Saturday, October 12, 2013

Is selling online is difficult?

Thanks to a whopping $853 million influx of VC funds, the ecommerce story in India has grown leaps and bounds. Now, owing to FDI rules and drawbacks of inventory-based model, ecommerce companies are increasingly moving towards the marketplace model. And this means, they are looking for you – “small businesses” – to list and sell your products on their sites.

Also, many of the people who buy from you offline are going online. They are increasingly searching, browsing and buying products online similar to yours. Considering these, for any merchant, selling online would be the wise thing to do. But still there are loads of misconceptions and apprehensions around selling online especially among small businesses.

Being a part of Team Zepo, we come across many such misconceptions everyday. So, its time to clear the air by busting some of the top myths surrounding online selling.

Myth 1: My business and products are not suited for selling online.

Busted: Unless you plan to sell drugs, porn or alcohol, pretty much anything from kites to prasad, and wigs to vegetables can be sold online. All you need to check is if you have enough margin to cover the costs of selling online.

Myth 2: Setting up an online store is not my cup of tea. I would need a full-fledged team – like a designer, a tech co-founder, etc.

Busted: Ecommerce platforms can help you set up an online store in 5 minutes- time taken to finish that cup of tea. Also they come pre-loaded with a variety of themes which can be used or changed with a click of a button. And if the platform you choose is ‘AWESOME’, then it can be managed with the same ease as your Facebook profile. You don’t need an assistant to do that, do you?

Myth 3: People are afraid to use credit cards online.

Busted: People are increasingly buying online. This is proven by the fact that the Govt. run e-ticketing site IRCTC clocked Rs.170 crore worth of online ticket bookings in the FY12. And then there is ecommerce behemoth Flipkart which sells 20 products every minute and is targeting sales of Rs. 1000 crores by this year end.

Myth 4: Since I have not registered my business, I cannot sell online.

Busted: The only issue unregistered businesses faced was getting a Payment Gateway A/c. But now even that problem is solved. Thanks to PayU Paisa which gives you a PG service even if you are not a registered business.

Myth 5: I need hundreds of awesome features on my site to complete and do business

Busted: Ecommerce industry has quite a few stores which contradict this myth. There are many stores doing a 6-7 figure business a month and growing with minimal set of features and hardly any added customization. What matters the most is your product and how user-friendly your site is. Hundreds of jazzy features like drag-and-drop and 360-degree view are all secondary.

Myth 6: Payment gateways and logistics are a big pain to handle and also very expensive.

Busted: Some ecommerce platforms offer logistics support at a highly discounted price and also offer free payment gateway. With the ever growing number of PG companies, innovative payment options like GharPay and Logistics companies opening up to ecommerce like the old horse India Post, it shouldn’t be a pain to find the ideal fit which sits in your budget.

Myth 7: But acquiring customers is very expensive.

Busted: You can start with digitizing your own offline customer data base. You can also start selling on marketplaces and thus acquire customers from there by riding on their marketing budgets. Other cost-effective ways of acquiring customer would be to promote via social media, blogging, affiliate marketing, sending newsletters and more.

Myth 8: Selling on online marketplaces is a loss-making proposition, as they ask for huge discounts.

Busted: The rule of business is simple – generate profits. No merchant will want to sell his/her wares at a loss. This is understood by the marketplace companies as well. The cost of the discounts and deals offered by them to their customers is never passed on to the end seller. It is absorbed as a marketing cost by the ecommerce company.

Myth 9: Online selling is an additional chore. It adds no value to my brick-and-mortar store.

Busted: Online selling is a medium which opens up your business to hoards of new customers and is a great channel to build your brand. It also helps you shed the non-selling stocks with its wide range of customer base.

What happened to Raayalaseema University PhD?

Dear all aspiring Ph.D Raayalaseema University students!
We all wondering the status of Ph.D who enrolled with Raayalaseema University during 2009 and there after.
Good news is Andhra Pradesh government advised to constitute a committee and review the admission procedures.
The sad thing is we don't know what is the status of the committee like whether it is functioning or not?
See the University circular in the below link
http://www.rayalaseemauniversity.ac.in/ ... 062012.pdf
Contact details:
Director (Research Studies)
Rayalaseema University
Ph: 08518-280600
Web: http://www.rayalaseemauniversity.ac.in/
e-mail: directorresearch.ru@gmail.com

Let us all follow up the university with the above correspondence to pressure them for a quick outcome.
I could not able to meet the Vice Chancellor last year when I went to the university at Kurnool since the VC was busy with PG admissions.
If it happens to go to Kurnool I will try to meet him to clarify the matter.
Sheer bad luck in choosing the university off course bit better if we compare with Kuppam Dravidian University ha haaa!

Do we need one more faculty eligibility test really?

Already we have UGC NET and APSET examinations to assess the faculty knowledge.
Why JNTUH wants to conduct another Examination FET?
GOD only knows.
Let us say even if we pass the FET examination there is no change in salary structure.
It is only to collect money from the poor faculty.
We are ashamed to this kind of cheap tricks playing on the faculty by the university.
No other university accepts this exam as a standard assessment then what is the fun of taking this examination.
Let us clear the UGC NET examination instead of JNTU FET

JNTUH loves to earn money but neither see the miserable salary structure of faculty nor do any suggestions to the private colleges to increase the salary structure

How to write a better resume using readymade templates?

When you start writing your first resume it is very frustrating.
In my observation some of the students directly copy the content from their friends resume.
Usually it is filled with routine words like team player, good communication skills and so on.
Why don't you pick from ready made templates which are professional and customize according to your requirements.
Spend some time on writing covering letter and resume because it is the first phase of job hunting which is important.
Don't put into the trap of popular quotation " APPLY APPLY AND NO REPLY"
Check the following site.
It is awesome--
http://www.dayjob.com/content/cv-examples-430.htm
Mallikarjuna Raju

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