Sales Activities of Kaymu: Most Diversied Online Shopping Experience

Sales Activities of Kaymu Bangladesh to provide the
most Diversied Online Shopping Experience for the Bangladeshi Consumers

At the 21st Century, with the help of technology, people are getting all the latest facilities. In this paper, I have tried to put my overview of Bangladeshi e-commerce industry, Kaymu Bangladesh and its strategies, model, comparison with the current market players and its vision to provide the most diversified online shopping marketplace for the Bangladeshi Consumer.

Kaymu Bangladesh is a venture of world’s largest internet incubator Rocket Internet GmbH. In September, 2013, Kaymu Bangladesh started its operations here in this country and within a short period of time, has become a popular destination for the online shoppers. Kaymu Bangladesh follows the EBay business model of buying and selling on a single platform where the sellers sell their products on Kaymu website in exchange of commission percentage on each and every sale. Kaymu is an online marketplace where buyers and sellers meet and exchange goods. Buyers from Dhaka enjoy the facility of payment via cash on delivery while the buyers outside Dhaka throughout the country also can enjoy the home delivery service by prepayment through mobile banking. Kaymu provides sellers the free advertisements of their products through social media, newsletter and Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Through Kaymu, sellers can sell their products very easily as they have the total control of the entire process of selling including the payment. Sellers use Kaymu website to showcase their products and get buyers for the products. When they get an order, they contact and deliver the product on their own or through Kaymu Delivery Partner- AIG Express. Right now, the online selling process is running smoothly but sometimes when there is pressure of more delivery, then the buyers might suffer. This is a major issue for Kaymu and they value this issue highly as at the Beginning it was becoming hard for them to run their operations without dependable delivery partner but now they have established AIG Express as a trusted and dependable delivery partner. Kaymu is trying to achieve its break even by the end of 2016, when their operation will be around three years in Bangladesh. Currently it runs from the funding of its parent company, Rocket Internet Gmbh. Kaymu’s revenue is increasing from its inception. Though Kaymu is a new company, but already they have created their own space in the market and becoming very popular to the online consumers. Kaymu believes that the more its sellers sell, the more revenue Kaymu makes. So they are working relentlessly to market the products of its sellers. Bangladesh is a challenging market for Kaymu. Most of the people do not know the use of internet yet. But Kaymu has a clear goal to offer their customers a diversified shopping experience.

Introduction

E-commerce refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic network combining a range of process such as Electronic Data Interchange, Electronic mail, World Wide Web, Internet Applications and Network Applications. Everyday e-commerce is improving the efficiency and effectiveness of business, government and nonprofit organizations. At today’s date, people lack time. They try to save it as much as possible and that’s where e-commerce shows its charisma by saving both the most important things which time and money. From an online marketplace people can buy and sell their products rather than visiting physical marketplace.

Bangladesh has a huge population which attracts a lot of marketers to offer their products. But due to lack of technology, Bangladesh people still lag many latest facilities the modern world offers. Most of the Bangladeshi people do not know the use of internet which is becoming a challenge for the online marketers. Bangladesh Government is trying to provide internet throughout the country by 2016 which will enable the expansion of e-commerce industry of Bangladesh. From the inception, ecommerce sector is booming and day by day, it is spreading its wings.

Kaymu is becoming the leading online marketplace for Bangladesh. Here, in Bangladesh, people only knew about Ebay business model where buyers meet sellers and exchange goods. Kaymu introduced the Ebay business model in Bangladesh. Kaymu is one of the five ventures of Rocket Internet GmbH in Bangladesh. Kaymu tries to follow the successful internet ventures from other advanced countries like United States and replicate their strategies in emerging markets. Kaymu Bangladesh is right now providing three types of selling; B2B, B2C, C2C. Kaymu was launched in late September 2013 and has become the 4th e-commerce site after OLX, Ekhanei and ClickBD. Kaymu mainly focuses on its buyers and sellers. Kaymu’s clients are the sellers who sell their products on Kaymu website. Kaymu focuses on the sellers as Kaymu’s revenue comes from its sellers sales. If Kaymu’s sellers sell more, Kaymu makes more money, if the sellers sell less, Kaymu makes less money. Kaymu tries to obtain the sellers who sell quality product as they look forward to offer their buyers the quality products at the most competitive deals.

In this report I have tried to look into the operations of Kaymu Bangladesh, how it is trying to provide the most diversified product lines for its customers.

