eBay Announces its Association with the International Gemological Institution for its Seller Community

With an objective to drive precedence in one of the most significant categories in Indian exports, eBay in India announced its association with the International Gemological Institute (IGI).The largest organization of its kind, IGI is a highly trusted name in certifying the widest variety of gemstones and jewelry in the world.

The Gems and Jewelry Certification program (GJCP) introduced by eBay for Indian sellers primarily aims to support the country’s jewelry industry in the global market and establishing eBay as an ultimate destination for fine jewelry products.  The sellers can now get their products certified from IGI at the most competitive pricing available exclusively to the Indian domiciled eBay seller community.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Vidmay Naini, India Country Manager at eBay said, “At eBay our aim is to provide our sellers avenues to win more customers across the world and to get global customers the best quality of products. Our association with IGI is a step in that direction. Transparency and authenticity are the topmost considerations while making a purchase for fine jewelry. In the current scenario, with most of the purchases happening on the e-commerce platforms, it is only fair to say that consumers expect authenticity in what they purchase. The certification of Diamond Jewelry and loose stones will foster that confidence in the buyers and sellers alike on eBay.”

He further added, “Loose Diamonds & Gemstones category has witnessed a healthy push in the previous quarter with the introduction of GJEPC certification program. Meeting the demand for higher priced gemstones along with building trust amongst the buyers globally through certification has been the strategic approach at eBay INCBT, and we will continue to build upon the same in 2020 and onwards.”

Mr. Tehmasp Printer, Managing Director at IGI said,” We at IGI, consider the association with eBay as the beginning of a revolutionary consumer experience. With IGI certification, customers can now purchase their jewelry online, validated as per internationally acclaimed grading standards and practices. We look forward to empowering buyers on eBay with our services.

eBay Sellers domiciled in India can avail Gems and Jewelry Certificate Program benefits in three simple steps:

1.      Sell the Gemstone and Fine Jewelry Items on eBay marketplace

2.      Apply and obtain IGI certification for such Fine Jewelry items

3.      Ship the certified Fine Jewelry items with the IGI certificate to buyers

For more details, check https://bit.ly/GemsAndJewelryCertification

The Indian jewelry industry holds prominence on the platform and has shown a steady growth in recent years, providing a shining example of achieving international competitiveness. With real-time insights into the global market demands, eBay- INCBT has enabled some of India’s top diamond jewelry manufacturers and exporters who offer latest designs best quality diamonds and free customization at aggressive price points to the world.

eBay is committed towards understanding the concerns of both the buyers and sellers alike. The IGI certification provides a global standard of excellence to the diamonds and loose stones exported from India and gives much needed impetus to this commitment.

About eBay:

eBay Inc. is a global commerce leader that connects millions of buyers and sellers across 190 countries around the world. eBay has over 1.4 Billion live listings. eBay marketplace boasts of $90.2 Billion GMV (FY2019), $10.7 Billion revenue (FY2019)

eBay in India is focused on driving cross border trade and providing Indian MSMEs and artisans a platform to expand their reach to global customers. The cross-border trade business has more than 1,00,000 sellers registered on the website with over 16.8 million product listings. eBay is working towards building a robust ecosystem for Indian sellers and facilitating with the requisite skills and knowledge to undertake retail exports and provide them with an opportunity to expand their reach out to millions of buyers across the globe.

Otipy to Acquire Women Resellers Through its Partnership with SHEROES

Otipy, one of India’s fastest growing social commerce ventures, in partnership with the largest women-centric social networking app, SHEROES, today announced a new initiative to empower thousands of women pan-India, by providing them an earning opportunity as Otipy partner resellers.

The partnership between Otipy and SHEROES will be based on a revenue-sharing model, with strong synergies between both the app based platforms.  The idea of the initiative being that women can take advantage of the current scenario to earn and become independent, while being in the comfort of their homes. By choosing to partner with Otipy and SHEROES, interested resellers could be just a step away from being self-reliant earners, without the need of any additional investment. Through just a few clicks, they can be empowered within their communities by selling and coordinating deliveries of high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables to thousands of homes.

