CAIT launches e-lala, to onboard 50,000 sellers by Mar 2016

Online marketplaces such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon have provided customers with an extremely huge range of products with discounted rates on their respected platforms. This has left offline stores feeling more than a little spellbound to say the least. In June IOS reported that the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) endeavours to promote bricks and mortar stores online through its new portal, e-lala.

After initial pilot projects, CAIT’s e-lala initiative is now in full swing and intentions are in place to grow exponentially, by using digital technology and bold marketing techniques to reach out to the 5.77 crore small entrepreneurs in India.

E-lala’s Digital payment partners to date include:

• MasterCard

• HDFC Bank

The e-lala portal will be different from online marketplaces, in that it will only be exclusively available for retailers who have a physical store. By bringing these retailers online they will be empowered to serve customers in an omni-channel like approach. Each store will be allocated its own website and payment gateway, which will be available on the site to facilitate customer transactions. Another major advantage is that customers will be able to pay in the offline store or online. Offline stores will have to pay a commission of around 3% on every purchase.

“The primary difference between a Flipkart and e-lala is that a trader who owns a physical store can only sell his products on the site. Second, in case of other e-tailers, all transactions are handled by them. In our case, HDFC Bank will handle the payment gateway and buyers will pay the sellers directly,” said Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary, CAIT.

E-lala:

• Will sell regional niche products through its ‘speciality corner’

• Will answer customer queries within 24 hours through its ‘enquiry corner’

• Will promote artisans and merchants through its ‘artisans corner’

“We launched a pilot on November 5 in Nagpur. We are aiming to have 50,000 sellers on the portal across 100 towns by March 2016. Local trade associations of different cities will be roped in a structured manner to promote e-lala portal among their members and the public,” said Khandelwal.

Searching for a solution?

Kirana stores and offline merchants have enjoyed life-long personal relationships with their customers, where the later can feel and touch the products in store before buying. The reliability of the service is unparalleled. It is only natural that these offline stores would feel threatened by the emergence of ecommerce marketplaces, so CAIT’s e-lala initiative is commendable. Also recently new doors have opened such as assisted ecommerce, where Kirana stores and online marketplaces can work hand in hand in to grow. So there are plenty of avenues available to explore.