Eureka Forbes ties the knot with matrimony portal

Not content with selling water purifiers and vacuum cleaners only, Eureka Forbes has decided to take its relationship with customers a step further by announcing the launch of a new service - eurobandhan.com.

The website essentially works as a wedding registry, with a slight difference. The service would be formally launched at a later date.

Since Eureka Forbes specialises in concept products, there is the likelihood of its range of offerings being largely restrictive. To overcome this, the company has tied up with 40 companies whose products will be on offer, on eurobandhan.com.

"We will be putting up catalogues of 40 companies like Shoppers' Stop, Lifestyle and Amarsons, and a couple will have the option of deciding which products it wants across all the stores," said S K Palekar, senior vice-president, marketing and knowledge management, Eureka Forbes.

The couple can access the website only after getting registered with it by paying a fee of Rs 1,000.

It is the second of its kind of service in India with Lifestyle and indiawalibrides.com having already announced their joint wedding registry services earlier this month. However, there are two key differentiators.

One, at eurobandhan, the guests need not buy a particular gift; they can contribute in parts to a larger gift. "If a couple has a budget of Rs 1,000, instead of buying anything exactly worth the amount, it can contribute the amount towards another more expensive item that it may desire. Thus, the couple would end up getting what it wants," Palekar said.

Another area where Eureka's service would have an edge over other services is the sheer range of products it would offer, as it has tied up with a large number of stores.

Also, the company plans to use the services of its network of salespeople in facilitating the collection of payments in case a couple is not comfortable in using its credit card online.

Eureka Forbes, which has a customer base of 6 million people, has posted revenues of $122 million in the financial year 2005 and is the largest direct-selling organisation in Asia. It recently expanded its presence beyond India to countries like Indonesia and Phillipines.