The initiative is looking to partner with more than 1,000 women in becoming Otipy resellers, in the Delhi-NCR region alone. For starters, resellers will be supporting farmers by taking up the mantle of delivering fresh farm produce in the Delhi-NCR region. The objective is to provide healthier alternatives to an increasingly health conscious society, which is yearning for safe, hygienic and eco-friendly produce as an alternative to the standard-fare products of questionable quality, that are usually available at a corner store. The hope is to create a healthier ecosystem, while simultaneously enabling women to make most of an opportunity to attain financial independence and recognition. Otipy, along with SHEROES, wishes to replicate this model across the country, as they intend to leverage the expansive SHEROES community to find enthusiastic women partners. 

Speaking about the partnership Varun Khurana, Founder, Otipy said “Otipy is thrilled to partner with SHEROES, as they have been at the forefront of creating tangible impact in society through the creation of a community exclusively for women, which allows them to explore expert opinions and work opportunities among other things. Otipy shares similar values with SHEROES and we hope that through this initiative, thousands of women will be provided financial avenues, while driving the larger purpose of healthier food consumption in the country.”

Sairee Chahal, Founder & CEO SHEROES said “One of our major goals has always been to facilitate the inclusion of women into the workforce and our partnership with Otipy only strengthens our resolve in reaching that ambition. It is our belief that Otipy’s opportunity has the potential to transform the prevalent thinking behind women-centric decision making and we are working towards creating success stories that have the power to reinforce the ecosystem for the empowerment of women.”

Otipy’s platform has been designed to meet the requirements of an average smartphone user, with a friendly app interface and simple payment gateways, while ensuring quick next-day delivery. Otipy and SHEREOS encourages users and community champions on the app to apply by logging in to their accounts and make use of the opportunity, and become partner resellers.     

How women are Making it Big in Business Via WhatsApp-Based Social Commerce?

By Varun Khurana, Founder, Otipy ( India’s fastest growing social commerce venture)

 

Social commerce is not a new concept in the country major chunk of social commerce existed only in the fashion, beauty, and retail industries. Today, social commerce is gaining popularity for one of the fundamental aspects of life – fresh food. Fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables have become the most in-demand products as people switch to healthier ways of living and are eager to know the source.  

 

A USD 200 Billion fresh produce category is now witnessing major disruption through social commerce. It is garnering the attention of consumer, entrepreneurs, and investors, . In fact, consumers are increasingly preferring their food sourced through social commerce for various reasons such as higher credibility, rational price and most importantly, fresher produce (delivered within a day straight from the farms sometime within 12 hrs). For women looking to be a part of the business environment without monetary investment, social commerce within the food category is the ideal solution. Let us take a look at how social commerce is playing a key role in helping women make it big in business.

 

The rise of social commerce

Increasing internet penetration and social media usage have paved the way for the rise of social commerce. A majority of the population today uses and is in fact hooked onto social media and brands are leveraging this aspect. With the rise in demand for fresh produce, women are joining hands with brands to become resellers within their community to make a mark for themselves in their community by leveraging social commerce. Currently, fresh produce is a supply-led model and social commerce is flipping it to demand-led model that further helps in solving the problem of middlemen and wastage (since there is no inventory). Apart from this, it helps resellers connect with their customers-base efficiently and offer real-time feedback to the farmers regarding the quality of the produce.

 

The emergence of women as dominant sellers

 For the first time, women are taking the center stage in spurring the adoption of e-commerce and helping the industry as well as themselves progress. The advent of technology, rapid digitization of businesses, and easy access have helped drive this change. For women sellers, a slew of features aided by cutting-edge technology such as voice chats/chatbots, real-time updates and feedback to the farmers, and most importantly, WhatsApp-based marketing is coming handy to open more doors to become micro-entrepreneurs.         

Additionally, women sellers also have a higher average order value, better retention and repeat orders, making them more suitable. In fact, not just urban cities, but women resellers hail from tier-II and tier-III catchment areas are hopping on the fresh produce social commerce bandwagon to fulfil their goals and achieve financial independence with almost no investment. A whopping 68% of women in most platforms sell from tier-II and tier-III cities.

 

Women sellers also help customers gain the trust factor for unbranded products since they usually tend to lean towards known/established brands. In return, social commerce platforms offer easy access for women to build an entrepreneurial empire of their own through community engagement without hindrances. Particularly in vernacular language-led social commerce platforms, women are dominating the space, even though the concept is still at a very nascent stage. They are learning the tricks of the trade and are keen on flourishing in the competitive business environment.