History

Rocket Internet GmbH is a German based internet incubator. Samwer Brothers are the founders of this company and their Headquarter is in Berlin, Germany. Rocket Internet builds online startups and owns shareholdings in various Internet companies. Some of their ventures are Foodpanda, Jabong, Carmudi, Lamoda, Jalong, Zalora etc.

Rocket Internet started their journey in 1999 and already they have 120+ market leading companies in 50+ countries. In late 2014, Samwer Brothers valued Rocket Internet as a multibillion dollar company.

The Samwer brothers had successful investments in Groupon, eBay, Facebook, Linkedin, Zynga etc. The Company’s business model is to identify successful internet ventures from other advanced countries and replicating their strategies in emerging markets. Investors such as Russian billionaire Leonard Blavatnik, Swedish investment firm Kinnevik and J.P. Morgan invested close to $4 billion in 2012 and 2013.

Right now, Rocket Internet GmbH operates in more than 50 countries in five continents and has more than 120 online ventures such as Zalando in Germany, Jabong.com in India, Lamoda in Russia, Zalora in South East Asia, The global food delivery platform foodpanda, the global property listings site Lamudi, global car selling site Carmudi. Rocket Internet has 25,000 employees working for them in five continents.

Rocket Internet launched 5 companies in Bangladesh in last 2 years- Carmudi, Lamudi, Foodpanda, Kaymu and Daraz. As Bangladesh is and emerging market where online marketplace like Ebay, Amazon, Flipkart has not been introduced yet, Kaymu grabbed the opportunity to get into this huge market.

Products/ service offerings

Kaymu is, first and foremost, an online marketplace. One can browse through categories like Clothing, Footwear, Jewelry, Watches, Mobiles & Accessories, Jewelry, Books & Media, Electronics, Footwear, Watches, Mobiles, Computers, Electronics, Home & Living, Health & Beauty, Toys, Kids & Babies, Books & Media, Sports & Outdoors and various other categories.

When a customer sees something they like, they click on the product and view the details that include pictures, descriptions, payment options and shipping information. Customers also can search for their desired products by using keywords in no time. Kaymu provide advanced search option in which Customers can narrow down their search and shop comfortably.

Just as one can buy almost anything on eBay, one can sell almost anything, too. Using a simple listing process, one can put all of the junk in their basement up for sale. People can sell old laptops, clothing, furniture, etc. But if one wants to sell as a business, they need to enlist in Kaymu as a Kaymu seller via which they get a Kaymu e-store. When one sells an item on Kaymu, they pay a certain percentage of the final sale price to Kaymu. There is no listing fee except this commission on sales and for people selling personal products, there is no commission either. Kaymu operates an online marketplace enabling end customers to buy and sell basically anything online.

Operational Network Organogram

Kaymu Bangladesh started its journey in Bangladesh around September 2013 and launched in November 2013. For emerging markets, Kaymu has certainly become the leading online marketplace. In a short span of time Kaymu has grew exponentially. Kaymu has a huge number of sellers already on board and also thousands are on their way to become Kaymu sellers. Kaymu operates as the one stop solution for customers to find their desired products online. Kaymu has different departments to run its operations in Bangladesh.

Right now Kaymu has 7 different departments which are also called teams.

1. Sales Team
2. Portfolio Management Team
3. Human Resource Team
4. Customer Support Team
5. Logistics Team
6. Finance Team
7. Public Relation Team
8. Seller Management Team

Description of the Project

The Sales activity of Kaymu Bangladesh starts with lead generating of the new potential sellers of different products. After sourcing the leads, Sales intern forward the leads to the Sales team, who then, do the part of meeting the sellers, convincing them to sell on Kaymu, explaining them the features of the website, of the company itself.

After the sellers come on board to sell their products, Kaymu Sales Intern help them to open their personalized e-store on Kaymu website. To register on Kaymu Website, Sellers need to fill up a form with their necessary details. After they register their e-store on Kaymu website, the launch page for them looks like this in the following.

The page sellers get when they log on to Kaymu websites. From here, they can add their products in their e-store. They also can view their pending orders from this page.

To purchase any product from Kaymu website, buyers need to open an account too. It is the same account as the sellers. When buyers open an account, they not only can but from the website, but also can list their own products for selling. So after creating an account, if the buyer buys and products from Kaymu, they will get a text message and verification email. They need to verify the order. After they verify their order, a notification will go to the Seller, from whom they want to buy the product. Then the seller will contact the buyer and set a delivery time and deliver his/her order. In the meanwhile Kaymu Customer Support is also contacting the Buyer to check the status of their order. If the buyer does not get their ordered products in a brief time period, then the Customer Support team will contact the Seller and urge them to deliver the order as soon as possible. After the delivery of the product, Kaymu Customer Support again will contact the buyer to get the feedback on the order delivered. Buyers pay for their orders via cash on delivery. Sometimes, a few sellers demand prepayment when they get orders of very expensive products.

