Creature Companion - Interzoo Special Interzoo Special 2018 | Page 28

E-Retailing
effi cient warehousing were achieved at lowest possible operation cost
ever. Th e return order percentage rate is under 2 per cent, which
is a surprising fi gure in the e-commerce industry. Pupkart started
earning profi ts by January 2015.
Pupkart, now plans to launch a social platform for pet owners which
will off er interactions and discussions on the challenges related to
pet grooming.
DogSpot.in
www.dogspot.in
DogSpot.in was started in 2007. Initially called BlogSpot.com,
it was an interactive and informative platform fi lled by founder
Rana Atheya with content that would receive positive response
from animal lovers. With time the hits kept increasing and in 2011,
Atheya teamed up with friend Ankur Tandon, (today the Chief of
Operations), and Shalesh Visen (now Chief Technology Offi cer), to
launch e-commerce services on DogSpot.in.
the online sales volume surpassed the offl ine
sales.
From economy brands like Pedigree, Drools,
SmartHeart, Me-O to luxury ones like Orijen,
Farmina, Biogroom, Royal Canin, the one-stop
shop for all pet needs at competitive prices.
Th ere is a huge collection of indigenous as
well as imported pet accessories like shampoo,
collars, beds, fl ight cages, shoes, toys, jackets
and many other pet products for sale.
Currently looking forward to gain more point
of sales in few cities close to Calcutta like
Siliguri and Bhubaneswar, Paul says, “Pets
are loyal, so are we. We at LoyalPetZone also
provide a loyalty program to reward our
regular customers generously and to meet all
their pet's needs under one roof.”
Initially, the venture did not receive any outside
E-retailing is the Future
investment nor return on investments. Be
Pet grooming is a fast
that as it may, within a year DogSpot.in
evolving fi eld in India. Pet
managed the initial round of fi nancing
Defi nition of ‘market’
ownership is considered
raising Rs 50 lakh with the help of
has changed, it no
an economic indicator,
family members. Aft er a year, the
longer confi nes itself to
experts believe. Most
second round of fi nancing started
gathering at a particular
people can aff ord pets
with India Quotient investing a
place for trade; the
and eventually go to
staggering Rs 1 crore. By December
expansion of the market
the
extent of providing
2015, DogSpot.in claimed to have
can now be measured by
them
with toys, trips
raised around Rs 6.68 crore. In
the market’s reach to its
to groomers, special pet
January 2016, Chairman Emeritus of
target customers through
food,
etc. to give them the
Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, also invested an
e-commerce
best possible care. India has
undisclosed amount in DogSpot.in.
one of the world’s lowest rates of
dog ownership but interestingly that
Th e e-commerce portal remains an interactive
scenario is quickly changing.
and informative platform, but also has a thriving e-store
as well, that is going from strength to strength.
Investment to open a pet supply retail outlet
ranges between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 50 lakh on
LoyalPetzone
an average. Th ough the market has immense
www.loyalpetzone.com
potential for growth, there exists a strong
Founded in 2014 by Susmita Paul, a dog owner herself, LoyalPetZone
need to increase the number of quality retail
stores. Pet supply retailers want to increase
was one of the fi rst pet supply stores to launch in Kolkata. Initially,
their margins and update their retailing
they provided free home delivery to numerous pet owners in Kolkata
concepts by off ering a user-friendly, fun and
and Howrah long before e-commerce gained popularity in India;
relaxing shopping experience while giving
it was only in 2016 that they decided to harness the power of the
the best service available to prospective
internet to expand the business.
customers and their pets. Nonetheless, Indian
pet supply retailing is at least 10 years behind
Apart from two offl ine pet stores in Kolkata and Howrah, pet products
the developed pet markets in the world. We
are supplied online at LoyalPetZone.com and multiple e-commerce
believe we can grow! And e-retailing shows
the way.
marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, and ebay. In a matter of months,
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Creature Companion | Interzoo Special 2018