Shopping made ‘e’asy

Since traffic and parking woes make purchase of essentials a nightmare, Ravindranath and Vamsi came up with a solution in an e-store from where one can shop at the click of a button.

How good is it to scan and shop all the groceries while you are waiting for a local train or while jogging in a park and have it delivered at your home in the next 24 hours? Ravindranath Yarlagadda and Vamsi Kiran have started Myvirutalplaza to convert this idea into reality. The company initially started off selling grocery and electronics online. This e-commerce store is planning to introduce the first virtual QR code-based grocery store in the country later this year.

The duo faced many a challenge in starting up the e-commerce store. However, with support of friends and a team, they started the store, which sells groceries and vegetables within a radius of 20km around Manikonda, while the electronics appliances are delivered throughout the country. Talking about entrepreneurship, Ravi Yarlagadda said, “It was my dream to become an entrepreneur. My father is a central-government employee and had a middleclass life. To grow in life, entrepreneurship is the only way forward,”

Talking about his background, he says, “I am an engineering graduate in electronics and electrical engineering (EEE) from MIST in the City. Prior to starting the company, I was working with Omnitoons in Singapore. Initially, my parents did not support the idea of starting my own business. It is hard for them to convince our relatives wherein entrepreneurship is never an accepted career option.

“If the business is successful, everything will be fine or even parents need to face the consequences. There is a saying, ‘success hugs you in private but failure slaps you in public’. If it is successful, we will become entrepreneurs, while failure leaves us with experience. However, we will not have regrets in future about an idea that was not executed,”

On the business idea, he says, “It is to substitute normal retail shopping with e-commerce shopping. Traffic and parking problems are making shopping a terrible and time-consuming experience. The holiday that comes after a long and tiring week should not be spent shopping. Our mantra is simple: You order, and we shop and deliver for you.”

It is the LinkedIn social networking site that helped duo come together. “I posted my business idea on LinkedIn, seeking a partner with similar interests. This fortunately helped me not only find a business partner but also a very good friend. Vamsi did his MBA and was working at Alcatel-Lucent in France and looking for a similar partner.

The company is aiming to have one lakh-registered customers by the end of December by offering initial discounts. “We aim to offer vegetables around 20 per cent lesser than at other supermarkets and have other value-added services, like group discounts based on the number of people that purchase a similar item on a given day. We also offer corporate discounts and discount-based points for watching a video ad on our e-store,” says Vamsi.

Talking about the virtual store, he says the model was an instant success in Korea. The first virtual store will open in Hitec City this October. Based on the response, the company plans to start five to six virtual stores in prime locations. Eventually, the company plans to bring QR code-based virtual shopping even to airports, metro and famous parks. City shoppers can buy products by simply scanning QR codes that are displayed in the store with their smartphones and the products will be delivered at their home in the next 24 hours.

Fact file

Initial investments: Rs.30 lakh

Operational margins: 12-15 per cent

Employees: 20

Products: 5,000

Expansion plans: To establish the first virtual plaza in the City in the third quarter FY2012.

To expand the grocery and vegetable e-commerce services throughout the country in the second quarter of FY2013.

To start virtual plazas in major tier-1 cities in the third quarter of FY2013.

Breakeven: By the end of 2013.

Tags: e-store, featured, full-image, Myvirutalplaza, Ravindranath, Vamsi

Category: Business, Interviews