Yerha is targeting for a turnover of Rs 100 crore in the next 3-4 years , says Mani Kant Jain

A new age Delhi-based, E-commerce that specializes in bringing the latest in technology from all around the world to India. Yerha.com excels in handpicking exclusive gadgets, mobiles, and accessories from all over the world and sell it in India at an affordable price. The company calls itself a creative design and technology company, rather than just an e-store and believes in working with passion and being driven with a hunger for technology.

Yerha.com is helmed by a self-made entrepreneur whose legend is that he is a skilled veteran by day and a tech geek by night.Mani Kant Jain, Founder Yerha.com talks about his venture.

Why did you opt to start up with a venture such as Yerha.com? Why did you find this area attractive?

The idea of Yerha came to me when I visited a tech conference abroad and was fascinated to see the range of high-tech gadgets, especially world’s smallest phone. It made me realize the untapped potential of global tech products in the Indian market. Fed up with the monotony of tech products available online in India, I decided to do something about it &set up a startup that found, reviewed and curated the latest in technology worldwide.

Our sole focus is on exclusive gadgets and electronic products. Along with providing a warranty and one year guarantee, Yerha also offers a dedicated customer service team for after-sales support.

How was your journey from idea to getting the first customer?

Our idea was to reach out to a niche audience which would be ideal for being our early adopters. What overwhelmed us was that this niche we targeted became mass audience in no time and our products, bundled with our communication, resulted in mass appreciation and admiration of our products. So much so that for our very first 100 orders, everyone that booked the product from all corners of the country, showed so much faith in us that they paid us full and pre-booked our products 2 weeks prior to the actual launch.

Throw some light on the business model of Yerha.com.

Yerha is a new age e-commerce website (based on an inventory-led model) that introduces cutting-edge technology blended with remarkable innovation to the Indian market for the very first time. Moreover, we deal in with gadgets that are exclusively available in Indian markets only at Yerha.com. We bring handpicked products to you that are designed in a way that can make your lives easier.

How has demonetisation and GST impacted your business?

If we speak of the year of 2016 wherein demonetization had created a sudden block in cash transaction, it had greatly impacted most of the e-commerce businesses. For various reasons still in India, most of the e-commerce transactions are in form of Cash On Delivery orders, such as the ecosystem. Once we demonetize the currency all COD orders become redundant as no service provider for COD would recognize the old currency as legitimate. Moreover, people would hold on to the new currency which was extremely limited in the market and difficult to get your hands on in the first two controlled months of Nov & Dec. In this way, this had stalled all COD transactions and impacted the business deeply. However, we were able to cope with the situation and lead most of the transactions towards online payments or innovating methods of using wallets and card machines on doorsteps of all the consumers who wanted to pay on COD just because they wanted to pay when they got their hands on the product.

GST was like a blessing in disguise. Though the tax slabs were subject to change many taxes which were becoming redundant and difficult to reconcile in e-commerce businesses became redundant like Entry Tax and Octroi.

We would like to state that any changes we bring to a nationwide ecosystem create a lag amongst the entire ecosystem, but if we give some time and follow the regularizations and protocols only then can we judge and reap the benefits.

How do you infuse newness to your portal? How frequently do you do it?

We believe that we are not only selling a product but we are also selling an experience. The moment we wrapped our head around this then we were bound to build a more immersive experience for them. We, therefore, take a lot of care on our content, video, offers, and promotions. We try not to blatantly advertise and talk about a sale but rather make conversations over how to make lives easier with help of technology. With that in mind every day we keep going through our closet of products and select one product which can make your life easier and we send it out to our user base. This is not a sales-led initiative that is just to bring about a newness from something which may have been old. True vintage isn’t it. Similar to this we have many social campaigns and content led activities that we keep on doing.

Now, when more and more people are moving online for variety and novelty, how do you see the future of Indian e-commerce market?

With $681 billion in online retail sales in 2016, China is the largest market for e-commerce globally, followed by the US, and the fastest growing one in India. We live in a world where we communicate with each other over mobile phones than we do face to face. For keeping in touch, shopping, hailing a cab, or ordering food… everything begins and ends with that smartphone. China is the largest market for e-commerce globally, followed by the US; but it is India that is the fastest-growing e-commerce market. India has had its advantages in e-commerce. In China, Alibaba took off in the 2000s, when the global economy was not at its best. India entered the e-commerce market after 2010 when the GDP was showing healthy growth, and disposable income was on the rise. when it comes to e-commerce, all countries follow a similar path but at a different pace. They enter online channel through social media and content, followed by shopping for books and music. “In India, the pace has been faster with users getting comfortable buying clothes and footwear more easily than they did in other countries.

From an entrepreneur’s point of view, the market is gauged by data and, more traditionally, my gut. From the entrepreneur’s point of view, the potential looks fabulous and ever growing. Of course, there will be a point where each entity will either consolidate, saturate, expand or close but the gut says that, with the majority of India not being online, there is a market out there which may be untapped.

Any plan of venturing offline or launching offline?

Stay tuned as we are planning for some really cool things for the future including something in the offline space.

Why should a person come to Yerha.com, when there are several others offering the same services?

We are very different from other leading online platforms. We bring those products to the doorstep of customers which were available only at Yerha.com& not anywhere in India. Our take on the market is not through the route of offers and discounts but through product innovation and consumer delight. We are serving a different need in the market which is quite opposite to the daily need being fulfilled by the other e-commerce giants.

How much do you depend on social media for marketing?

Since we were a bootstrap startup and did not have a big marketing budget, we relied on digital and word of mouth marketing. Ended up doing a lot of content, videos, and stories to explain what such innovative products can do. This worked tremendously for us.We have witnessed an average traffic of 300,000 visitors per month and has over 320,000 followers on our Facebook page.We also rely a lot on content and word of mouth forms of advertising.

What are the challenges faced?

Educating the masses about new innovations and bringing these niche products to Indian markets was a tough job. Talking about operational challenges, logistically reaching to interior regions of India was little difficult and another was to automate processes and key operations with the help of our in-house technology solutions. The outcome of which was a culminating experience on the cusp of technology and innovation.

Throw some light on upcoming developments and targets of the company?

Besides electronic goods and exclusive gadgets, Yerha keeps bringing new technologies and product lines. In future plans, we are focusing on making in-house eco-system with self-logistics and in-house demonstrations.We plan to expand our product portfolio from Mobile, Mobile Accessories, Smart Home Automation & lifestyle and aim to increase their potential& shipping to remote locations to reach out further to the emerging rural areas of the country.

The brand is bootstrapped as of now, but the brand is soon planning to close a funding deal of $10 million with many private equities & VC firms.Yerha has generated revenue of Rs 18-20 crores till now and aims to achieve a turnover of Rs 100 crores in the next five years.

Any advice for new startups of today.

We would only like to advise that doesn’t be scared of taking risks. Always seek to bring about a positive change in society that is what real disruption should be about. While doing this, always aim for the stars.

''For every Entrepreneur, it is imperative to have faith in himself or herself and garner his confidence to achieve success. The best way to gain self-confidence is to put yourself out there and face the lights. Facing your fear is the best way in this case. Don't get me wrong you will fail and that is what I mean by putting yourself out there...pitch, network, fail and repeat! That is the Mantra. The more you fail the more you gain. The more you gain the more you learn and that’s how you shed all your inhibitions on your way to gaining a lot of confidence.'' says Mani.