Introduction
In this era of whatsapp being used for almost all communications and comforts even in the not-so- developed cities. Many brands are seen in the urban areas delivering groceries and other items online. A need is observed in the developing cities i.e. the tier 2 and tier 3 cities to curb the problem and contribute to their growth. “City Mall” is there to contribute to the same.
Contributing Since
Observing the need and providing a channel to the people not being so much familiar to the world-wide e- commerce market “City Mall” visited those cities 2019 in Gurugram by Mr. Angad Kikla and Mr. Naisheel Verdhan. Mr. Naisheel Verdhan, a student from IIT Roorkee and Mr. Angad Kikla, a student from IIM, Indore. Both the entrepreneurs are infusing their technological and management ideas and leading a growth- oriented market.
Model of the Virtual Mall
City Mall, being an e-commerce platform has the main focus on tier 2 and 3 cities to sell the household and designed products. The process of ordering the belongings through a Whatsapp click with utmost guarantee in terms of quality is an attractive feature that motivates the new internet users to get familiar with the brand and e-commerce market.
The venture has its channel partners named “Community Leaders” in the neighboring cities to explain the end- users about the products , available at certain discounts and also takes care of the sales and marketing , who charge commissions in return for their services which gives them an opportunity to play a key role as a micro-entrepreneur. The company also has an application available at the play store.
Funding Store
The mall has acquired total funding of $112.2M from 18 investors in the B and C series funding round, which is led by Norwest Venture Partners. The company has outstanding revenue of INR 14.95 crores in the Financial Year 2021 and also has 20000 resellers and 200k consumers across the state of Haryana.
The Mall Expansion
The virtual mall has an expansion plan to touch 500 million customers and educate all the people about the e-commerce platform with the main target market being the tier 2, 3 cities and the villages.
In terms of generating employment, the company is a family of 250 employees, the entrepreneurs have a plan to develop the young blood in the industry by creating more micro-entrepreneurs’ in every part of the country to prosper along with them. Also, they quote themselves as “Har Din Sahi Daam” encouraging the Bharat consumer first concept.
Conclusion
Considering the above parameters and clear information from the entrepreneurs’ explaining the venture. The brand has 20 similar companies, but their vision, mission statement along with their basic core values including entrepreneurial mindset and teamwork sets an example to form a culture along with the brand. The brand has built a team of 25000+ Community Leaders in different urban centers in just 2.5 years which again stands as a big achievement.
EDITED BY – Sanjana Bhanot
Read more – Bambrew – A Startup Encouraging Agriculture and Local Business