On completing his MBA from Coventry University, England, Akshay Jain (22), decided to work in an area that would create a social impact. He was particularly concerned about fruit and vegetable vendors, who the malls had displaced. “Not only was their plight deplorable, but I also found most of them did not have enough money to take care of their medical needs,” says Mr. Jain.
With an aim to give them technological support, social security and financial stability, Mr. Jain unveiled the app, eBaajaar, in 2015. The first two years were spent understanding vendors’ problems and needs. However, they ran into a few early blocks: vendors were afraid they might eat into their business. Moreover, while most vendors had mobile phones, Mr. Jain realised their knowledge of the internet was limited to Facebook, YouTube or WhatsApp. In addition, names of fruits and vegetables differ depending upon which State or community the vendor is from.
Between February 2015 and May 2016, two mobile apps were introduced; both these were failures — they had few features and were not user-friendly. Mr. Jain gave it another shot, and a third app was unveiled in Ghatkopar as a pilot project in May 2017. The app supports three languages: Hindi, Marathi and English, and displays images of the produce, helping vendors who may not be literate, says Chaitanya Dhareshwar, Chief Technology Officer. All the vendor has to do is enter the product price in front of the image or name.
Virtual market
Customers on their part can see the prices quoted by all registered vendors on a single screen, check vendor rating based on their past services and select from a list of vendors. An order of over Rs. 99 comes with free delivery within two hours or as per user requirement. Delivery is taken care of by vendor and hence he decides his delivery radius – typically between 1 km and 3 km. The vendor can take conversations with customers offline as well.
“If any user does not like the product, she can reject it at the time of delivery or get it replaced within an hour. Further, since eBaajaar doesn’t keep inventories (neither do small vendors have the capacity for cold storage), the produce is always fresh,” says Anuj Tigga, Marketing Head.
Saikiran Goje, In-Charge, Customer Relations, adds that if the vendor accepts the bargained price, he delivers at that rate or may cancel the order, in which case the buyer has to place a fresh order.
Supriya Patil, a Vile Parle resident who has been purchasing fruits and vegetables through eBaajaar for almost five months now, says the app has made her life easy. “I am a working professional and hence going to the market is a task. Not only I am able to select the vendors and get fresh products at the best rates, but I am also able to get these delivered at the time I specify.”
Benefits for vendors
Akshay Jain
Vendors can reach out to several customers as they can decide their delivery radius. Further, based on demand and supply, they control their price and can run special offers in their area. “Every registered eBaajaar vendor is provided with health and pension policies at a nominal amount,” says Mr. Jain. The amount and tenure varies from vendor to vendor depending upon the quality of service they give to the customers, who rate them.
Ramjanam Verma, who has vegetable shops in Chembur and Andheri, says he has been able to get more customers through eBaajaar. “We maintain a direct connection with customers and hence there is no fear that we may lose business.”
Impact, expansion plans
Within six months of its launch, eBaajaar has a presence in almost all of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai with over 700 vendors on the platform, more than 10,000 downloads from Google Play store and over 2,200 orders with more than 50% repeat customers.
Self-funded — Mr. Jain and a family friend have invested Rs. 36 lakh in the venture — the source of revenue is either from advertisements or from a small fee that vendors pay. “Part of the fee goes in providing medical insurance, life insurance and pension policies,” says Mr. Jain. To cut costs, eBaajaar has done away with logistics and inventory cost and has just five employees on board.
eBaajaar is now working on the farmer-to-retailer model where it plans to purchase vegetables and fruits in bulk for all its registered vendors directly from farmers. Transportation cost will be incurred by eBaajaar. “It will serve a dual purpose: the vendors will get a better price and fresh products directly from the farm. It will also help the company generate revenue.” Individual vendors wanting to expand their business will be helped to open their own store under the ‘eBaajaar’ brand name.
There is also a plan to introduce products like dairy, laundry and medicines on the app. “Just like there is an Ola or Uber for taxis, Zomato or Swiggy for food, and Oyo for hotel rooms, we want eBaajaar to become synonymous with fresh vegetables or fruits,” says Mr. Jain.
Snapshot:
eBaajaar
Founder: Akshay Jain
Founded: 2015
Funds: Bootstrapped
Employees: 5
Web: www.eBaajaar.com
