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, 28 Creature Companion | Interzoo Special 2018