India is currently witnessing a golden period when it comes to Ecommerce websites. These sites are like emergence of a wada pav wala during monsoon, one every block. No matter which website you visit, educational or sports oriented, our very own ecommerce sites are there to welcome you. Yebhi, Wohbhi, MyKart, Yourkart etc. Everyone is searching for a stable business model but to no avail and please dont talk about discounts !! Discounts are being offered with the same magnitude and frequency as that of rebirths of Ekta Kapoor serial heroes !!
Till now there was some hope and that was the poster boy of this Dotcom boom i.e. *drumroll* Flipkart !!
But now even Flipkart might be in trouble. By the looks of it, Flipkart looks a solid foundation with considerable profits & sizeable market share but infact its a company in dire need of funds and is working on negative cash flows.Flipkart has already gobbled up $181 million from two separate Venture capitalist funding and the hunger still prevails.
Accel Partners & Tiger Global are very much in the mix with 48% holding after their investment while Bansals (the mom-dad of Flipkart) hold around 37% in the brand. With this share, its difficult for them to negotiate a deal to save their baby. Flipkart who currently has a revenue of $350 million was having a profit margin deficit and only recently got to a 2-3% profit margin that too after extension of product catalogue. Thats the main reason they cannot get listed on the local stock exchange and get money in through IPO owing to the stringent entry norms. So one of the lucrative options they have left is to get listed abroad or sell off the business and go for Char Dhaam yatra !!
So consider this current scenario where Flipkart is looking for funds from people and people do come in handy not just by buying books at discounted rates but investing in the brand too. How would that go if some of our country's finest lend their hand and in return look for Flipkart to for some inspiration out of their business model to get their business done? Lets take a sneak peek !!
Our ministers will be the first to seize the opportunity (as always) and take help of the 5000 odd delivery men to transport their black money from one hand to the other. Obviously the question marks will be there on how legitimate the investments are !!
Next our various sports teams in India especially the Hockey team after its disastrous performance at Olympics will provide some funds and in return will wear Flipkart on their jerseys. The primary motive being that they will deliver on time.
Next in line would be our not so successful actors like Fardeen Khan & Harman Baweja who would invest in this ecommerce venture and take lessons from them about how to diverse their portfolio with more things to offer than just one 'blank face' before the camera !!
Not far behind would be our directors who would look to induce the 'Pay after delivery' system with respect to the payments of our heroines and their obese meddlesome mothers.
Also film distributors would look to learn and adopt the '30 day moneyback guarantee' from Flipkart if the movie does not do well.
Finally and as usual in the end, the mango people will make their small bid towards this cause by contributing the usual way i.e. pay for the items on show. Be it books or electronic items, there is no dispute that Flipkart is one of the names on everyone's mouths. Afterall little drops of water make the mighty ocean !!
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