Advantage firstcry.com

Recent PWC study on ecommerce in India pegs the size of eTail market at USD 6 bn in 2015. The study indicates that books, apparel and accessories & electronics are the largest selling products through eTailing, constituting around 80% of product distribution. As per the study, innovative ventures by home grown companies anda significantly low (19%) but fast-growing internet population of 243 million in 2014 are among the key factors that would have a positive impact on the growth.

Interestingly, when talking about the demographic profile of Indian online users, study reveals that  25-34 year olds are the largest group of online users at 38%, followed by 15 to 24 year olds at 37% (Source: Statista website accessed on 9 Dec 2014).

25 to 34 years, even more interestingly, happens to be the age when most people become first time parents. Late working hours, responsibility of a new baby, unwillingness to take the little one in crowded malls and shopping areas, makes shopping for the little ones online an attractive preposition. And that’s what firstcry.com banks on.

Talking about the huge potential of the market, Anuj Jain, Sr. Vice President, Marketing Firstcry.com,states, “There exists a tremendous scope of growth as the demand for quality baby products in India is growing steadily creating huge opportunity for us to thrive in this sector. India produces 25 mn babies every year and presents a very large $10bn USD market size. Our over 125 offline stores in particular are doing very well on kids clothing. The market is massive and largely unorganised. Any sensible step taken to win over a customer works.”

Founded in 2010 and with 100+ vendors on board and a private label of its own – firstcry has been making steady inroads. However, the website has now decided to take its marketing campaign a notch higher by launching a TV commercial starring Amitabh Bachchan. The reason is obvious: MrBachchan’s unflinching celebrity status, his reputation and his immense affection for his grand-daughter. Jain elaborates, “It was important for FirstCry to have a multiplier effect on creative cut-through as well as media impact and therefore we wanted to have a celebrity of stature. Mr. Amitabh Bachchan was a natural fit with the brand because he is known to be a doting grandpa and is tech-savvy, being the first celebrity to adopt social media and continues to be very active digitally. The fact that his stature brings in a lot of credibility goes without saving.”

(Click here to view the commercial created by Lowe Lintas. Maxus is the AoR on the account) https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=887088391356780&set=vb.103916143007346&type=2&theater” 
One wonders, why did firstcry.com wait for four long years before launching a high decibel media campaign, when global giants like amazon.in have already made huge inroads both in terms of perception and customer base. However, the niche eTailer believes that it is critical to setup pipelines first so that no dissonance is created among customers. Talking about the brand marketing strategy so far, Jain states, “We have been focused on performance marketing which is largely driven by online marketing and the FirstCryGiftBox program. The FirstCryGiftBox program gifts free boxes containing baby products across 7800 hospitals and reaches more than 1 million new parents every year. This is a very high reach, highly targeted marketing program that has been in operation for over two years now.”

Firstcry.com has successfully created an ecosystem in the niche and plans to further structure it extensively and make parenting a joyful experience. It now intends innovating, improving and adding value at each step of customer experience.

debarati(@)adgully.com

Marketing
@adgully

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