The digital commerce market is set to grow 84 percent and reach a figure of $111 billion by 2024.
1. Brief us about your business model like how did the idea come to start and how does it work ?
Ankita always held a passion for marketing and consumer connect. While seeking the same, she also opted for MBA (Marketing) from V.N.S.G. University, Surat. To further explore career options she worked with Radio Mirchi as a content developer, and then with BIGFM as an RJ in 2013. However, ‘Bridging between a solution and a seeker’ is a concept that always intrigued Ankita. Post her marriage with Aman, who owned GoPaisa.com, she started exploring her passion at the brand that was formed on the foundation of the very idea of making consumer-seller relationships more beneficial. She knew it was her calling. Aman, who already held in depth understanding of the affiliate marketing space, wanted to explore the field more through entrepreneurship. While he was already working on the model, Ankita joined as a co-founder to lead the marketing side of the brand. She initially identified how the concept of a cashback website is still not something common for people. She understood the right target audience. And began the work towards connecting the both. She gradually started steering the brand building activities through social media, digital marketing etc. She built the brand from the scratch and then fueled the strategy with successful campaigns like – Don’t be a Kadu. Gradually picking up from there, the brand today stands among very few successful affiliate marketing companies, growing under the impeccable leadership of a woman entrepreneur.
2. What are the unique key points of your company?
The core objective of GoPaisa is to transfer the spent cash of the customer right back into their wallets. This itself is a unique concept in the space which makes it affordable for shoppers to buy branded products for a lucrative price. For a cashback website, the strength resides in the portfolio and deals. The categories available on GoPaisa are endless – including the popular ones like laptops and computers, mobile phones and accessories etc. GoPaisa has steadily tied up with leading players such as Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong, Ajio, 1mg,Medlife, Mamaearth, Beardo, Makemytrip, ManCompany & many more amongst others to bring the best of deals to consumers. The company has its official Android app on the Google PlayStore which has over 5,00,000 downloads amongst users. The brand takes a lot of pride in the growth it has pulled over the period, despite being a bootstrapped startup.
3. How are you different from the existing competitors?
While over the period, a lot of players have entered the cashback space, not all have evolved with customers’ needs. Understanding that the better implementation of technology is what will help serve the audience better, GoPaisa has embarked on a new journey – use AI to tap the full potential of its loyalty platform. Also, since cashback website’s purpose is to make quality products and brands affordable for a shopper, our platform has tied up with over 1000+ brands. Hence, in terms of offerings and customer experience, both, we have maintained the edge.
4. What is the funding status and monetization model?
GoPaisa is a cashback platform that enables brands to widen their outreach. On every purchase through GoPaisa platform, the brand gets a commission. Further, a part of this commission goes to the customer in the form of cashback. Thus, GoPaisa as an affiliate marketing model provides benefits on both the sides- brands and the customers.
5. What challenges are you facing in running your business?
Though post covid, a lot of people have become more active in the digital space and have gained awareness on smart shopping and cashback websites, the need is still there to penetrate in the market better. The customers are not yet much aware about how they can save more on their purchase and they just opt for the offers available at the checkout.
6. How has been the people’s response so far?
GoPaisa has become one of the leading players in the space. We have so far served over 3 million customers since inception. Currently, we are adding 2000 to 3000 users daily to the platform.
7. What are the traction details (like users, app downloads & other achievements of the company)?
GoPaisa.com has covered a lot of ground to stand at its current position. In terms of numbers, GoPaisa.com has three million plus users interacting on its platform daily – and the numbers are ever growing. With an association of over 1,000 brands in the sector, GoPaisa.com has already distributed over Rs 50 crore plus as cashback over the years.
8. How do you look at expansion?
Currently we are focussing on expanding our associations with the online retailers and brands so that we are able to offer a wider range to our customers. We aim at having xx number of brands and xx number of categories on the platform by the fiscal end.
9. What are your marketing plans?
The pandemic has given a slight push to the digital space. To sustain the same, we are focussing on accelerating our marketing activities through digital media this year. The plan encompasses going aggressive on social media platforms to strengthen the connection. This would also include connecting with micro influencers engagement so that we are able to present the concept behind the brand in an accurate way.
10. What has been the biggest learning so far?’
As an entrepreneur you need to face the setbacks, fill the gaps and be ready for falls. However, there are some things that you need to notice better if you wish to learn and do better the next time. In the initial days, Aman and I were really excited about building the team. We would onboard people and expect them to perform like it’s their own brand. Now this is an expectation that you cannot keep with new joinees. And the bigger mistake was that we would set the targets expecting a certain amount of effort from the team. However, the wiser way is to first understand the capabilities of the team and then outline the targets. After a couple of months this pattern caught our eye and we tweaked it. This was actually the first lesson.
11. What is the market size and opportunity?
The eCommerce space was set to boom with new players coming in. The size of opportunity grew bigger with the rising response during the pandemic. According to the recent Global Payments Report, the digital commerce market is set to grow 84 percent and reach a figure of $111 billion by 2024. Also, given that India is one of the biggest markets for many, propelled by smartphone penetration, awareness and 4G internet, the Ecommerce market is on the trajectory of growth and is anticipated to surpass the US eCommerce market, to become the second largest in the world.
Source: Business World
