Shopaholics in Goa may now be able to indulge their itch bylogging on to a local online store launched on August 10. Cooldukan.com waslaunched by its promoters following the success of another national onlinestore Flipkart.com.
Nilesh Amonker the founder said his store had generated Rs 1lakh in the first two days of operation. He said “ Retail is moving online.Companies like Flipkart are doing huge business in Goa. We monitored the marketfor a year before we ventured into the business. Our research showed that thereis huge potential in e-commerce. And the market is expected to grow by 40 percent every year.”
When asked how different his company was from the other majornational operators he said that companies like Flipkart, Indiatimes and futurebaazarfollowed a central warehousing model called the hub and scope model. Flipkartand the others negotiated directly with the manufacturers buying in bulk andstocking it. With the cost of logistics high this inventory usually ate intothe local suppliers business. Cooldukan on the other hand, Nilesh said onlynegotiated with local distributors and dealers in the state. The company had a tieup with suppliers allowing them to compete with other online stores and have apan Goa presence.
CoolDukaan’s turnaround times are short and while otheronline stores only used shopping cards, Nilesh said “We have a dedicated phoneline to check orders and only after a customer confirms the order is it delivered.In addition we have Short Message Service (SMS) and a dedicate phone line.”
For CoolDukaan, most of the orders till date have come fromBicholim, Pernem and other satellite villages. There is no minimum order butfor purchase above Rs 500, shipping is free. “For amounts less than Rs 500 the deliverycost is Rs 50” shared Nilesh.
In future CoolDukaan plans to add grocery, wine and liquor tothe list. It is in the process of tying up with various suppliers forrecreation, outdoor activities, gifts, toys and flowers. Nilesh said, “Howeverwe will not enter the apparel market unless they are standardized items.”
