A Key for Shopaholics to the Online world – HopShopDrop.com

May 31, 2014June 4, 2014 BusinessWire India 0 Comment eCommerce, Global Startups, International

Globalisation and musings for International brands has reflected in the past, remember the song- Mera joota hai Japani, yeh patloon englistani, sar pe laal topi russi phir bhi dil hai Hindustani. The song tends to bring a smile to our faces as we picture the legendary Raj Kapoor sporting a pair of Japanese shoes, British trousers & a Russian hat. But globalisation of our attire & accessories has now become a reality. Coach bags, Michael Kors watches & Chanel perfumes have started occupying a lot of wardrobe space in Indian metros today. The young upwardly mobile Indian is as brand conscious & slick as his or her global counterpart. This phenomenon has opened business avenues for Indian & Global e-commerce sites. HopShopDrop.com is a shopper’s delight with a difference. They understand that today’s discerning Indian wants to broaden their horizons beyond the ordinary and thus offer a unique service called “Personal Concierge”.

img1_39423

These days, people embrace the internet for various reasons and shoppers do it for comfort, price & variety. And providing exactly that, has been the simple mantra for triumphant of the e-commerce companies in India. Indian e-commerce market is forecasted to be $16 billion and online sales represent 1 percent of total retail. First, let’s set the scene: Today there are 240 million internet users and online spend stands at $3 billion with projected CAGR of 57 percent. The appetite for 30 million Indian online shoppers has transformed (forecasted increase for 2014 is 65 percent from $1.9 billion in 2013) and the trend has shifted towards acquisition of products from iconic international brands (depicted in the infographic).

img2_39423

HopShopDrop.com was launched in December 2013 as one of India’s premier online retailer working on marketplace model. The website offers products sourced directly from the US & UK as well as musings from India. While the Apparel, Accessories & Home décor categories comes from US & UK, the Gadgets category is a unique collection of brands well known in India sourced from Indian markets with local warranty, as well as those gadgets which are launched overseas but takes time to launch in India, these are sourced from US markets and made available to Indian customers just at a click of a button. Ms. Shhalu Hasarram, Director of HopShopDrop.com recites: “E-commerce is not new to India anymore but there was a gap to be filled back then and that’s when I was stung by the entrepreneur bug. HopShopDrop.com was initiated as a solution filling exactly that gap, after all entrepreneurship is all about solving problems and pursuing your passion”.

img3_39423 Though there are other e-tailers in India who offer international brands but HopShopDrop.com brings you those albeit with a difference- free shipping rates & payment in INR. HopShopDrop.com also takes care of Customs & in-transit Insurance, a big reliever to the customer. Moreover, delivered to the doorstep of the customer within 8 to 10 business days, a timeline which cannot even be compared even if it was bought directly through the overseas brands online! Shhalu candidly speaks further “Placing consumer satisfaction as top priority sounds simple enough, but accomplishing it is the mission. Before shifting my base to India from Singapore, I researched on what Indian customers perceived about shopping online from overseas and most of them pointed at their not-so-good experience of shipping to India; and now customers completely trust HopShopDrop.com on that front as well”.

While HopShopDrop.com offers huge catalogue with variety of products from International brands, Personal Concierge on the other hand is a premium service giving unprecedented access to the countless online stores in the US, UK, Hong Kong, China, UAE, South Africa, Germany & Turkey; because something that will catch your fancy can, quite literally, come from anywhere. The tagline of Personal Concierge- You name it… we get it!!!^TM explains everything about the service.

Shhalu shares her experience, “I remember, once I tried buying something from an American website but the payment was denied on my international credit card. They only accepted local US cards! Plus the exorbitant shipping fees & undefined delivery time, it just put me off. That was the time I pushed the envelope further and came up with thePersonal Concierge service, it truly is the answer to all the complexities of global online shopping. Our purpose is to allow customers to have access to globally branded products from a single portal. Our vision is to break the barriers of cross-border trade”. This means with Personal Concierge every customer will have an easy access to the global market and they can buy something as affordable as Top Shop, H&M, Anne Taylor & Macy’s products to the hottest pick of the season from premium brands cutting-edge labels like Marc Jacobs, Apple, YSL, Microsoft- Xbox One, Dolce & Gabbana, Sony Play Station and Chanel; just by copy pasting the product URL in the Personal Concierge ‘Order Form’! Shhalu points out, “Now you can buy anything from Fifth Avenue to Oxford Street to the bazaars of Istanbul; without worrying about Shipping, Customs, credit cards or delivery times”. Unbeatable shipping charges, defined delivery time, in-transit insurance and a price tag in “INR” makes it all the more worth every penny you spend. Personal Concierge also provides a dedicated service to the more affluent customers by providing a personalized assistance right from input on design to buying the product from any of the latest runway collection of Prada, Gucci, Tory Burch or the raved gadget of the season. Now that’s exactly what “Concierge” means.

Shhalu concludes “Our motto is- The glass is half full! Being an avid online shopper myself, I decided to follow my passion and researched heavily into e-commerce. Fortunately today it is my full time job!”

An epic reality today, paradoxically people rely on e-commerce to find that perfect dress a woman can wear at a wedding than going to the nearest mall OR a man learns of new piece of technology unleashing on the other side of the world which can be bought exclusively online at that moment, is the evolution and power of e-commerce. And Personal Concierge is one of the prominent part of such an evolution in the Indian market. A vibrant page of shopping for those customers who share one thing in common – love for everything branded!