Hi Rodinhooders,
I would like to get feedback from you all on this business idea that i am planning with a Rodinhood friend of mine- Kshitija Parab.
It would be great if you could help us validate the idea and letting us know whether we should proceed with it, its drawbacks, etc (We are open to all the CRITICISM)
So the idea revolves around starting an e-com business of selling desserts of all kinds online.
Majorly it would involve collaborating with all cake shops, cake boutiques and other local dessert vendors and providing an online platform for consumers to choose from a wide variety of dessert brands.
The striking feature of this venture would be providing free home delivery to consumers all over Mumbai till late hours of night, probably 1am.
What inspired us to create this model:
- It would provide consumers a list of brands to choose from suiting their budget
- Would tap the business of home delivery of desserts which is not provided by many outlets
- Delivering cakes and desserts at 12am when we are not able to physically go and wish our loved and dear ones (No major cake shops provide this service)
- Along with desserts , we will also deliver every other products that the cake shop sells like chocolates, cake pops, those fancy gift items,etc etc
How would we achieve this?
- Collaborate with all cake shops, cake studios, private bakers, etc
- Create a website & an app which would showcase all the brands with their menus (with pictures) in depth,cost,etc
Model 1:
- A user would navigate through the website, select the brand and product, Login/Create an account, fill in the delivery address
- Once the user places an order, we immediately send him an Email & Whatsapp saying “Your order is received & we shall confirm the order in 15 minutes”
- In those 15 minutes, we call up the cake shop that the customer has opted for & check if they have that particular cake in stock.
- If Yes, we get back to the customer by Email & Whatsapp saying “Your order is confirmed & shall be delivered within an hour” or “Your order is confirmed & shall be delivered at ______ address on ____ time”.
- If No, we get back to the customer by Email & Whatsapp saying “The cake you ordered is out of stock & you may select another one”. Here we also give them suggestions to opt for other possible related cakes that he may like. Again the customer places the order, & we deliver.
- All payment by Cash on Delivery
(For eg: Mr.X places an order of a Birdies cake and he is located in Bandra)
- We would get in touch with the Birdies outlet in Bandra which is closest to the users address, pick the parcel and get it delivered
- In case Mr X wants it delivered at 12 am , he has to place the order before 7pm so that we can well in advance stock the order at our office (which will be our back-end office handling the website as well as our warehouse to stock the orders)
Problems in Model 1:
> A customer would never like waiting for 15 minutes to get the order confirmed. So this 15 minutes waiting seems problematic. He may/may not go through the site again and select another cake and do the entire procedure again.
> What if some of the items he ordered are available & some are not? The customer may not buy any of the items then.
Model 2: Here, we have an integrated system, i.e, a software installed in the computers of every shop which will tell us the live stocks at every shop & we keep updating the same on our website. So if a particular cake is Out of stock, we immediately show the same on the site. So with this model, we are showing the customer in advance itself, which cake is available & which is not. So this eliminates the step of making the customer wait for 15 mins & cross checking with the shops.
- A user would navigate through the website, select the brand and product, Login/Create an account, fill in the delivery address
- Once the user places an order, we immediately send him an Email & Whatsapp saying “Your order is confirmed & shall be delivered within an hour” or “Your order is confirmed & shall be delivered at ______ address on ____ time”.
- All payments by Cash on Delivery
Problems in Model 2:
> Is it possible to have such an integrated system? We don’t know much about the technical aspects & back-end work that goes in handling a website !
> Will all shops have a computer system? The ones who don’t, how do we keep a tab on their stocks?
> How do we plan the Logistics & Delivery?
Right now,in the beginning, we have thought of keeping One delivery boy covering 3-4 stations (eg: Borivali-Kandivali-Malad-Goregaon ). The person will be responsible for picking up the order & delivering it in the required time on a bike that we will provide to each of the delivery boys.
>Is this a good way of doing it?
