”Time is the new money”, says Shilpa Sharma, co-founder and head of product sourcing of online luxury store Jaypore. And people do not have enough of it to go scouting around to buy stuff. Not all of us live in big metros and if we want to buy something special we have to wait for exhibitions that are few and far between. Online presence presents huge opportunities.”
It is a boon for both buyers and sellers, says Shilpa. At Jaypore they have made the shopping experience virtually as convenient as they possibly can.
“If you are not happy with what you have got, you can return it and no questions asked. If you are reluctant to use your credit card online, we have cash on delivery. So there are no risks at all.” About most online shoppers, Shilpa says, initial transactions may be small.
“They may start by buying something for a thousand rupees but gradually the amount increases. And once the trust is established, and they are reassured, they take the leap forward.”
Vijayalakshmi Nachiar, owner of Ethicus that hand-weaves organic saris, is excited about online retailing too. She says this is the future of shopping.
“My market has really opened up. My clients are from places as far away as Hubli and Nagpur and parts of Assam and Odisha. People overseas buy my saris online too.”
Easy return options, brand knowledge, the ability to compare prices and quality…have made the experience a happy one for shoppers, she says. And every one has aspirations whether they are from Delhi or Dindigul.
“The money power is there and the inaccessibility to physical stores makes this an attractive option. Viji especially loves the supreme ease of it all.
“One can shop any time of the day or night. We don’t have to travel distances, worry about where to leave the children, pray the driver turns up ...”
There is the risk of impulsive buying, Viji admits, but it saves a lot of time energy and inconvenience. And, as a seller, there are immeasurable benefits too of having an online store.
“All I have to do is take good pictures to upload. I don’t have to worry about space, or whether my saris are displayed well in a shop, security, employing extra hands …so many problems that crop up in a physical store. Online, none of these factors come into play. Everything is in my control.”
Chartered accountant Priya Bhansali says barring provisions, she buys just about everything else online. “It saves time, petrol and parking headache. I have bought things online, almost from the time the option became available. I prefer it as there are no risks. I can return stuff I do not like; some designs are available only online; and sometimes there are fantastic deals. I once got three kurtas, branded ones, for Rs. 1,500. There is door delivery, what else do you want?”
Priya pooh poohs the notion that one can get carried away while shopping online. She never does. “Like everything else one needs discipline. I buy things only when I require them.”
Learning and development specialist Marsha Lewis says she sees nothing wrong with impulse buying. She remembers taking an online window shopping break at work. A tea cup with cats on it caught her eye.
She’d just finished adding it to her cart when an owl-shaped toothbrush holder beckoned. That went into her cart too. They were too cute to pass up.
“I cherish those two purchases,” she says. They were not expensive, but every time she uses them, she smiles and remembers the happy impulse that brought them home.
Journalist Hemangi Sharma shops online for best deals. “Time and money is saved on commuting. When I know what I want, I always head online,” she says.
Sometimes, she clicks on pop-ups for hefty discounts. “ I once saw an elegant watch on a 40 per cent discount. I did not need it, but I bought it nevertheless because it was a cool deal.”
Says Tharakaram’s Radhika Prithvi: “We put up photos of some special creations on our website. People then get back to us, ask to see more stuff and then place an order. Of the online enquiries roughly 75 per cent translate into sales.”
Radhika’s clients are from Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Dubai and the U.S. But, many still like to physically touch and feel the texture, and rightly so, says Radhika.
“It’s not a gadget that is the same in Siberia or Sydney. Every Kanjivaram is different, every tussar is unique. In such cases, your fingers are your best judge.”
An official in the online sales division of The Chennai Silks says about 20 per cent of visits to their webpage translate into purchases. But online sales is less than five per cent of retail sales.
“We’ve even sold saris for Rs. 1.5 lakh online. Customers see it on our website, enquire and we follow it up with more photographs and Skype sessions before a sale is made,” he says.
Many clients from abroad buy saris for gifting relatives in India, and we even gift wrap them.” Smaller towns in Tamil Nadu use the Net extensively to shop, he says.
