुट आणि नव्या युगात फेसबुक , ट्विटर यांसारख्या सोशल नेटवर्किंग साइट्समुळे यूजर आपल्या मित्राने काय खरेदी केले आहे , याची माहिती पाहू शकतो ; तसेच कंपन्यांनाही यूजरच्या आवडीनिवडी समजू लागल्या. त्यामुळे आपला ग्राहक कोण आहे याची कल्पना कंपन्यांना येऊ लागली. त्यामुळे तशा प्रकारचे मार्केटिंग करण्याकडे अनेक कंपन्यांनी मोर्चा वळविला. फेसबुकवर संबंधित व्यक्तीच्या ' लाइक ' च्या आधारे जाहिराती पडत असतात. विविध प्रकारच्या अॅपमुळे एखाद्या प्रॉडक्टचा व्हिडीओ अपलोड करण्याबरोबरच , थ्रीडी इमेज पाहण्याची सोय यूजरना उपलब्ध झाली आहे. सुरुवातीस केवळ माहिती आणि संदर्भ पाहण्यापुरते असणारे दालन विविध कंपन्यांनी खुली केल्यामुळे या नव्या शॉपिंग डेस्टिनेशनकडे अनेक जण वळले आहेत. ऑनलाइन शॉपिंगला प्राधान्य देणाऱ्यांची संख्या डिसेंबरपर्यंत १५ कोटींपर्यंत जाण्याचा अंदाज वर्तविण्यात आला आहे. जूनच्या तुलनेत यात दहा टक्के वाढ अपेक्षित आहे.

ऑनलाइन शॉपिंगकडे बघण्याचा कल बदलला आहे. विविध ई-कॉमर्स कंपन्यांनी गेल्या काही वर्षांत केवळ विक्री वाढवण्यावरच नव्हे , तर लोकांना हे माध्यमही सुरक्षित असल्याचा विश्वास निर्माण करण्यावरही दिला आहे. त्यामुळे ही वाढ होत आहे. कॅश ऑन डिलिव्हरी , पसंत न पडल्यास रिटर्न , वॉरंटी आदी सर्व सोयी उपलब्ध करून देण्यात येत आहे. थेट ऑनलाइन खरेदी केल्यास रिटेल दुकानातील किमतीच्या तुलनेत दहा ते पंधरा टक्के सवलतही मिळते. भारतीय ग्राहकांसाठी एखाद्या वस्तूची किंमत हाच महत्त्वाचा मुद्दा असतो. परिणामी ऑनलाइन खरेदी करण्याकडे कल वाढतो आहे.

बहुतेक ई-कॉमर्स कंपन्यांनी खरेदीसाठी अनेक पर्याय उपलब्ध करून दिले आहेत. एखाद्या वस्तूची उपलब्धता , फीचर्स , किंमत , अन्य उत्पादनांशी तुलना आदी सोयी उपलब्ध करून दिल्या आहेत. त्यामुळे यूजरना एकाच ठिकाणी या सर्व गोष्टी उपलब्ध आहेत. यासाठी फिरण्याचे श्रम आणि वेळ वाया घालविण्याची गरज नाही. रिटेल दुकानाच्या तुलनेत त्याच दर्जाची उत्पादने , स्वस्तात उपलब्ध होत आहेत. काही कंपन्यांनी सवलत एवढ्यापर्यंत , असा उल्लेख न करता त्याची तुलना करीत थेट एवढी ' रिअल ' सवलत , असेही नमूद केलेले आहे. त्यामुळे यंदाच्या दिवळीत ई-कॉमर्सचा विचार करण्यास हरकत नाही.

Hot online deals for Diwali 2012

Diwali is considered a very auspicious time for making big consumer electronic purchases, irrespective of whether you are a tech enthusiast or not. And what makes it all the more beneficial are the festive discounts and offers that different brands come up with.