 

Social commerce is quickly becoming a multi-million-dollar market in India. However, the country has a largely unorganized market, particularly in tier-II, tier-III and tier-IV cities, especially for the fresh produce category with millions of farmers scattered across the country. Additionally, shopping for fresh produce is a social concept of sorts. Since the pandemic has forced us to adhere to social distancing norms, social commerce is flourishing and women are leading the way. With technological advancements, greater digitization and the availability of regional languages providing easy access and seamless experience, the rise of women entrepreneurs through social commerce is inevitable.  

Ten tips for resellers

Some top tips for resellers in managing their business, particularly in difficult macroeconomic conditions from Arrow ECS Arrow - Enterprise Computing Solutions, a business segment of Arrow Electronics Inc. recently offered the following tips to resellers in managing their business, particularly in difficult macroeconomic conditions.

Additional guidance for resellers in managing their business, and comprehensive resources to help them grow faster than the market and faster than the competition is available at www.ArrowECS.com!

1. Do not depend on product reselling as your only source of profit. Have other sources of profit generation that supports your businesses. Successful value–added resellers must add additional value to supplier offerings to ensure a predictable and profitable revenue flow. "If I create my own service offering outside of the products, then I'm in a situation that I'm having a solutions discussion with customers, focusing on a particular methodology or service offering that I've designed," said Mike Strohl, president of Concord, Calif.–based Entisys Solutions Inc. and Agile 360, a division of Entisys. "It's a lot easier to sell products and services that way."

2. Know your customers' total information technology spend and be aware of how the solution fits into the end–user's environment with a view to fully "clothing" the sale. For example, is there opportunity for additional software, accessories, printers or personal computers? Ask questions to ensure that you are maximizing your selling opportunity. "Knowing the total IT spend is important, but you should also know and understand your customer's budget cycle and get into that process," said Strohl. "There is extreme power in being a part of that process. You know all their projects, what they can spend and where their money comes from."

3. Focus on solving business problems for your customer, not just selling them product. Anyone can do that, and solutions automatically sell more product, and are less price sensitive. "Compliance regulations such as HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the Sarbanes–Oxley Act and others are driving purchases around security solutions," said Jim Steinlage, president of Kansas City–based Choice Solutions LLC. "I'm also seeing increased interest in solutions that offer opportunities to work remotely."

4. Leverage the resources of your value–added distributor. You are simply increasing your cost structure and making yourself less competitive if you don't take advantage of your distributor's resources and hire your own team. "Nettitude has worked with the DNS group of Arrow ECS for a number of years. We are able to tap into the specific product knowledge of Arrow ECS' technical team and partner with their sales and marketing resources to deliver targeted campaigns and drive sales," said Martin Watts, sales manager for Nettitude, a security reseller based in the United Kingdom. "This close relationship has contributed to a 25 percent revenue growth year–over–year in security products delivered by Nettitude."

5. "Focus on solutions that have a short-term return on investment," offered Steinlage. "IT decision-makers aren't into solutions with a two-year ROI right now. They are much more into the solutions with ROI of a year or less."

6. Add as much service as possible. If a project requires skills you don't have, partner with your distributor or even another value–added reseller if necessary, but don't just leave the customer looking for someone to address their needs. It invites competition into your accounts. "The smart VARs are the ones that know their own skill set, that can identify what they're experts in – and find other partners with other products and solution lines that complement their offerings," said Strohl. "There is more in that than what just seems obvious."

7. Identify new customers. VARs must engage in marketing activities to find new customers. Without new customers, VARs cannot grow, and without growth they will fail. "New customers are indeed the lifeblood of a business," said Dan Lowery, president of St. Louis-based Lowery Systems Inc. "Each year, we try to leverage the resources of Arrow ECS, such as its MPower program for the midmarket, or new service areas from IBM to identify new customers. The intent is to get new names, and grow with them. By using resources that are available to us through Arrow ECS and IBM, the cost to us is greatly reduced."

8. Leverage supplier programs that protect margins. Supplier deal registration programs are critical tools for VARs to demonstrate and protect their value. "I pay a dividend to train one person to track all certifications, rebates and sales promotion incentive fees," said Lowery. "By utilizing market development funds from various sources, we are often able to put on a first-class event at minimal cost."

9. FOCUS! You can't be all things to all people. Know your value proposition, be able to articulate it and make sure your business is organized around it. It's never been more critical for VARs to have a value proposition and be able to deliver it. Communicate your value to suppliers and ensure your distributors are supporting that effort.

10. "Know thy pipeline," said Andy Bryant, president of Arrow ECS. "You really have to get underneath the pipeline and ask, 'is this project going to go or not?'"