Call it the benefit of living in the 21st century web world, you can get everything you need sitting at home. From food to toys, films to books to even clean laundry, everything is a click away, courtesy the mushrooming of lifestyle portals that deliver convenience to customers.
Launched not more than two years ago to cater to a few select cities, these portals are now looking at private equity investments to grow nationally. Here are some such sites doing brisk business.
Rent a toy
Khilonaghar.com, an online toy rental service, has a collection of 5,000 toys for children in the age group of 1-15 years. The collection includes growth-enhancing puzzles, CDs, educational games, flash cards and family games.
“Children get bored of toys very fast. So we wanted to create a rental toy library where toys could be exchanged every month. Currently, we have 850 registered members and we handle around 15-20 orders a day,” said Niyati Shah, founder member of the portal.
The portal charges a a one-time registration fee and refundable deposit, starting Rs 199 and Rs 999, respectively, for 10 points. It goes up to Rs 699 and Rs 1,999, respectively, for 60 points. Toys are delivered and picked up from the customer’s doorstep.
“As of now, our services are available only in Mumbai, but we are looking at expanding into other cities. We are also looking at setting up physical toy libraries in select cities. We invested close to Rs 10 lakh to start this venture a year ago and have already reached the break-even point,” Shah added.
For the sweet tooth
Started by a group of engineering graduates in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore early this year, mithaimate.com offers dessert-delivery service. “We cater mainly to non-resident Indians (NRIs) who want to send traditional Indian sweets back home. We also cater to individual buyers in India who want to send sweets to their near and dear ones in other cities. The model is cost-effective for consumers only if they buy in bulk and send to other cities. We’ve kept the minimum purchase at half a kilo, which could work out to Rs 300, and we deliver within 24 hours,” said Shashank Agarwal, one of the founder members of the company.
Mithaimate.com tweaks prices according to cities. The firm plans to add more items online in order to emerge as a complete gifting portal for Indians and NRIs. The company invested close to Rs 40,000 in setting up the business and is on its way to break even. Its menu varies from city to city, depending on their tie-ups (they have roughly 76 sweets listed on the site), and it includes sugar-free anjir barfee, pista halwa and an assortment of Bengali sweets. Payment options include credit cards and net-banking.
At present, mithaimate.com has 750 registered users and it gets 15-20 orders every day. The company is now planning to expand into other cities in India.
Click a book
Friendsofbooks.com is an online rental library that delivers books to customers across the country. For Delhi, it offers a basic plan of Rs 150 for two books a month to a yearly package of Rs 4,750 for 12 books per month. For the rest of India, there are two sub-plans. Those who want the books to be picked up have to pay Rs 250 for two books a month and a one year subscription for Rs 12,000 for 12 books a month. On the other hand, people willing to return books themselves have to pay Rs 200 for two books per month and Rs 9,000 for an annual subscription of 12 books per month. “We have an active user base of 2,000 and handle 50-75 orders a day. What started with an investment of Rs 5 lakh should break even within this year,” said Arti Jain, founder of friendsofbooks.com. The company has also launched an online book store for consumers to buy new books.
Dabbawala in cyberia
Mealtree.com, set up by two Mumbai-based brothers in 2007, is an online food-delivery service. Users select the restaurant, choose the menu and place their orders. The food is delivered (by the restaurant) free of cost and the service is available in Mumbai and Pune. The portal has tie-ups with 140 restaurants in Mumbai and 50 in Pune. They also offer corporate memberships. The minimum order one has to place is of Rs 200.
“We have over 5,000 registered users, and are setting up offices in other cities. We are looking at private investors to invest in our website and services so that we can add more facilities online,” said Ashish Aggarwal, founder of the portal. The portal handles about 50-60 orders on weekdays and 70-100 on weekends. It charges a service fee to the restaurants.
Connecting daily
Greenmango.co.in is one of the largest online platforms in India for informal businesses to connect with customers. Currently, Greenmango has over 25,000 listings, including carpenters, tailors, plumbers, dry cleaners, packers and movers, and refrigeration and AC repair services, and is adding hundreds of new service providers every day.
Established in February 2008 as a for-profit company, Greenmango has a social objective of increasing the income of poor, small business entrepreneurs. Headquartered in Hyderabad, the portal is now expanding operations into other major Indian cities.
In addition to basic contact information, each business profile includes information about services offered, speciality areas, years of experience, business hours and pictures of past work. Customers are also able to review and rate each business that they use. For any service, one can search by neighbourhood, business category, or by the specific service.
