Despite e-commerce’s febrile adoption around the country, the want for replication of the traditional physical retail experience remains. And that’s exactly what ShopInSync sets out to do—make online shopping more ‘human’.
The new platform seeks to be India’s first comprehensive and connected online shopping experience, providing e-shoppers with a one-stop to shop for products listed across Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, while bringing the much missed communitarian angle back in through an integrated chat option.
Ex-Yahoo Product Management and Revenue Executive, Raj Ramaswamy, who founded the company with colleague Ashish Parnami says that while researching the e-commerce market, they found that while pricing was the most important consideration for a shopper, a majority of buying decisions in India were influenced by the opinions of friends and family.
“We designed ShopInSync to serve the unique needs of the Indian shopper” says Ramaswamy, “While comprehensiveness and finding the best value are among the top factors, a majority of purchase decisions are made in consultation with family and friends. With ShopInSync, we aspire to bridge both these worlds and bring a seamless, comprehensive and connected shopping experience.”
The app’s minimalistic design allows users to browse different products and proffers the best-priced listing. Users can also quickly browse through recommended products and once the decision has been made, the app will redirect to the platform selling the product.
To enable discussion, the app makes a messaging provision which lets the person being consulted to see everything that the primary buyer is seeing— various prices, specs and similar recommendations, much more involving and informative than the humble screen shot.
Although the company is headquartered in Silicon Valley, Ramaswamy says that the primary focus at the moment is India. “We found that the shopping among Americans was much more a solo experience than in India,” he says, adding that this is what makes ShopInSync a perfect fit for the Indian consumer. However, he doesn't rule out the possibility of an American expansion, saying that the company had engaged in some basic research and testing on its home turf.
But the question which remains is why would the big e-commerce players let ShopInSync into their databases? Ramaswamy says that this is because it’s a simple win-win situation.
“We are driving traffic to them. The decision is made on ShopInSync, so once users more on to an Amazon or Flipkart, they are there to make an assured final purchase,” he says.
The company’s immediate aim is to rope in other platforms to increase the number of products it offers.
The ShopInSync apps became available for download on the Play Store on Monday and the company will be launching its iOS version in a few weeks.
BW Reporters
Simar Singh is one of the youngest members of the BW team. A fresh graduate from IIMC, she also holds a degree in political science from LSR. She enjoys covering power, startups, lifestyle and a little bit of tech.
