Betting big on S-Commerce

The service industry today is one of the fastest growing segments in India with a recorded 30 per cent growth level. To assist the service providers and to bridge the gap of time, accessibility and convenience, Suvidhaa Infoserve provides well customized service solutions across categories including travel, utility, telecom, insurance and banking. Paresh Rajde, Co-Founder and Chairman of Suvidhaa Infoserve, talks about the S-commerce concept, the challenges faced by the company and its future plans.

(Saniya Seth)- Tell us more about your company.

(Pareah Rajde)- Suvidhaa is first-of-its-kind company in the service commerce segment, which has combined the convenience of e-transactions with the comfort of cash transactions. In India only eight per cent of the population transact online. Therefore, we created the physical distribution network which runs on technology but when it comes to the customer, he interacts with the traditional brick-and-motor format. It’s a B2B portal where the retailer operates the system. From the customer to the retailer it is a manual and assisted model and thereafter everything runs on technology.

(SS)-How is Suvidhaa different from other companies in the same sector?

(PR)-There are very few players in this space and most of them are specific service oriented – some are only for recharge, others are only for utility or travel. Suvidhaa is basically a service aggregator spanning over 20 categories including travel, utility, telecom, insurance and banking, with more than 300 service partners on the platform.

(SS)-Which all brands are you dealing with?

(PR)-We have a lot of brands under our umbrella. In the telecom sector we have brands like Vodafone, Airtel, Idea, Reliance, Tata etc. In the insurance sector we have LIC, Bajaj Allianz, ICICI Group, Aviva etc. We have banking partners like Yes bank and Axis bank. In the utilities space we have Reliance Energy.

(SS)-How has IT changed the face of retail solutions today?

(PR)-Our platform runs on technology where real time transactions take place every day. The customer interacts with the manual customized side. From the retail aspect everything runs on technology.

(SS)-How have consumers accepted e-payment over the years?

(PR)-Though e-payment is growing, India is predominantly a cash economy. When we started Suvidhaa, only five per cent of the transactions were taking place through e-platform. After a period of five years, it has increased to eight per cent.

(SS)- What is the biggest challenge for you today and why?

(PR)-We face two challenges − one is the distribution challenge which includes covering maximum market to create the largest footprint, which takes time. The second is to create awareness about the concept.

(SS)- Where do you see this segment in the next five years?

(PR)-The behaviour of people will remain same giving way to the assisted model. For example, people like us who travel by airline still stand in the queue for check-in, whereas we are competent to go through web check-in. I don’t think in Suvidhaa’s lifetime we will have to worry about the change in our business model.

(SS)- Tell us something about your expansion plans.
(PR)- We are planning to expand our footprints by setting up nearly one lakh franchisees within one year. And to bring in more consumers on our network, we try to cross sell and push our existing customers to opt for other services.

(SS)- What kind of franchises are you looking for?
(PR)-We tie-up with convenience stores like grocers, travel and insurance agents, medical stores etc. We currently have around 65,000 retail points and the way we are going we should be able to achieve the targets.

(SS)-How much investment is needed to open a franchise?
(PR)-We require minimal investment – just a computer, printer and a broadband connection. In some services we encourage investment in mobile only. Apart from this, there is a basic registration fees ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. And the investment in working capital is based on the transactions.