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