Discussing Opportunities to Grow Online Businesses Globally @ Etail Asia 2017

Vinculum Group (Booth #8) a globally recognized SaaS based software solution provider enabling the e-commerce ecosystem, took a leading role in Etail Asia 2017 event as a strategic partner.

Etail Asia, which was organised by World Wide Business Research Group in Marina Bay Sands hotel, Singapore from 8^th to 9^th of March, 2017, is a premier event in Asia, that brings together the best minds and thought leaders in retail and etail industry with a view to influence and shape the landscape of the eCommerce and multi-channel retail business scenario across Asia.

The growth of retail in Asia is being fueled primarily by Cross-Border Ecommerce” – Mike Ghasemi (Research Director, IDC Retail Insights, Asia Pacific)

Venkataramana Rao Nott, CEO and  Founder of Vinculum Group moderated a panel discussion on “How to scale your online business globally“ with some of the best minds in the industry as panelists, including Rohit Kelkar (Director Business Development, Sokrati), Mike Ghasemi (Research Director, IDC Retail Insights) and Priyan V (Managing Director, Telcobazaar). Pointers around how to go online, how to enable cross-border commerce, how to choose and sell on multiple marketplaces along with their associated trends, challenges and industry use-cases were discussed.
The moot point harped upon by the panelists was that, players of the eCommerce ecosystem need to have a complete understanding of what their customers expect from browsing to checkout, with optimization, automation and localization being the three main pillars of sales conversion, operational efficiency and cross-border success respectively.

The 20 minutes session proved to be quite an absorbing and intriguing one for the audience, leading to an extended few minutes of Q&A.

3 Key Takeaways from the Panel Discussion

1. Scaling your eCommerce business for global competition requires you to be extremely flexible and adaptable in order to stay relevant in the dynamic marketplace
2. Automation facilitates flexibility and enables rapid experimentation, deep dive testing and the ability to tailor your user experience in different market segments.
3. Success is at your fingertips if you are prepared to invest the time in finding the best digital eCommerce platform to fit your vision, mission and growth objectives as you globalize your Ecommerce business

When questioned about the growth prospects of cross-border retail in Asia, Venkat Nott said “Going forward I don’t see a reason why the region will not grow; there is immense potential and the advent of latest technologies supporting the retail operations will only make things better.” Upon being probed further about how technology is playing a crucial role, he added “Cloud is the way forward, for example, our product suite Vin e Retail, has a powerful layer of integrations to 30+ marketplaces, 3PLs and webstore platforms enabling companies to sell globally in 65+ countries and to offer Omni Channel experience to their customers across sales channels. By leveraging the integrations contained within our product suite, merchants can go cross border without having to deal with the hassles of laws, regulations and fulfillment”.

Building on the wave of cross-border commerce, offline to online to offline continuum and multi-channel order management & fulfillment issues; team Vinculum ensured that they do their bit in voicing their opinions and experiences about how to achieve these in reality and leverage the plethora of collaboration opportunities in the eCommerce ecosystem.

Vinculum was recently featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant 2017 for Warehouse Management Systems. Click Here to know more.

To know more about how your retail business can grow globally, Click Here

Catch out latest Webinar (Best Practices for Growing Your eCommerce Business) in media partnership with Tech in Asia and Economic Times Retail. Click Here 

Key Takeaways: Webinar on Best Practices for Growing Your eCommerce Business

The growth in internet retailing has created multiple new revenue streams for the eCommerce ecosystem.

Today’s Global Business to Consumer eCommerce sales has witnessed a sharp growth over the last few years. According to research, Retail eCommerce sales is projected to increase to $4.058 trillion in 2020, making up 14.6% of total retail spending worldwide that year.

With Opportunities, they are certain challenges faced by retail players to grow online.

We partnered with ETRetail, Images Group and Tech In Asia to discuss the opportunities and the challenges for retail players in expanding their online business globally in this webinar.

The webinar on ‘Best practices for growing your eCommerce business’ featured Jesrina Arshad (Co-Founder & CEO, PurelyB), Jojo Anonuevo (Chief Digital Officer, LBC Express), Krishnan Menon (Co-Founder & CEO, Fabelio) as key speakers and was moderated by Venkat Nott (Founder, CEO, Vinculum Group).

To make customers happy, the companies (Online & Offline Retailers, CPGs, Sellers, and 3PLs) are undertaking several activities. Some of these activities include collaborating with partners (marketplaces, retailers, 3PLs, etc.), selling on multiple channels (their web-stores, mobile apps, retail stores, call center, etc.) and cross-border fulfillment. However, each activity has its unique set of challenges and benefits.