Kaymu Sellers also can contact Kaymu Sales team or the Seller Management team or the Portfolio Management team regarding any query. It is the duty of Seller management team and Portfolio Management team to provide any assistance required for the sellers.

From the very beginning of the buy and sell process, Kaymu’s different departments are working to provide any support to the sellers and the buyers. This is the main reason why they are becoming so successful.

Objective of the Project

1. Primary Objective

The primary objective of this report is to use the theoretical concepts of Marketing in practice which I have achieved through my studies from all courses as it is a requirement of BBA program of BRAC Business School.

2. Secondary Objective

To meet the terms with the entire branch e-commerce procedures.

• To formulate a bridge between the theories and practical procedures of online marketplace day to day operations.
• To be aware of the terms of Marketing that has been taught in the BRAC University
• To gain practical experience and view the application of theoretical knowledge in real life.

Methodology

This report has been prepared on the basis of experience gathered during the period of internship. At first the topic and research objective were selected and I collection data regarding the report.

Sources of Data: Sources of Data were collected through two segments. 1. Primary and 2. Secondary Data.

Primary Sources of data were;

• Practical desk work
• Conversation with the officers
• Conversation with the clients
• Appropriate file study as provided by the concerned officer.
• Personal experience gained by visiting different departments.

Secondary Sources of data were;

• Rocket Internet Website
• Kaymu BD website
• Kaymu Bangladesh Sales Funnel
• Kaymu Bangladesh Bangladesh Cockpit.
• Publications obtained from different libraries and from the internet.

The Main Body

Today, the Internet allows shoppers to be in multiple places and compare multiple products simultaneously and come to a decision as to which to purchase. Since its launch in Bangladesh, in just over a year Kaymu has evolved into a global brand and grown exponentially to become one of Bangladesh’s leading online marketplaces.

Taking advantage of the rapid growth of e-commerce in the country, Kaymu provides a platform for buyers and sellers to interact virtually and agree the best deals when it comes to new products, such as smart phones, computers, fashion, and clothing, home appliances and other products.

There are some reasons behind Kaymu’s success in such a short time. They follow some strategies and they do not compromise their strategies in any mean. The reasons are;

• Aggressive Marketing by Kaymu: Kaymu has a policy of aggressive marketing. Each and every week they are investing a huge number of money in marketing. Because of the extensive marketing, the order of Kaymu is increasing each day. 2 months ago average sale of Kaymu Website everyday was around 500-600 orders. Today the average sale per day is around 900-1000 orders.
• Kaymu is investing behind marketing to generate orders and the ratio of the investment with generating orders is impressive. Kaymu is seller oriented and they try to increase the brand awareness of the sellers. Sellers name is always mentioned in Kaymu Social Media ads or the Newsletters.
• Cost effective and less hassle: The sellers of Kaymu can enlist their products on Kaymu website free of charge. There is no need to pay any fee to maintain a Kaymu account. Kaymu sellers get free promotions of their products through Kaymu. Sellers focus on giving products, details and pictures and Kaymu handles the uploading and marketing the products. Since there is no fixed cost, there is no risk involved.
• Sales Analytics: Through Sales analytic, Kaymu determines the traffic on their website, they can get the individual store visitor counts. From the data, they inform the sellers about their e-stores time to time.
• Other Support: Different Kaymu teams are supporting the sellers each and every moment. They practically trains the sellers to be able to utilize all the features of Kaymu website.

Analysis of Kaymu Bangladesh

I have tried to analyze Kaymu Bangladesh’s market prospects and feasibility of Kaymu in terms of competition, challenges faced, customer base and overall industry analysis. The financial analysis of Kaymu was not properly done because of lack of financial information due to confidentiality issues. The data I acquired was enough to give me an idea of Kaymu’s future financial prospects too.

Feasibility Analysis

In studying the feasibility analysis, I have given an overview of Bangladesh e-commerce industry, the major players of the e-commerce industry, the role of Facebook and other social media. The online sellers and buyers and the challenges will also be measured.