With Diwali just around the corner, it’s time for indulgence and shopping, be it shopping for oneself, for family, for house or even friends. Diwali is also considered a very auspicious time for making big consumer electronic purchases, irrespective of whether you are a tech enthusiast or not. And what makes it all the more beneficial are the festive discounts and offers that different brands come up with. This ensures that you usually end up with a good bargain as the market is inundated with loads of attractive deals. And thanks to the boom of online shopping portals, your options have increased manifold. We’ve listed out some such lucrative deals for our readers.

Flipkart

Apart from good deals, Flipkart has also waived off the processing fees on EMIs

Undoubtedly one of the most popular online shopping sites, Flipkart has geared up for Diwali. The details for the festive offers can be accessed from the banner on the homepage. It has been divided into Gadget Store, Accessory Deals, TV/Audio/Gaming, Lifestyle and other sections. Under the Gadgets Store, you will find discount and offers on mobile phones, tablet, cameras and laptops. On most of the products, apart from the discount and the freebies from the brand, Flipkart is providing a Flipkart e-gift voucher up to Rs.1,500. The Flipkart e-gift voucher offer is available on select mobile phones, tablets and cameras. Apart from this, Filpkart has waived off the processing fee on the three and six month EMIs for the festive season, i.e. till November 15. 

HomeShop18

Purchase goods worth more than Rs. 750 and you can be a part of the bumper lucky draw

For the festive season, HomeShop18 has lined up several deals for consumers. As a part of the festive bonanza, it is offering up to 70 percent off on mobiles and laptops. Also, if you shop for any product over Rs. 750, then you stand a chance to win daily prizes and even a bumper prize. It also has special offer on Samsung products. On purchase of any Samsung mobiles phone, camera or laptop –  you stand a chance to win a bike over and above the discount. Moreover, you are also eligible for the daily prizes and the bumper prize. Also, don’t forget to check the handpicked limited offer deals on a wide range of products.

Indiaplaza

Indiaplaza has a number of deals to choose from

Indiaplaza brightens up the festivities of Diwali with an array of offers for tech enthusiasts and others alike. The shopping site has some cool deals on mobile phones, cameras and other electronics and home appliances. Up for grabs are six phones with up to 41 percent off, portable storage devices with up to 72 percent off, among others.Though not as lucrative as other sites, Indiaplaza also offers small discounts on Samsung, Nikon and Olympus cameras. If you plan to buy a TV set this Diwali, then Indiaplaza has some dhamaka offers from Panasonic, LG, Samsung and Philips. The TVs range from 32-inch to 50-inch, with a discount of up to 28 percent. Overall, the site is a one-stop shop for your Diwali shopping with great discounts on almost all Diwali related goods from sweets to crackers.

Tradus

If you are planning to buy a TV, then do check out the deals on Tradus

Tradus celebrates the Diwali season with a plethora of offers on various tech gadgets. It is giving away up to 18 percent off on LCD TVs from renowned brands like Samsung, Sony and LG. If you plan to pick a tablet, camera or camera accessories, then you won't be disappointed, as there are too many options available on the site along with a Diwali discount of up to 45 percent. You will also find computer peripherals, portable storage devices and some nifty mobile cases at discounted prices. Tradus is also offering cashback Diwali bonanza offer, which means you can get back Rs. 2,000 on purchase of goods worth Rs. 5,000, Rs. 1,000 on purchase of Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 500 on purchase of Rs. 2,000. 

Indiatimes

Indiatimes is offering additional discount of up to Rs. 5,000

Indiatimes Shopping has Diwali Dhamaka offer on phones, laptops, cameras, camera accessories, camcorders and TVs. Under computers, one will find tablets, portable hard drives, printers and other computer accessories. Compact cameras are on sale with up to 21 percent off. Along with the discounts, Indiatimes is also offering up to Rs. 3,000 off on purchases under the phones and computer section, and Rs. 4,000 and Rs. 5,000 on cameras and TVs respectively. This Diwali offer is valid up to November 13 and one will have to use the ‘DiwaliOffer’ coupon for additional discount. However, the website states that it’s a promotional offer valid for a limited period of time on first-come, first-served basis.