Key takeaways of the webinar:

• How can SMEs and Online Business grow their revenues by selling on multiple sales channels
• What are the technology challenges to selling on multiple marketplaces
• How can Retailers and CPG companies grow their online business
• What are the challenges with Cross Border and how can companies overcome them
• What are the opportunities for 3PLs in terms of eCommerce fulfillment
• How do Retailers provide a unified experience across channels to their multi-channel customers

In case you missed the webinar, download the presentation and watch the recording of the webinar Here

Here’s how traditional retail players are going online in SEA

Southeast Asia is an eCommerce goldmine waiting to be tapped. With AT Kearney estimating the region’s eCommerce market to be about US$88 billion, it’s not surprising that there are many new age online brands and marketplaces coming up. More traditional retailers in emerging countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand are transforming into multi-channel retailers.

But the transition isn’t always smooth. Unlike eCommerce-savvy customers, retailers in Southeast Asia are still navigating the e-tailing seas with cautious eyes. If you are one of those retailers, here are some best practices for moving your business online, as told by Southeast Asian eCommerce players:

1. Build a network of partners: The first step in expanding into a new area is knowing that what you are offering is operationally possible. To do that, you must determine the costs of shipping.For example, high import duties and taxes can be a problem if you’re planning to do cross-border shipping. You would face no markup for a pair of Air Jordans if you’re shipping from the US to Singapore, but shipping to Indonesia could cost you a 56.3 percent markup in tax and duty alone.“Understanding unit economics and having the efficiency in terms of fulfillment and deliveries is critical for you to gain profitability; otherwise you accumulate a lot of loss when you’re taking in customers and losing them,” says Venkat Nott, CEO of Vinculum, a provider of SaaS products enabling multi-channel retailing.
2. Increase your sales channels: If you only use a single channel, like your online store, you may be missing out on significant opportunities to reach out to new customers. Rather, consider extending your reach through multiple marketplaces. A solid strategy to collaborate with partner marketplaces can go a long way in maximizing your reach.“A customer should recognize the same brand identity whether they see your mobile app or your listing on Lazada.”   Vinculum, often helps companies like EnterpriseIT manage their marketplace presence. The process of onboarding and automated listing on multiple marketplaces is one of the key challenges faced by retailers. This is especially critical since the cataloging requirements of each marketplace are different.“Our integrations with 30+ marketplaces, 50+ 3PLs and cross-border platforms are a ready source of potential partners to collaborate, helping Retailers to succeed online,” says Venkat.
3. Ensure brand cohesiveness: When extending your brand’s reach across multiple sales channels, it’s important to ensure that your brand is cohesive. This extends not only to your marketing efforts but to all user experiences across devices and platforms. A customer should recognize the same brand identity whether they see your mobile app or your listing on Lazada. This keeps the customer’s experiences with your brand consistent and helps build rapport.Krishnan Menon, co-founder and CEO of furniture e-tailer Fabelio, says “when working with multiple channels, it’s important to ensure that all channels complement each other so that the customer gets a holistic experience. By setting goals that ensure one channel is not prioritized over the other, the same mindset can be shared by the whole company.”
4. Stay keen to learn: Lastly, be prepared for a lot of market education. Despite the pending eCommerce boom in the region, Benoit Meyer, COO of Nikos Logistics in Thailand, says that he often works with small merchants who are unfamiliar with the workings of eCommerce.“We need to meet fast delivery lead times, but you’re dealing with companies that are just starting out and learning about eCommerce and how it works,” says Benoit.These issues extend to big traditional companies as well. E-commerce works very differently from offline retail, and bigger brands tend to struggle because they have a different mindset.“Because they have big names, they are used to having volume. But in an eCommerce world, these big names are just small fish in a big ocean.” The ability to be nimble, streamline operations, and learn fast is critical to succeed.

Read the full article here: www.techinasia.com/retail-online-sea

In our recent webinar, Industry experts discussed in details about how to grow your business online globally. Missed it? You can now download the presentation and view the recording Here

Vinculum is a SaaS-based software company that enables multi-channel retailing. With ready integrations to front-end platforms, marketplaces, logistics companies, and cross-border platforms globally, they enable businesses through their suite of order management and fulfillment products to sell across 65+ countries and use real-time view of inventory in stores and warehouses to provide omnichannel experience to customers.

Venkat Nott, Vinculum Group Awarded Retail Leadership Award at Asia Retail Congress, Mumbai

Asia Africa GCC Retail Congress is Asia’s single most important global platform promoting world-class retail practices from over last 13 years. The focus of the congress is to discuss and influence the issues for the change.

The Asia Retail Congress is governed by an Advisory Council that guides the strategic intent of the event & leads it to its success. It is represented by 40+ countries from across Asia and the world. Asia Africa GCC Retail & Shopping Centre Congress is a non-profit making activity & aimed at a professional cause of development and growth. The Congress is aimed at company chairs, presidents, and CEOs from leading international and national retailers, directors of international and national retailers and brands who believe in making the change

The 13th edition of Asia Africa GCC Retail & Shopping Centre Congress was held in Mumbai on 13th and 14th  February 2017 at Taj Lands End, which recognized the finest achievements in the Industry and honored the business leaders for their continuing commitment to excellence, developing best practices and innovative strategies.

