Is mail order business flourishing in India and can it be depended upon?

Question

M/S Global Infoline inc is trying to establish the mail order business and is educating interested people in this line. cost of registration etc is affordable. May be we are already on the receiving end of the products of this business but how does it feel to get into the other end? Any advice beased on experience would be further helpful

Answer 1

The mail order business is not new to India. Even in 1960 s, there were some mail order Companies, operating in the country. And couple of them were very honest also. But taking advantage of innocent people, of their money, most of them were vanished, when the people were alerted.

Hence, even today the majority of people will oppose the concept itself, due to very bad experience happened then. Fundamentally the Indian consumers are very conscious about their hard earned money, as majority of them constituted from middle and upper middle class. Though the urban earners may opt for mail order, their numbers will certainly a small one, which does not reflect the total potential. As the Urban population have exposed to online trading and teleshopping, they do not normally relay on " mail " .

The real potential is in rural population and tier three cities. The new entrant to this field, is expected to do a lot of market research, take the customers in to confidence, with quality products, service, worth for their money. This needs lot of initial expenses for surveys, even then the result or out come of it may not be a favorable one.

To consolidate, the earlier entrants in mail order, have made a huge negative impact on the customers, then the market volume is very small. The postal department are also, did not bothered, as they are interested only in delivering a " parcel " after collecting the money, towards VPP ( value payable post ). Hence it is very tough to any new entrant, unless proved, and get the confidence from customers.

In my opinion, it is always advisable to select a small geographical area, and to start operation, before expanding. " word of mouth " from a satisfied customers itself is a good advertisement. Good luck.