#DISRUPTEXCLUSIVE: Omnichannel Operations And The Future Of Retail
Farooq Adam, Co-Founder of Fynd, India's leading omnichannel platform speaks to Urvi Shrivastav, editorial, BWBusinessworld regarding the perks of an omnichannel platform, latest developments in Fynd, the pandemic, and revenue generation.
Tell us about your venture? What kind of innovation is being done by your startup?
Fynd’s journey started when Harsh Shah and I quit our jobs at Opera Solutions and moved back to Mumbai. We were then looking to start our own venture and were exploring startup ideas in retail. While doing our primary research, we realized that we wanted to start up in a space that would not just be about building new technology, but would also provide large opportunities.
Today, at Fynd we are transforming the retail landscape with innovative solutions. Our omnichannel platform enables integrated stock visibility for physical stores, online websites, and marketplaces, helping brands manage orders, inventory as well as logistics on a single platform. Moreover, we have made a huge impact with our tech-forward solutions and currently have 600+ brands and 10K+ stores across the country working with us. We are also an essential partner for Reliance and our technology has played a huge role in accelerating JioMart's go-to-market strategy by several quarters.
How is your startup solving the current problem of COVID-19 pandemic?
Inventory visibility emerged as a key to solve the retail challenges brought by the onset of the pandemic. Since our omnichannel platform enables full visibility of inventory, our brands were already in a better position. With the pandemic progressing rapidly and the subsequent lockdowns, we analyzed the industry needs and came up with solutions that support retail while reducing costs and delivery timelines for brands. A great example would be that physical (brick and mortar) stores were closed to the public due to restrictions. But due to integrated inventory, they were able to act as warehouses and ship out products to customers, helping brands utilize all their locations to move out stock while meeting the demands of online customers.
We also added useful features to help brands reach customers at home- virtual assistance, POS, a bigger selection of logistic partners, and more. Additionally, Fynd Store was also innovatively being used by the store staff to share product information with loyal customers and drive assisted transactions. Uniket, our Smart Wholesale solution partnered with Rupifi to enable credit for SME's at the point of purchase.
We have also come up with a range of SaaS-based solutions:
Do you have any new campaigns? If yes, what are they?
We are currently running the #FyndPremierLeague campaign for our eCommerce website, Fynd.com on our social media channels. For Uniket, the Credit Line campaign for SMEs is ongoing. We usually have a campaign running on both Uniket and Fynd.com every other day and are preparing to launch a new one this Thursday for Eid.
Fynd Platform: We have also launched an offer for SMEs who are looking to create their omnichannel eCommerce website with Fynd Platform. These businesses can choose one of our annual plans (Standard, Professional, and Premium) and the website creation charges will be waived off. Fynd Platform is a comprehensive e-commerce platform and is cost-effective with plans starting at just Rs.599. This offer is open till 31st April'2021.
What's your business model and revenue visibility?
For e-commerce, we charge a commission per transaction. Based on the nature of the services this ranges from 2 - 40%. For other products we have a SaaS business model.
With more people coming into the business, the competition is increasing manifold. How will your startup be relevant and stand out?
In the past 9 years, we have grown rapidly to become the most sought-after omnichannel platform in India. Our brand store integrations, tech platform, and ecosystem partnerships allow us to work with everyone in the industry. We are continuously building newer revenue channels and exploring novel technologies to stay ahead.
Our recent launches have been AI/AR-powered SaaS products that are very relevant to brands today. Another important detail is that we are an Indian company, building innovative tech solutions that help not just enterprises but also entrepreneurs looking for an opportunity to create their mark.
What challenges are you facing currently and how are dealing with them?
We are looking at increasing our company’s employee strength massively. We are currently looking at hiring 100+ skilled engineers to join us in 2021. Since hiring the right employees is very important to our growth, we recently came up with a new initiative called, Fynd Academy. The Fynd Academy program is led and built by engineers working on the latest technologies at Fynd. The candidates who excel in the program will be offered a full-time position with us.
How are you planning to scale it up in the current scenario and post-Covid era?
We have been seeing steady growth in our business. In the last quarter of 2020, the growth for OpenAPI and Marketplaces businesses scaled to 39% and 44% respectively, and our in-store product, Fynd Store scaled to 37%. We will continue to listen closely to our brand partners and introduce solutions that make shopping safer and more engaging be it online or offline. Also, our partnership with JioMart gives us access to an average of 500,000 customers a day, helping us grow our reach and teaching us important lessons about the scalability of our platforms.
In-house, our focus is on building our culture, betting on innovation, believing in ourselves and our people, and preparing to take the shot to change the world and build a Resilient Fynd.
How do you foresee your startup's future as per the current scenario of the market?
The world is going through a lot of changes right now. But we are one of the biggest markets in the world and have a young population that will shape our growth. We believe technology and e-commerce are only going to get bigger.
In the next 5 years, we see ourselves as one of the best and fastest-growing technology companies serving the needs of our customers. To get there, we need to continue building our omnichannel platform and add more innovative products that bring steady revenue to the mix, while aligning our teams and partners to work towards the goal.
