Singapore-based e-commerce enabler Shopmatic has launched an mobile app for small Indian businesses and solo entrepreneurs to create their own websites in just two minutes and for free.
Called ‘Go’, the app lets individuals and merchants develop online stores by snapping pictures of their products, enabling paymentsand selling their products by sharing on social channels, from their phones. The app has been primarily tailored for the Indian market, but would soon be launched in Hong Kong and Singapore in the next 3-4 months. Talking to BusinessLine, Anurag Avula, CEO, Shopmatic, said about 5,000 merchants have already developed store-fronts and websites using the app in the past three days. The plan is to get about 1 million sellers on the app by December 2017, and help them digitise and scale their businesses by using social media.
Founded in December 2014, Shopmatic manages the entire e-commerce ecosystem — from developing a unique web store, to listing products on marketplaces and social-media channels, to providing insights on how to sell online. Avula, said: “With significant mobilephone penetration in India, the app will make the online world easily accessible to anyone who wants to sell online across the country.” Talking about the revenues, Avula said the sellers can create stores for free without having to pay any commissions. However, the company has entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with payment gateway Citrus Pay and charges per transaction. Besides, it is also partnering with PayPal as its global payment gateway partner. A number of online sellers are shifting out of big e-commerce sites and setting up their own online platforms to not only gain better visibility but also save on commission and logistics charges, he said. A few other sites such as Kraftly and Shopo.in, both marketplaces, are also helping small businesses create their own online stores. However, they charge commissions, which are as low as 0-5 per cent compared with 25-30 per cent by the big e-commerce platforms. While e-commerce majors earlier charged 10 per cent as commission from sellers, they have now increased the fee.
Source: The Hindu Business Line