Overview of E-commerce Industry in Bangladesh

The internet revolution has already begun in Bangladesh, and the Bangladeshi people are also using the internet with more authority day by day. The most popular form of using internet is Facebook. Bangladeshi people have becoming so addictive to this social media site, according to reports, right now, every single minute One Bangladeshi is opening a facebook account. Based on these, the Small and Medium sized enterprises started selling their products through websites. Then different websites, classifieds came to enhance the use of e-commerce. The e-commerce industry of Bangladesh is increasing exponentially. A huge number of e-commerce websites have emerged in last two years.

Major Players of E-commerce

Kaymu is an online marketplace where sellers sell their products to buyers through Kaymu website. Kaymu can be compared to physical marketplace, only difference is, in a physical marketplace, you have to visit different shops located at different floors for different products and in Kaymu website, you can visit different e-stores for different products with a click of the mouse.

Kaymu has some competitors who are also trying hard to grab the opportunity to get settled in this emerging market. OLX, Ekhanei, ClickBD, Akhoni, Bikroy, Rokomari are some of the other popular e-commerce websites who are also becoming popular.

OLX is an Indian online classified who are operating in Bangladesh since early 2013. OLX website can be used through internet and mobile applications. OLX allows its users to post free advertisements to sell their products. They are looking forward to getting revenues by streaming advertisements on their website.

Ekhanei is a free classified online advertisement website. Ekhanei is venture of Grameenphone Limited which is providing a mobile based online buying and selling platform. They are also generating revenue through advertisement streaming.

Bikroy is another online classified which is also providing a platform for the Bangladeshi people to buy and sell products for free.

ClickBD is the first e-commerce website of Bangladesh which started its journey in 2005. ClickBD is mostly used as a second hand product selling website. ClickBD now has 25 online stores along with its classified to provide its customers a wide range of product choice.

Comparison with the Competitors

If you try to compare between Kaymu and the other e-commerce website, first of all, you will find out that, most of the popular e-commerce websites are actually classified, where as Kaymu is an online marketplace.

In the classifieds, when the sellers post advertisement, they are not organized, but when someone is posting their advertisement on Kaymu, their advertisements are showing in one e-store under the seller’s name. If a buyer visits a product of a seller, from that very page he/she can see all the products from that seller.

In different websites, sellers cannot even check their orders from their account but Kaymu has provided them the one stop solution. From one account, Kaymu sellers can track all their sales and orders on a single platform.

Kaymu tries to satisfy its customers through the most unique product lines. People often visit Kaymu just because they have the most diversified product lines.

Financial Feasibility Analysis

Kaymu Bangladesh is a startup company which is being funded by the parent company Rocket Internet. Kaymu Bangladesh identified the break even period of three years. As they set their business model based on Ebay, it encourages small sellers to sell through a common online market based platform. Kaymu is generating revenue through the sales of products from its websites. Sellers sign a contract paper by agreeing on commission based sales. Those commissions from each and every sale from Kaymu website are earning money for the company. Since its inception Kaymu is ever growing. The way Kaymu is increasing its seller number and order number; I feel it would be a matter of time for this company to reach its break even.

Results and Discussion

As a venture of a hugely successful multinational company, Kaymu Bangladesh has been enjoying some added advantage over its competitors and at the same time it is also facing some challenges in operating their company in Bangladesh. The main problem occurs, most of the targets and strategies are made from Germany. As Bangladesh is quite different from a lot of countries, sometimes it becomes very difficult for the Bangladeshi employees to reach their targets.

Kaymu is also facing challenges in delivering the orders. Kaymu does not have dependable delivery partner except AIG express. Sometimes when the orders are a lot, then the buyers need to wait for the delivery of their products.

The stock of the products depend on the sellers, So if stock for one product from seller is out then Kaymu itself cannot restock the products by itself. Kaymu Business model does not support having product inventory so they do not have any warehouse to inventory the products of the sellers of their website.

Recommendation

To overcome the obstacles Kaymu need to change a few of their strategies a bit. The targets should not be determined from Germany as they do not have the proper market knowledge of Bangladeshi market.

Kaymu is expanding rapidly, it is high time that they open up branches in other major districts of Bangladesh.

Conclusion

Kaymu Bangladesh is one of the largest e-commerce website in Bangladesh and it has earned the reputation of top online marketplace of Bangladesh. It is constant in detection of business innovation and improvement. While working with the Sales Team, Kaymu Bangladesh, I experienced the work process of multinational company is a big achievement for me. Sales activities along with other activities has developed my practical knowledge and provided me a amazing experience.