e-shops in Kashmir

  When the efforts of police were to bring drug addiction to its doom in Kashmir another type of addiction took over the youth of Kashmir. The banning of SMS services brought a new kind of habituation called as “net-addiction” some call it “Facebook-addiction”. While many people in Kashmir especially parents are annoyed with this kind of addiction yet one should not forget the old saying “every coin has two sides” only if one chooses not to  mint one that Amitabh had in Sholey.

On one side we can see children spending more time on internet than on their studies on the other hand we can see the positives it can or has brought in. Unlimited knowledge hub of Wikipedia, a click away Google-uncle, access to latest research material from round the globe and millions of free e-books have helped Kashmiri students to be at par with the students of rest of world. I remember the incident, when a top businessman from Mumbai asked my friends that how they manage to roam around a city like Mumbai without being lost…..and if they had taken some maps with them. My friends replied, "Sir, each of us has a GPS & GPRS enabled phone that never lets us to get lost in this huge city." At this the man remained stunned as he thought of Kashmiris like people from medieval times. One should accept that internet has positives and after all it is not something that controls man, it is up to us how we use it. As I was saying about the addiction it helped the economic growth of the valley…the growing demand for GPRS enabled phones, modems, broadband connections, more data cards, PCs, Notebooks meant more engagement of people in this business and decrease in un-employment. Not only sale but repairing shops also saw a flood of people visiting their shops because machines are meant to break down.  Increased competition between network providers meant decrease in tariff charges and betterment of services. Thus to a major extend it has provided opportunity to seekers.

While this whole scenario was taking place, my attention was diverted towards a new kind of business. I will say that the internet boom that took place in Kashmir was not only restricted to Facebook but many other things popped out. I observed a new pattern of consumer behaviour in my friends and close ones. Most of my friends who are brand conscious started to order things from e-shops. If anyone is not familiar with this term let me give you an idea; e-shops are shops on internet where one can purchase products with a click of mouse and get the same delivered to his/her doorsteps within hours eg. myntra.com, homeshop18.com, ebay etc. Now the question is, can these e-shops be started in Kashmir? If yes how and what to sell and where to set the shop? I am not a business expert yet I, as per my vision, see e-shops in Kashmir as a big hit.

To me yes e-shops can be started in Kashmir, “how?” Just start a website, list your products, give some ads and there you go. “What” to sell? You can sell anything from clothing to electronics; from households to handicrafts everything that is sell-able can be sold. “Where” to set the shop? Now this is a relief you don’t need to have a physical shop at all. You can sell products from your house that means you are saving lakhs of rupees on rent of the shop per year. The concept of e-shops not only will provide employment to the owner of the shop but local courier service men, shopkeepers, photographers and web-designers also.

So, after all “How does an e-shop work?” You must be thinking. The answer is simple like a simple traditional physical shop. You show different products to your customers with different prices and different brands and of course other features like colour, size etc. and let the customer to choose what he likes. Hey don’t worry if you are thinking that “how is he going to pay for what he has purchased” the modern day banking has already made sure that you receive your payment before the product leaves your hand. One can also go for "cash on delivery system" which has proven to be a more successful idea than the previous one, to attract customers. The customers feel safer about the assurance of quality and delivery of the products by the cash on delivery system.  You might be thinking that does it necessarily mean that one has to keep a bulk of products to run an e-shop. The answer again is "No" and to one’s amazement you can choose not to keep any product with you at all!! "Shop without products!" Yes an e-shop can really exist without products believe me!! What one needs to do is to ensure a partnership with certain dealers, shopkeepers or wholesalers. Whenever an order is received about a particular product the e-shop owner just has to convey the same to the shopkeeper who will courier the product to the customer. So what does an e-shopkeeper earn here? Don’t panic Mr e-shopkeeper, you have given a shopkeeper a customer, he will give you an already accepted amount per sale. That means you earn without having the trouble to store the products. In other words, you are again saving yourself from inventory and handling costs.

Now if you are thinking that yes this business is tailor-made for you, then don’t be fooled. This is not everybody’s cup of tea. Running an e-shop needs creativity, honesty, above all capacity to compete and foresee the demand. All e-shops don’t turn into minting machines, those never who show an elephant and deliver a rat. Quality always has been issue for success or failure of any businesses round the globe. In e-shops its importance increases exponentially because your customer trusts you more and purchases things even without having a physical feel of them. Delivery part also magnifies if one fails to deliver products at a reasonable time he is out of the race. Thus to make one e-shop a success story one has to remember these points:

• Choose a portfolio of products from superior and known brands with high quality and demand.
• Provide customers reasonable and competitive prices than other merchants.
• Deliver exact products and never compromise on quality.
• Make a colourful and easy to run website (e-shop) with ease to      access and choose products and     take payments for same.
• Always use a high resolution camera to film the products for your shop.
• Make a tie-up with local and national retailers and wholesalers to provide the products.
• Ensure that products are delivered within a reasonable time to the customers.

Even though business pundits will give you hundreds of points for success but to me these ones are crucial for the success of e-shops. With growing number of professional IT students in Kashmir I believe that e-shop business is going to be a hit in next couple of years. And to me it is only these e-shops that can revive the fortune for handicrafts, saffron, apples and all local industries in Kashmir.