A variety of push and pull factors make people leave their homeland. According to Census 2011, two out of every five Indians are migrants. As people migrate, they often experience a void in their lives, forced to adapt to a new environment where their cherished traditions, customs, and cultural practices may no longer have a place.
Vishwa Vijay Singh, a sales and marketing veteran, identified this market gap caused by migration within India and abroad. After thorough research, he learned that most people move to fast-growing cities such as Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune for employment opportunities, education, or marriage.
This motivated him to build a unique enterprise, SaleBhai.com, which is a true e-commerce marketplace that enables people living away from home to order a range of specialties directly from their hometowns.
The website is a one-stop solution for discovering authentic regional and unique products from across India.
Besides offering traditional household goods such as handicrafts, paintings, puja items, handloom goods, and herbal and wellness items, people get to choose from a wide variety of delicious consumable items such as sweets, snacks, chocolates, bakery, spices, dry fruits, beverages, and pickles.
Established in September 2015, the company is driven by a back-to-roots philosophy and focuses on the requirements of over 17 diaspora communities living in big Indian cities and abroad.
With over 8,500 products sourced from over 100 cities and 300 cherry-picked vendors, the start-up provides people with an opportunity to buy products in various categories from sellers across India as well as discover new items from different communities and cultures.
The company aims to provide anything and everything that a migrant misses from his hometown. Customers of Salebhai get an opportunity to buy hometown specialities in various categories throughout the year. Packages have been created to address genuine needs.
For example, the website offers various puja packs for Laxmi puja, Ganesh puja, Durga puja, and so on to help the diaspora fulfil their religious and spiritual needs.
The products are sold at the same prices displayed at the retail shops and have detailed descriptions which include uses, benefits, facts, regional connect, history, popularity, etc. Many food items come with serving ideas from chefs.
The platform also lists complete information about vendors such as their history, lineage, and reputation.
The company has a strong team that promises to deliver high return on investment (ROI) and consists of professionals with proven expertise in IT, marketing, content development, innovation, disruptive thinking, channel management, logistics, and customer support.
Besides customer-friendly policies, the company pays due attention to promoting its sellers. It displays a detailed description of every product that is matchless in helping customers make informed decisions. It spends around 1000 words describing a product and another 500 words on the seller.
As Singh puts it: "Salebhai ensures that even if you are away from home, you need not be away from hometown specialities." The company takes care of the diversified demands of its customers living far away from their homeland.
Its diverse product range includes seasonal fruits, festival-specific items like rakhi for Rakshabandhan, jalebi-fafda for Dussehra, and modaks for Ganesh Chaturthi. Additionally, it has partnered with ISKCON to deliver blessed Prasad during Janmashtami's midnight celebrations and directly sources Mahashivratri Prasad from Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi for devotees of Lord Shiva.
A glimpse of Salebhai's financial health makes it evident that the company is striding fast on the path of success. In a very short period, it has obtained a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of INR 2 crore.
With its remarkable efforts, this e-commerce marketplace has built a rich customer base. In a chat with The StartUp City Magazine, Singh, Co-founder of SaleBhai.com, reflects upon the company's strategies for building a strong customer base, "Building a successful customer base involves reaching out to them with brand awareness campaigns and then earning their faith by living up to the promises of providing unique hometown specialities with speedy delivery.
We ensure repeat buying by driving home to them that Salebhai is always there to take them back to their roots as well as help them discover something unique and untried every time.
Our excellent offerings and services have resulted in 22% repeat purchases. We have a customer base of around 37,000 and add some 5,000 new customers every month."
Over 300 sellers and 8,500 products
Products sourced from over 100 cities across India
GMV of over ₹ 2 crore by January 2017
Highest GMV of ₹ 70 lacks on October 16
Over 1000 types of products sold every month
Launch of international shipping in March to 195 countries
Multiple, quick, and secure online payment options and easy tracking facility
First-mover advantage in reaching out to an even wider customer base abroad
People from other countries can now discover unique specialities of India
Salebhai's unique aspiration of addressing migrant communities as a category and fulfilling their desire to stay connected to their roots has gained massive recognition in the Indian corporate landscape for its exclusivity.
Salebhai has been recognized as one of the 'Top 100 Startups in India to Watch in 2017' by Sutra HR, while Tech In Asia acknowledged the company as one of the '5 Rising Startups in India' in 2016.
Its news and updates have been covered in over 250 news articles, both online and print, in the past year. Renowned publications such as the Economic Times, Business Standard, Times of India, Business World, Live Mint, ANI, and Entrepreneur have featured profiles, interviews, and industry news on the website.
Vishwa Vijay Singh possesses extensive experience, having worked with giants such as Airtel, Nerolac and ICICI Lombard. Prior to stepping into the journey of entrepreneurship, he served as national sales manager with ICICI Lombard.
He was also part of the retail team at ICICI Lombard (as vice president – motor business) that grew from $10m to $400m in six years. At Salebhai, his chief responsibilities are handling the overall functioning of the company with direct involvement in marketing, logistics, and product categories.
Vishwa Vijay Singh advises young entrepreneurs by saying, "An entrepreneur has to constantly think and find solutions to problems that are quite unique to start-ups. Every day is a new day, and every hour you are confronted with a new situation — this is what excites me the most and keeps me on my toes. I have not achieved something which entitles me to advise the youth, but one thing I would say that if you are not madly in love with your idea or product or project, please don't pursue it. This will take almost everything that you have. Don't run after people to please them, instead work on your project to take it to the desired level."
