Retailers, Collaborate Online!
By Priyanka Akhouri
Mumbai, May 20, 2008

Indian consumers to a great extent believe in the concept of bargaining, at the same time they also look for quality products. There exist very few reliable sources that provide comprehensive and credible information to consumers, which can help them to take a well informed online purchasing decision.

However, there are few portals, including eBay, India Times, Rediff, etc., that offer online purchase on a wide range of products. Along with this feature these portals provide information on retailers, their latest products, their features, and prices.

To make quality and value purchase, customers can now avail of a new site. Aenwis e-Systems has come up with open2save-- a new online venture for the retail industry. The site offers discounts and promotional schemes on products sales.

In addition to better and affordable product prices the site also provides valuable information to consumers and saves time, and money. By logging onto this site-- open2save consumers can analyze available deals and promotions across a large range of categories before they make any purchases.

According to Vaibhav Tewari, CEO of Open2save, "Since consumers are looking for best value for their money and enterprises are looking for the most interested consumers for their products and services, we decided to introduce open2save. Open2save proposes to bridge the gap between consumers and retailers."

The portal guides and informs the customers about the best online and offline deals and prices available in selected cities. Electronics, home appliances, computers, health/beauty, gadgets, etc. are part of the 30+ product categories available on the site. The site also provides reviews and features of the products. "The key usage flow of this site is very simple and intuitive, and so it s easy for a non-technical user to find what they want," said Tewari.

A consumer, if interested in any of the offline offers, can respond with a call-to-action feature on the site, which includes Call-me, Save-it, Email-it, or Buy-now. For online offers, the consumer can directly get in touch to the appropriate page on the retailer's site.

The company is using advanced search functionality a mechanism that offers product information as per the demand of the customers and their budget. Currently, the mechanism is under beta testing.

On the technical aspect, the portal is developed on Struts/Spring framework on Java, and Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP).We are also heavily leveraging on demand technologies like ning.com and zoho.com in combination with new generation IT service providers like IP-SOFT and Neev Technologies, added Tewari.

Moreover, the company is planning to launch coupon and rebates for consumers. This will help them to make purchases in a more measurable manner. Explains Tewari, "Coupon is an instrument, which entitles the consumers to avail the promotion for the product or service. Consumers can take the coupon to the participating store and redeem it against their purchases. This is a very easy and useful service for consumers. For enterprises, it can make their marketing more measurable and targeted."

At the time of any product purchase or service, consumers can download the relevant coupon from the website. The coupon will be available either in the form of a print-out or a mobile coupon that will be received on the users handset.

Currently, open2save is available in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Pune. In Bangalore the site was launched in February, whereas in Mumbai and Pune it was launched in March. The site has already bagged 800 retailers and over 5,000 store locations on its network along with a range of manufacturers, and service providers.

"We plan to target 10, 000 retailers by year end with an aim to capture another top 10 cities across the country," concluded Tiwari.


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