Revenue Generation:
> Commission from the cake shops on every order made through us
> We tie up with Restaurants, Food Places (eg: Mc Donalds, Domminos), Clothing Brands, Flipkart,etc etc and give discount coupons to the customers who order through our site. And we charge a commission when the customer uses these coupons
> Advertisements on the site is an option
>Does all this seem to be economical? How else can we monetise?
IS THE IDEA WORTH GIVING A TRY ??
It would be great if you all could help us with the idea and guide us for the same !!
Thank You,
Rohan Parmar & Kshitija Parab
You can contact us at:
rohanparmar117@yahoo.co.in
Phone: 09773352956
asha chaudhry
rohan,
pls check out ashish’s cakehunt. check every post he has made. am pinging him with your link. will ping some other foodpreneur rodinhooders as well.
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/what-do-you-expect-from-an-online-cake-and-gift-shop-need-your
sreehari arat
Hi Rohan,
I am not attempting to comment idea worth .it is your business idea ,you have researched and better insight now to see an opportunity.
Here are my thoughts about Model 2
If it is a Pizza ordering ,customer would expect order at his doorstep in 30 minutes. In this case, generally you would get more time up to 24 hours because when a person order a Cake he typically knows the occasion well ahead in time.
This can actually help to your company because any Cake shop registered with you will be comfortable to prepare the cake in 24 hours. Based on their service and ability to prepare in shorter time duration you can display available timings in website.
So a software integration system to check the stock availability may not be needed. instead an internal commitment between your company and the registered cake shop that you are displaying their product which should be available within this time once You give order.
For the external customer, your website is the Cake shop . He should not get “item not available” messages. second time he may not visit or would not suggest your site to his friend. He can go through any item, order , pay he gets message that your order will be delivered within this time etc.
Again, this is just a thought. All the best for your venture.
Rohan Parmar
Okay Thanks !!
Ashish Parik
Hi Rohan,
It is a good idea and concept……. I am working on the same concept since last more than one year. I can say that it is worth a try if you can manage the deliveries.
One thing you need to decide is whether you want to start a dessert shop or you will help people deliver feelings (this is what we do 🙂 ) There is difference in both. The first one modified version of Tastykhana, Foodpanda etc….
The important things you need to first work out is …
1. Who will execute the deliveries ?
2. If you / your team is going to deliver, how many peoples ?
3. How will you deliver ?
4. Why Free home delivery ? Trust me, you will die managing the logistic in this case. Leave the free thing for government. People are ready to pay, they just want the best from you.
5. What will the last time to accept the orders ? We deliver upto 1 am and start at 6 am….Although there is no such constraint. However there should be time limit for taking same day orders. The bakers will not work for us 24*7.
Also, i don’t think the bakers will agree with you to share their inventories by any software thing…If they, you will be lucky. This is not going impact the business in any way.
There are so many thing which I have learnt in last one year. I have personally delivered feeling to more than 1500+ individuals.
Scope is really very good…Feel free to write to me at cakehunt.ahm@gmail.com or call at 8905 265 24 7 anytime…..
the cakeman who delivers feelings, Ashish S Parik
PS: It has been more than 18 hours Ashatai has asked me to help you. Writting this piece in hurry. please forgive if there is any confusion.
kshitija parab
Thanks ashish for your inputs!
Amit Shroff
Hey Rohan,
Let me know if you need any help in setting up the store. We have readymade platform which would help you setup the store, retailers, products etc.
https://www.72interactive.in
Regards,
Amit
9811122212
Amit Shroff
Ashish, I totally agree. I don’t understand why people are after FREE. A customer is always ready to pay if you deliver quality and meet commitments.
We are technology company based out of Delhi and would be happy to help you build a eCommerce store to deliver feeling with all sort of customization, including different delivery charges based on delivery time.
For further details you can speak to me at 9811122212 or email me at sales@72interactive.com
Amit Sarda
Rohan and Kshitija,
First of all, congratulations on exploring this ‘gap’!
Before throwing in suggestions to alleviate the inefficiences in the model, I would like to get some more information:
Looking forward to a great conversation!
Cheers,
Amit