Jabong targets villages, tries to ease challenges

With increasing number of players and marketplaces in the country, everyone is on the lookout for potential markets to tap into before someone else gets to them. On the same lines, Jabong is now eyeing villages as potential markets to sell apparel and accessory products.

Although most ecommerce players are paying attention to non-urban areas now, they mostly look at the smaller towns or cities. Whereas, Jabong has gone a step further and are trying to tap into villages with pilot projects already running in parts of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

“There is a huge opportunity and I don’t think many have been able to crack it. FMCG players have been able to do it with their low-cost delivery network by being able to coordinate with the small shop owners in the villages, etc,” Praveen Sinha, co-founder and managing director of Jabong said.

These villages are not without their share of the usual challenges: last mile delivery, insufficient infrastructure and low internet penetration.

How is Jabong tackling the challenges?

Access

Internet penetration in villages is very low. Comparatively, mobile phone users are more but they are basic handsets, which do not support apps or online shopping.

In order to create a first purchase experience, Jabong plans to give smart devices and internet connections to select families to familiarize them with the concept of online browsing and online shopping.

“Free phones will be distributed to certain people, who will be taught how to operate and benefit from the phone. It’s a concept similar to e-choupal where influencers in the area will use this app for educating and shopping to the local people,” says Sinha.

Logistics

To improve last mile delivery, Jabong is thinking of making weekly deliveries or twice a week deliveries according to demand.

“If there is no logistic infrastructure then we plan to create a hub where the delivery can happen periodically. Will that be acceptable by the population and will there be enough demand, is what our pilot projects are trying to decipher,” he says.

Jabong has also started operating a self-pick model. “We leverage on the reach of grocery stores, petrol pumps and ATMS to serve customers in tier three areas not currently covered by any courier services. In this model, we drop our customers’ orders in Jabong location points near to their house,” Sinha said.

According to Sinha, making people aware is the key to popularizing online shopping villages too. And this can be achieved by solving the issues of logistics and internet penetration.