Venkat Nott, CEO & Founder – Vinculum Group received the ‘Retail Excellence’ Award at the prestigious Asia Retail Congress.

Venkat is passionate about creating high power teams and SaaS (Software as a Service) based path-breaking software products. He aims to see Vinculum as a well-known software company enabling multi-channel retailing in 30+ countries in the next 3 years.

Vinculum is enabling the eCommerce ecosystem with its powerful SaaS-based products providing integrations with 75+ webstores, marketplaces, and logistics providers globally. This helps multi-channel retailing domestically and cross-border to grow their business manifolds. Vinculum customers comprise players in the retail/eCommerce including Offline & Online Retailers, Online Marketplaces, Shipping/Fulfillment Companies, Online Sellers, and CPGs.

The product offerings include –

• Vin eRetail, Multichannel Order Management Platform,
• Vin WMS,  Warehouse management solution for B2B and B2C eCommerce fulfillment and
• Vin PIM, Product Information management solution to keep catalogue & product information consistent across channels

Any tips or comments for us? Let us know in the section below.

#SheroesOfeCommerce – Powering the growth of eCommerce

The saying goes, behind every successful man, there is a woman. In modern times, however behind every successful business, there is for sure, a determined woman. Over the past few decades, the worldwide focus on gender equality and women empowerment has revolutionized the position of women in the society and placed them on the same pedestal as men. From the field of education right up to the top level of corporate echelon, women are matching men, shoulder-to-shoulder everywhere and in many cases are even challenging the intellectual dominance of men, in the so-called man’s world. In such a scenario it’s imperative though that the world has seen and will continue to witness a surge of women entrepreneurs in different industries.

On the occasion of Women’s day on 8^th of March, 2017, Vinculum Group salutes those illustrious women, who have played a critical role in the growth and expansion of the retail and eCommerce businesses in India as well as world over. A big Thank YOU & Kudos to the “Sheroes” who have carved out a niche for themselves with their achievements in this space and whose names are right up there with the stars for observers to gape in awe.

