Shopmatic woos e-commerce aspirants through its platform

Shopmatic is an international e-commerce company which was founded in December 2014 to enable businesses to sell their products and services online. It develops unique web store, listing products on marketplaces and on social media channels to provide insights on how to sell online.

The company has two products in the market: Shopmatic Pro which builds one’s customized e-commerce website using the desktop and Shopmatic Go which builds one’s website using your mobile phone app.

Shopmatic Go is a revolutionary mobile application exclusively launched for Indian sellers to create their online stores using their mobile phone in less than two minutes and sell their products, ideas and hobbies to customers across India. It allows all individuals and merchants to develop their e-commerce stores by clicking pictures of their products, enabling payments, and selling their products by sharing on social channels from their phones.

With this app, the company will enable lakhs of offline sellers to digitize their businesses and also help new age Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram sellers to scale their online businesses for free.

Establishing Themselves in Indian Market

“India is home to more than 51 million small and medium businesses. Our platform can potentially help all these merchants go online and grow their businesses at a national as well as international level,” said Anurag Avula, CEO, Shopmatic.

In January 2016, the company signed a deal with online payments giant PayPal to enable its merchants to expand their global sales. The move also marked PayPal’s first tie-up with an Indian partner. The start-up has also tied up with Citrus Pay. According to Avula, the company has been able to propel the business forward through acquisition and helping more sellers, product build and expanding our market footprint. For India, one of our biggest highlight has been the launch of Shopmatic Go which is estimated to be a game changer in how sellers establish their online business using their mobile phones. We have seen a tremendous download rate since our launch date and have already seen transactions start - a sure sign that we are enabling businesses in a new unique way.

“We have also made our core web platform available for Business Services too- now sellers who are interested in selling a service can also use our core web platform. We also provide the option of sellers who are selling services to eventually expand their business to selling products too. This entire process can happen with a click of a button and as per the needs of the seller”, he says.

Shopmatic has also tied up with e-commerce logistics firm like Delhivery and global transportation major Aramex for delivery. So that anyone can choose the network delivery coverage and pricing option that are most relevant for your targeted audience and market. Shopmatic has also partnered with PayPal and CAIT.

How Digital India initiatives are good for start-ups?

Avula says, “We are very excited with this launch especially since it supports Digital India initiatives to take businesses online. In the first couple of weeks, we have got phenomenal response to GO! With the mobile penetration of the country being so high, we are certain that the impact of our product will be great, in a market like India.”

“Our go-to-market strategy entails of mix of activities - digital marketing efforts, Feet-on-Street programs, events and road shows. In addition to this, we are leveraging strategic partnerships to reach millions of customers, wanting to go online, from every nook and cranny of the country. We also plan to launch language versions of our platform which will make it easy for customers across regions to understand and avail of our offering,” he adds.

He concludes by saying, “With the Digital India initiative and Start-up India Stand-up India Action Plan, 2017 is the perfect time for Digital start-ups to carry forth their businesses. At Shopmatic, we also hope that the entrepreneurs that we are creating through our platform will also find their triumphs in this ever changing environment.

We feel 2017 and the years ahead will be another great time for us to establish ourselves as the voice of sellers. We will work towards ways of optimizing our business growth that adapts to the changing landscape of our industry. Shopmatic will also be expanding to more markets like Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand to name a few where we feel our platform would bring value to the sellers there. We also have exciting new partnerships lined up and ways to drive a unique selling experience with Shopmatic.”

Customer’s Experience

The company has few key customers in different categories such as Olive by Design, educational toys, pet food, and customized gift boxes. The company claims that customers are happy with their e-commerce websites.

“I loved the experience of setting-up my online shop (Olive by Design) in a matter of hours, right from registering the domain to setting up the design, adding the payment gateway and the logistics. It was all taken care of with assistance from the Shopmatic team and I did not have to think or do any research as to which payment gateway I need to use or which logistic company to sign up with - which would do a home pickup for my shipments. There are two features that really stood-out; the first is being a homepreneur. I have been trying to start an online shop since last year but have always been bogged down by numerous paperwork requirements before even contemplating my business online. Shopmatic really helped me move online in a matter of days with a ready online store. The second was the investment, being a subscription model and only paying $20 a month because of which I am able to pay for the service as part of running my business and I am able to utilize my capital for expanding my product line. In this new age, women should empower themselves to do the work of their liking and make their own stand in the society. I have worked in many different roles and now being a homepreneur I put in a lot of effort to develop a unique product which is very new to the Indian market and I had received a terrific response from both male and female customers, this tells me that the society today is open to accepting more female entrepreneurs, like myself,” says Priya Harjai, Olive by Design.