Browntape easing pain for online Cos

PANJIM: Buying a shirt or a laptop online may not take more than a few clicks of the mouse. However for manufacturers and marketers present online on various e commerce sites trying to ensure that sales are recorded and updates maintained up to the minute it is a very different world.  

For every large company that has a well oiled supply network there are thousand other smaller companies that may have a website that could be offering the benefit of buying online but the process involved may be beyond them. However now, there are companies emerging that will assist such organisations with their e commerce initiative.  

Browntape, a company based in Porvorim, is carving out a niche for itself by assisting companies both big and small in their e –commerce venture. Gurpreet Singh and Piyush Goel, the two intrepid souls behind this initiative have been carving a distinctive niche in the large e commerce cake.  

The company offers two distinctive platforms for interested parties. One is for established retailers who just require a tool to efficiently manage retail operations while the second option is an enterprise service offering for retailers who don’t have the knowhow. These clients outsource the entire e –commerce operation to the company. 

Gurpreet said “We create their accounts across e-retail websites, build catalogues, photograph the products in our studio and we optimize prices and sales for which we charge a commission.”

The company, he said provided all customers with a sales analytics for all their channels which would help them in getting a centralized inventory system. The clients are present on multiple e-commerce websites and if a customer orders a pair of shoes on one, the company will ensure that stocks on the other e commerce sites reflect the sale of one pair to prevent heartburn for a future customer.  

In the first option available to customers company he said earned money on every sale and they did not handle delivery. In the second one the software was placed on a cloud. It is rented out and payment is received every month. 

Gurpreet said “We charge anywhere between Rs 3500, 4000 up to Rs 9000 depending on the size of the business. We have approximately 2500 clients using this model.” 

The first option he said had approximately 150 clients with companies as diverse as IFB, Siyaram, Cambridge shirts and Friends collections being part of the roster.  

Asked about competition he said that there were others but nobody provided the choice they offered to customers.  Plans for the future were quite aggressive. 

Gurpreet said “We intend to be a 1500 strong company focussed on high end work and strong delivery. We want to have more customers using our services.”

Asked how many he said in the 30,000 to 40,000 customer mark range.  The company he said would stay in Goa though it would expand operations in Mumbai and other centres to help meet targets set.

Perhaps the state needs many more Browntapes to be established and to be successful to help keep back talented Goan talent who are presently leaving the state.