Exclusive | We want to make gifting a memorable experience: Giftcart.com's Shaloo Reddi

Now, you can present your loved ones with unique gifts such as a limousine ride or tea time at a golf course, just to name a few. Indian residents and NRIs now have an exciting new way to send gifts to their loved ones in India with the recent launch of a new Gifting portal, www.Giftcart.com which promises new and unique gifting experiences. Adgully spoke to Shaloo Reddi, MD, Giftcart.com on various aspects. Following is the excerpts of the interaction.

 

 

Shaloo Reddi (SR): Giftcart.com encompasses the entire experience from choosing the gift to sending it to the recipient. We want to make every step of gifting as exciting and memorable experience. We have differentiated from competition by using strong technology backbone powered by Microsoft Dynamics ERP, Oracle Customer Experience Suite and Online Pro-active & Reactive Chat Systems. We have spent $ 200k on building consumer facing technologies mainly e-mail response, contact centre, chat, e-marketing suite, FAQs driven by Knowledge Management (KM) tool and cloud monitoring tools.

 

 

SR: With time, Giftcart.com plans to cover tier-1 cities to enable delivery of gifts even at the last minute to the remotest corners of India. We are also looking at targeting NRI community which have limited options to send gifts to India. Besides expanding our portfolio of products and services, we will  include experiential gifts such as a hot-air balloon ride, a long drive in a limousine and golf lessons, to name a few. With organic growth in place, we hope to break even within the next 12 to 18 months.

 

 

SR: In the initial stage, Giftcart.com will resort to digital marketing. Our target market has a strong presence on the Internet and we will leverage this channel to reach our customers. We will also be advertising on the traditional media such as the television, newspapers and magazines.

 

 

SR: The company is yet to invest in fixed assets. The current focus is on upgrading technology, digital marketing, website maintenance and CRM where are operational expenses are at this moment. Going forward we will invest in inventory and warehousing at various locations. We received the initial seed capital to the tune of $1 million, and we are looking at another round of funding in six to nine months’ time.

 

AG: What is your USP in terms of unique experience for your customers? 

 

SR: The Indian market is becoming more receptive to e-commerce and the internet penetration is increasing. Fears associated with online shopping are gradually alleviating. Goods available online are cheaper than those available offline and it is easy to order online and people have realized that. Globally one out of seven products sold online are for gifting. The gifting market is about $ 500 million and 98% of it is sold through retail and offline models. In addition, the e-commerce market as a whole is growing and is expected to reach $ 15 billion by 2015. We are certain that the gifting share in the e-commerce market will increase by two-fold or even three-fold due to our hectic lifestyle.