1. Swati Bhargava (Co–Founder, Cashkaro) Swati, hailing from a small town called Ambala in India co-founded Cashkaro.com, a leading cash back and coupons site in India. She has successfully managed to bring over 500 e-commerce partners onboard including Amazon, Myntra, Yatra, Jabong. Bhargava believes that entrepreneurship is like marriage unless it’s a very straight ‘Yes,’ the answer is a ‘No.’
2. Radhika Ghai Aggarwal (Co- Founder & CBO, Shopclues) Radhika is the first Indian woman founder to enter the prestigious echelons of the Unicorn Club. She has been the driving force behind the brand to make it a household name in less than 5 years. With diverse experience across industry segments such a retail, e-commerce, fashion, and lifestyle, advertising, and public relations, all summing up to 16 years, Aggarwal was recently awarded the ‘CEO of the Year’ Award in the Startup category at the prestigious CEO India Awards, 2016.
3. Richa Kar (Co-founder and CEO, Zivame) she is one of the most influential women entrepreneurs of the country. She has changed the face of lingerie shopping for women through her first startup, Zivame. She had launched the first lingerie website in India that helps women find their lingerie in all sizes, colours, types and materials.
4. Falguni Nayyar (Founder, Nykaa) She quit her 25 year career in finance to chase her dream of building India’s premier online retailer for beauty and wellness. With a start in early 2012, Nykaa launched its online portal Nykaa.com by December 2012 and has since progressed to offering 300 leading brands on a single platform. Within a short span of 18 months, Nykaa had become India’s no. 1 online destination for beauty products. Currently, Falguni serves on the board of a number of blue chip companies including Tata Motors Limited, ACC limited and Dabur India Limited.
5. Jagrati Shringi (Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Voylla Retail Pvt. Ltd.) For Jagrati Shringi, taking all the decisions to trundle down the entrepreneurial path was synonymous to turning all the corners that led to roads less traveled. Jagrati simultaneously took on a very critical role, i.e. digitizing a shopping category that people were the most cautious about, i.e. online jewellery shopping and has achieved it quite successfully.
6. Preeta Sukhtankar (Founder, TheLabelLife) A Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Preeta has worked with many fashion, lifestyle & entertainment brands like MTV, Seventeen Magazine, India and Celebrity Marketing Agency. The notion of bringing personalization into the eCommerce industry inspired Preeta to become an entrepreneur. Her “tastemaker-led eCommerce portal”, The Label Life, is a one-stop online destination for independent Indian women wanting a curated mix of clothing, accessories, home décor and much more.
7. Jesrina Arshad (Co-Founder & CEO, PurelyB) Jesrina has over 9 years of experience in the digital industry starting out in web design, digital marketing with some of the leading creative agencies in Southeast Asia. It is during that time that she realized the difficulties in keeping up with a healthy lifestyle while being busy with work. On a mission to make it easy for anyone to lead a healthy lifestyle, she and her team started PurelyB – a one-stop destination and guide for all your nutrition, fitness and wellness needs. Jesrina is a passionate advocate for healthy living and is determined to contribute towards positive lifestyle change in Asia.
8. Vivy Yusof (Co-Founder, Fashion Valet) Vivy Sofinas Yusof is among those Malaysian entrepreneurs that managed to achieve success at such a young age. At the same time, she is also a model, blogger, fashion icon, a mother to two and an important person in Malaysian online business world. Vivy co-founded Fashion Valet, one of the popular multi-label online sites in Asia. Being a working mom, Vivy Yusof knows how to balance her time between family and her team at Fashion Valet. She is a law graduate from London School of Economics, and her living and shopping experience in England motivated her to start her own venture.
9. Neeru Sharma (Co-Founder, Infibeam)Neeru heads Corporate and Business Development at Infibeam.com, one of the leading eCommerce portals carrying over 100 lakh Stock-keeping Units (SKUs). She holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and an Engineering degree in Computer Science. Pre-MBA, she spent 5 years working in the technology sector, most recently working as Product Manager, Alcatel India where she led R&D related projects in the Intelligent Network services domain for major telecom partners in India, Australia, and France.
10. Pearl Uppal (Founder, FashionAndYou)Pearl is an Internet Start-up and Growth specialist, an Entrepreneur and an Investor. She founded and led India based e-commerce marketplace Fashionandyou.com. She then moved on and founded 5ideas Startup Superfuel in 2012 with her husband Gaurav Kachru. The Startup Superfuel Fund is a seed & early stage fund focused on digital assets based in India. It has been 13 years since Pearl is being a strong guide in helping building start-ups and high growth businesses in the Internet Industry across media and commerce. Uppal is part of the male-dominated venture capital ecosystem in India. And the gender imbalance is not a rarity where Uppal is concerned.
11. Sabina Chopra (Co-Founder, Yatra.com) Sabina Chopra is the EVP Operations at Yatra.com. She is a graduate from Delhi University and in the past headed India based Operations of ebookers, a Europe-based online travel company. Taking her learning and experience from her time at ebookers, in 2006, she co-founded Yatra.com and shaped it into one of India’s most popular travel portals.
12. Suchi Mukherjee (Founder, Limeroad) She founded Limeroad.com in 2012 and the idea stemmed during her second pregnancy when she wanted a piece of jewellery at one of the stores and realized that women did not have access to any such online platform from where they could purchase lifestyle products across India. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts with specialization in Maths and Economics from the University of Cambridge. Adding on to this, she is a holds a Master’s Degree in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics as well.
13. Cheryl Tan (Co-Founder & Business Development, Clozette Pte Ltd) An alumni of National University of Singapore and Marketing Institute of Singapore, Cheryl has been involved in marketing affairs for companies like CNET, Oracle, SAP. With time, saw the rise of social media and e-commerce in Asia wanted to do something to do something different- a marriage of social media and commerce to make the shopping experience fun. She and her founding team then went on to create Clozette to make shopping an entertaining experience where you can interact with your peers and with people who have similar interests as you.
14. Tanvi Malik & Shivani Poddar (Founders, Faballey) FabAlley was started by Tanvi Malik and Shivani Poddar, who quit their high-paying jobs in Titan Industries, Unilever, and Avendus Capital to follow their dream of entrepreneurship. FabAlley is an online fashion destination for taste-makers and trend-breakers all over the country.
15. Swati Gupta (Co-Founder, IndustryBuying) She has an experience of over 12 years in Management Consulting, Supply Chain Management and Private Equity Operational Advisory Business. Swati pursued BE in Computer Science from Delhi College of Engineering and completed her MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. Her professional career began with the role of a consultant in the reputed firm, Bain and Co., located in Boston. She further supervised the setting up of India Operations at Opera Solutions, a famed Data Analytics company based in New York, growing it to 100+ employee strength.

As mentioned at the beginning this is a humble way of offering our respect and admiration to these brave and exceptional women, who “dared to dream” and furthermore were determined to relentlessly pursue their dream passionately with grit and focus, so as to convert them into reality.

In the process, we might have inadvertently missed out some more individuals, whose names deservedly can be taken in the same breath as of those mentioned above. Our sincere apologies to all of them.  On the occasion of Women’s Day, Vinculum Group takes a bow to appreciate the contribution of these unique group of Women, who have shown us the path, to follow in order to make life better for millions other around our globe.