Adgully Exclusive | The dawn of the internet era opened up amazing new possibilities: Ferns N Petals' Pawan Gadia
Having pioneered the concept of branded chain of flowers, FNP has grown with the spread of modern culture, increasing urbanization and improving standard of living. With the boom in Indian online retail industry and the changing lifestyle of the people in bigger cities and smaller towns, FNP is consciously entering B towns to mark their presence. It plans to almost double its retail presence in India by the end of 2013.
Today, Ferns N Petals Group has FNP Retail & Franchising, FNP E-commerce, FNP Events & Weddings, and "FNP Tahiliani'. It has become a one stop shop for everybody's floral needs for any and every occasion- weddings, parties or simple greetings all over the globe. It is the pioneer in the organized flower retail industry.
Pawan Gadia, CEO FNP met with Adgully to share about the company's future growth path¦here are the excerpts. Talking about the scope of a venture like his Gadia said: The dawn of the internet era opened up amazing new possibilities and e-commerce has emerged as a perfect amalgamation of technology and marketing acumen. The latest statistics reveal that India has been reported to have 70 million active internet users, the count rising exponentially by the minute. India will be among the top 10 e-commerce hubs in the world by 2015. The online community is growing by leaps and bounds as an increasing number of consumers have started transacting online because the initial fears and apprehensions are being laid to rest.
One such report, shared by ASSOCHAM, estimated the online retail industry to touch Rs 7,000 crore by 2015 (rising from the current Rs 2000 crore), with an annual growth rate of 35 per cent. Adding on to this, IAMI has facilitated data to indicate a zoom in India's e-commerce sector, with transactions rising 50 per cent annually. Online retailing or e-tailing, which accounts for about 6 per cent of the Rs 46,000 crore industry, has taken the forefront of this rapid growth.
Such strong current indications to massive changes, occurring across the entire business spectrum, have already wiped out doubts about the scope of e-commerce in India. The expanse of the tremendous ambit for the growth of internet marketing in India being clear now, it can conveniently be stated that marketing through the internet can be an extremely potent ball game. Going online has indeed benefited our business enormously and our turnover has reached to a remarkable position. Ferns N Petals currently is a 150 crore Company and within two years, we target to grow 250 cr.
On asking about his Offline expansion plans he explained that after seeing the current positive response which we have received from Tier II and Tier III cities like Coimbatore, Tirupati, Nellore, Sangli, Surat, SiIliguri, Meerut etc, we are encouraged to concentrate more on these cities and explore multiple outlets. For example, recently we have launched second outlets in cities like Surat, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Mangalore & Coimbatore. We plan to target extensively and open about 200 outlets by the end of 2013.
Having established a stronghold in flower retailing, the group's next venture is Wedding Management. Today, FNP is the only branded one-stop-shop for all wedding requirements. We plan & manage weddings right from start to finish offering services like wedding décor, venue selection, catering, cocktails, lighting, music/entertainment, photography, trousseau selection and invitation cards. The group is planning an IPO in the next 5 years and targeting revenues of Rs. 500 crore. It is also planning to dilute stake to raise around Rs 25-Rs 50 crore from a private equity firm in the next two years in a bid to fuel growth and expansion.
Sharing the secret of the company's success he said "The online retail industry is evolving to create a bright commercial ecosystem. With 120 million internet users supporting the e-revolution, the total number of transactions in India is set to take a leap from 8-10 million to 40 million by 2015. We are in an extremely competitive world wherein each segment is full of competitors, be it FMCG, banking, telecom or any other sector. We, being the only large scale manufacturing and retail store chain and e-commerce player in the organised retail flower industry, enjoy unique and powerful economies to scale position in the market.
Moreover at Ferns N Petals , we believe in offering unique concepts to our customers to satisfy their various floral needs. Ferns N Petals (FNP) having pioneered the concept of social expression (Flowers and Bouquets) in the country today, has become a name synonymous with love, emotions and celebrations. Started with a single store in 1994 in Delhi, by the enterprising Mr. Vikaas Gutgutia, the brand today boasts of 118 outlets in 47 cities nationwide and delivers across 150 countries worldwide. Having pioneered the concept of branded chain of flowers, FNP has grown with the spread of modern culture, increasing urbanization and improving standard of living. With the boom in Indian online retail industry and the changing lifestyle of the people in bigger cities and smaller towns, FNP is consciously foraying into small towns and every nook and corner of the country to mark its presence. It plans to almost double its retail presence in India by the end of 2013.
Today, Ferns N Petals Group encompasses of FNP Retail & Franchising, FNP E-commerce, FNP Events & Weddings, and "FNP Tahiliani' and other gifting solutions. It has become a one stop shop for everybody's floral needs, be it buying flowers for occasions, floral décor for weddings, parties or just delivering fresh flowers to corporate not only in India but across the globe. It is the pioneer in the organized flower retail industry.
FNP introduced the E-Commerce division in 2002, and since then it has grown leaps and bound. It is India's biggest flower portal. Today, FNP delivers across 400 cities and towns across India and around 150 countries worldwide.
The aim of the group is to be a premium online florist offering fresh flower delivery services in almost every location of India. After seeing the current positive response which the group has received from tier II and tier III markets, the group is encouraged to concentrate more on these cities and explore multiple outlets. We have in house logistic mechanism.
Talking about expansion he said "Very soon we will have our physical presence outside India. We are also going international in weddings. In the online business, along with flowers, we are also concentrating on gifting solutions. We shall also tie up with international designers to bring that exotic effect to Indian weddings. We do believe in online+offline combination of business to achieve success. We do believe that for a business to eventually survive, the key essential to success is to target the right customers at the right time and through the right space. Today, the world has become a global marketplace with no boundaries, thanks to the technological advancement and globalisation throughout the world. Almost 30 percent of our business comes from the e-commerce portal fnp.com
At the other hand, we do recognise that offline retail has been the key to growth for our business model. As stated earlier, we started with a single store in Delhi and now have reached a robust network of 118 outlets throughout the nation which we aim to double by the end of this fiscal year. We see a lot of potential in the tier II and tier III markets where there is still a buying trend of look and feel factor, where our fabulous stores serve the perfect purpose.
A multi dimensional trade plan is all we need to reach out to a massive untapped customers that have the buying propensity and disposable income but do not have the right channel to serve. We promise to deliver quality flowers at the right time and through the right medium which makes ours a perfect model to work in.
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