Hyderabad to become a hub for e-commerce ventures

Hyderabad will set to become a hub for e-commerce ventures with plethora of young entrepreneurs from the city taking a leap from brick and mortar offices to online space, says a TOI report.

"There is a lot of potential in the Hyderabad market as it is densely populated. So even if there are multiple players, everybody can survive and enjoy their own piece of the pie," Venkata Chandrashekhar Bhhataram, Director, Zip.in told TOI.

Zip.in is an online grocery store based out of Hyderabad, where one can order grocery online and get same day delivery at home or office. It has variety of products starting from fruits, vegetables, household cooking oil rice, pickles, dals and pulses, instant food jams, honey soft drinks, etc.

Similarly, Clapone.com, founded in the year 2013 is an online trend recommendation engine which owns apparel brand "ClapOne." It allows customers to own the outfits of their favorite actors and actresses.

"Our research showed that there was a lot of scope here and so we tied up with designers who could supply such replicated outfits. In three months flat, we have managed to get 23,000 registered users on board," said, Chinmay Rajula, founder, Clapone.com.

Another young and energetic company Autohona.com is a simple, easy-to-use service which connects auto-drivers to customers. It started its operation in August 2014. The beauty of Autohona is that its smart-algorithm and friendly customer service team do all the bargaining for customers.

"We have about 14,000 to 15,000 autos in the city registered with us. Since Hyderabad is an IT hub, 5 out of 10 customers take the online route to book one," said, Shashank Chintapenta, CEO and founder, Autohona.

A recent finding of Gartner indicated that India's e-commerce market is set to touch $6 billion in 2015, a 70 per cent increase over 2014's revenue. Predictably, Hyderabad is among the top destinations for young entrepreneurs to troop in, observers add, pointing to the infrastructural facilities available.

"Also, Hyderabad houses prominent educational institutions, which adds to the quality of ventures. R&D centres of many MNCs in the city are encouraging entrepreneurs to explore the e-commerce platform," said, Pradip Mittal, Chairman, Hyderabad Angel Network.