SnapDeal

SnapDeal has some good offers on mobile phones

The popular daily deal site Snapdeal also has come up with some Diwali offers. You have plenty of deals to choose from. It has a section for mobile phones, where you will find phones from leading brands being offered at discounted rates. Additionally, Snapdeal also has the Apple iPhone 5 for sale, with the 16GB model available for Rs. 45,500 and 32GB model for Rs. 52,500. It also has one offer where you can buy one phone and get another for free. The brands here include Micromax, AirTyme, Vox, Akai and Maxx, amongst others. It also has offers on select laptop brands that include Lenovo, Asus, HP and Toshiba. In the cameras section, it has some good deals on Canon, Nikon and Sony. And if you were to buy a camera from Genius, then you will get free mobile phones from Kopper.

Zoomin

Zoomin has good limited period offer on select range of products

Even though Zoomin is primarily a photo store that specialises in photo prints, photo books and gifts, the site also sells gadgets. For the festive season, it has some great offers lined up for phones and cameras. Though limited in number, the deals are worth considering and most importantly, these offers are valid only till November 6. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy S3 that is available on Flipkart for about Rs. 34,900, is available here for Rs. 32,999. It has select handsets from Samsung, Sony and Nokia, and cameras from Panasonic, Nikon, Fujifilm and Olympus. While Zoomin offers free shipping, it will take about 7-14 days to deliver.   

Infibeam

You will get a good bargain for Sony Xperia range here

On this Diwali, the online shopping site Infibeam is offering super discounts on Sony mobile phones. It has put on sale mid to high-end Xperia line-up of Sony handsets including the latest Xperia tipo. Then there are Xperia U, P, S, tipo dual, neo, Sola and more. Infibeam also has a page showing some cool Samsung cameras at discounted prices that you could grab for this Diwali season. On purchasing a camera, you can also avail of a holiday voucher worth Rs. 7,000. Besides festive offers, you can also check out Infibeam’s phone section, which offers some really good discounts on mobile phones.

TheITDepot

ITDepot too is offering festive discounts on limited range of products

TheITDepot, a handy shopping website for hardcore techies, also has some devices on sale this Diwali. It has on sale chassis from NZXT, Corsair and Cooler Master, Asus graphic card, flash drives and webcam. Besides this, TheIT Depot has a range of computer peripherals that you can choose from. It also has a ‘deal of the day’ offer that puts on sale a select device with an attractive discount each day. You will also find products from AMD, Belkin and Antec. You can either call up and order via phone or buy online with its wide range of payment options.

eBay

eBay has deals that you can look at

One of the pioneers of online shopping in India, eBay has upped its game and apart from bidding and plain buying, it now also offers deals. For the festive season, it has on offer some exciting deals on a wide range of products including mobile phones, tablets, cameras, laptops, TVs, pen drives, etc. and offers on average up to 40 percent discount on most products. If you opt for a product featured under the deals, then you can also enjoy the free shipping option.       

Apart from these online retail sites, even some brands have come up with festive offers. We have listed a few meaty ones that we came across. HP is offering a 16 Megapixel Nikon Coolpix digital camera worth Rs. 6,950. While the camera is free with HP Envy Ultrabooks, with other HP products, you will have to pay a certain amount if you wish to get the camera. You can check the details here. The offer is valid only till November 18. Samsung has announced several festive offers. If you buy a Samsung Smart TV or Samsung side-by-side refrigerator, then you will get the Samsung Galaxy tab 7.0 for free. Apart from this, if you buy a Samsung 3D TV, then you will get an Internet enabled 3D Blu-ray player with 3D movie pack worth Rs. 10,990 for free.

