Hybrid E Commerce

We Indians want a service or assistance in most of the things we do. So for example rather than walking to a store to buy a milk we have doodhwallah,rather than going and depositing a newspaper we have a raddiwallah.. Even at airports ,though we have a self serviced kiosk but we prefer assistance from the person at counter.. So rather than being self serviced we always prefer being serviced by others.

So now the latest fad in retail market is online retail wherein a person logs on to the site and under a product category choses the product he wants to purchase, thought the e commerce sites are brilliant and should not require service but here too there exists a business model which can have offline service.

Think of an average household woman who is not tech savvy but wants to purchase online, So what does she do? She goes to a retail store nearby ,at the retail store(kirana store) the person with the tablet connects her online and assists her to make choices and showcase catalogues of different products. She makes a choice,kirana walaah places an order she pays offline to the retailer,retailer pays online to the ecommerce firm after adjusting his margin and the product is delivered at the doorstep of the buyer.

This model is referred to as the Hybrid E commerce and is set to evolve in India. Some companies are already operating this model. So next time you hear about e-dukan wallah dont be surprised ,its the idea whose time has come.