Acer has offers on its Aspire range of Ultrabooks and Notebooks. Apart from the free two-year extended warranty, its customers can choose from a free 14MP Fuji Camera or Philips 5.1 Speaker System. The offer is valid till November 20. Nokia India is offering free headsets with its Lumia range of smartphones, while with its Asha range of phones, it's offering travel vouchers from Yatra. Sony India has tied-up with the James Bond action thriller – ‘Skyfall’ and launched ‘This Diwali Bond with Sony’ initiative. Customers can be part of the lucky draw on purchase of select Sony products. There are about 1,800 prizes up for grabs, including Bravia TV, personal 3D Viewer, Xperia tablet and smartphones. Along with this, Sony also has other offers where it is giving away free digital photo frames and pen drives on purchase of select products.

These are but only a handful of deals. In the next couple of days, we could see many more portals, retailers and even brands announcing their festive offers. So don’t forget to check out the deals on the product you wish to buy, both online as well as offline. You never know which one will be sweeter. And if you are planning to place an order online, then rest assured that you will get your product delivered in time for the festivities, as most of the portals are offering express shipping, keeping the festive season in mind. But, of course, it’s always good to check before you go ahead.

Do you know any other portals or good deals that we have missed out on? Let us know.

Groupon and its compatriots in the much-hyped daily deals business were supposed to change the very nature of small-business advertising

For Groupon, it’s a fight for survival

Groupon and its compatriots in the much-hyped daily deals business were supposed to change the very nature of small-business advertising. Instead, it is the daily deal vendors that are racing to change as evidence mounts that their business model is fundamentally flawed. Groupon last week reported another quarter of disappointing earnings as its core business stagnated, sending its stock down 30% to an all-time low of $2.76. Its biggest rival, Living Social, is piling up losses, and part-owner Amazon.com earlier this month recorded a quarterly loss after writing down its Living Social investment. Both companies are racing to diversify, venturing into more generic ecommerce areas like off-price sales through ventures such as Groupon Goods and LivingSocial’s Shop. Meanwhile, upstarts are developing new variations on the discount coupon theme. “It’s clear that they need to have other models besides the email daily deals business,” said Aaron Kessler, an analyst at Raymond James. “The problem is that a lot of these newer businesses have lower margins.” Critics say the torrid growth that enabled Groupon to go public at $20 a share just a year ago was fuelled by merchants buying into a new type of marketing that they didn’t fully understand. The discounts offered through the Groupon coupons have turned out to be costly, and the repeat business they generate uncertain. “A lot of people made the mistake of overlooking the price-promotion part of this model,” said Utpal Dholakia, professor of Management in Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. “Normal advertising, yellow pages advertising, it really doesn’t have a price promotion, it doesn’t have discounting component. That’s what makes this difficult to do again and again.” A Raymond James survey of roughly 115 merchants that used daily deals services during the fall found that 39% of merchants said they were not likely to run another Groupon promotion over the next couple of years. The top reasons cited were high commission rate and low rate of repeat customers gained through offering a promotion. “I’ve always maintained that this is a hype driven business built on an unsustainable business model both for the merchants and for Groupon,” said Rakesh Agrawal, principal analyst at reDesign mobile, a San Francisco consulting firm. Existing customers interested in signing up for daily deals has waned – Groupon reported last week that the average revenue per active customer (defined as an account that has purchased a deal from the site in the previous 12 months) fell to $63.96 in the 12 months to September 30 from $76.49 a year earlier. The company has also suffered a string of high-level executive departures as its market value has shrivelled to just $1.8 billion, down from nearly $13 billion when it went public. Groupon has also been dogged by controversy over its accounting methods, though it said last week that it had $1.2 billion in cash and cash-equivalents with no long-term debt. Groupon cites an array of new services and features that it hopes will make the company a crucial partner for many types of merchants over the long run. WhaleShark and other competitors such as Coupons.com have focussed on bringing traditional coupons into the digital era. Such companies typically get a small percentage of revenue for each sale generated by their coupons. As such competition builds even as the original deals business flattens, there are no easy answers for Groupon. “The heyday for the daily deals is behind us,” said Bhatia.