eRetail in India to cross Rs 7000 crore mark: Franchise India's e-Retail Congress 2012

Indian online retail industry is slated to touch Rs. 7,000 Crore milestone by mid 2012. Retailers who have set up online businesses say that business has grown by leaps and bounds over the past two years, and continues to rise. Franchise India has teamed up a vision for the online retail industry. For the very first time, Franchise India, the pioneers of franchising fraternity along with UTV Bloomberg is organizing a two day mega show on Indian eRetail Congress 2012. The event is to be scheduled on February 20th and 21st 2012 at Hotel Claridges, Surajkund, Delhi from 10 AM onwards.

The show is organized by Franchise India and UTV Bloomberg as the co-presenters; Entrepreneur India Advisors being the knowledge partners. The co-associates are Ebay and Ferns and Petals. One Bazaar.com, Cartedge and mydala.com are the key associates. The supporting partners of the show are TIE and Indian Angel Network along with Indian Franchise Association ( IFA). The online media partners for Indian eRetail Congress 2012 are Adgully, Audience matters.com, Trade Briefs, The Paypers and Your Story.in, indiamart.com and B2B channels.com.

"The online retail industry is evolving to create a bright commercial ecosystem. With 100 million internet users supporting the e-revolution, the total number of transactions in India is set to take a leap from the present 8-10 million to 40 million by 2015. It has been observed that Tier-II & Tier-III cities are joining the eRetail revolution" opined by Gaurav Marya, President, Franchise India.

Everyone is craving for an eShare these days; the corporate are looking at the online market to multiply their presence. The existing small business players want to innovate their business by getting online and the startups are jumping towards the low risk opportunities of the virtual space. The ePIE surely has an opportune slice for all further adds Gaurav Marya.

India is set to become the third largest nation of internet users in the next two years with a large chunk of youngsters eager to adopt new technologies with rapidly changing lifestyles. The online retail industry in India is likely to be worth Rs 7,000-crore by 2015 due to easy availability of broadband services and increasing internet penetration, according to the industry report. There are almost 120 million internet users in India and looking at the 2020 vision it could reach to 1 billion if it continues to grow at this rate.

Experts believe India's e-commerce market is expected to grow from $10 billion in 2011 to $200 billion by 2020, as the number of Indians with Internet access expands eightfold, to 800 million, which figure was merely 4 billion way back in 2009. Furthermore, nearly $ 350 mn has been pumped into 40 e-commerce startups till the end 2011 compared to $ 43 million in 11 companies in 2009.

Indian eRetail Congress 2012 will constitute a CONFERENCE, EXHIBITION AND AWARDS. The two day CONFERENCE will bring together key policy makers, retail professionals, corporate, vendors & suppliers at both national and international level for deliberations and interactions that

would lead to share learning and knowledge, draw attention to best practices and promote innovation to capture consumer interest in the eRetail segment. The Congress is an opportunity to bring together ministers from telecom and IT industry, senior representatives of national government, trade bodies, retailers, suppliers, vendors, policy makers, investment groups and stakeholders of the retail sector. The EXPO is a platform to showcase a product or service in the eRetail, supplier and allied industry. A great opportunity to Explore, Benchmark and Network with the Decision Makers of eRetail service fraternity.

The AWARDS premium focus is to create recognition for various industry experts who are part of this affluent industry. The awards will create a platform for the Indian players to showcase their expertise and gain prominence in the international markets by acknowledging outstanding creativity, customer service that is on offer throughout India.

The topmost industry speakers addressing the show are Mahesh Murthy, Founder, Pinstrom; Vikaas Gutgutia, Founder & MD, Ferns N Petals; Pawan Gadia, CEO, Ferns N Petals; Muralikrishnan B, Country Manager, eBay India Pvt Ltd ; Paul Shoker, CEO, benefitsPLUS; Umang Bedi, MD, Adobe Systems; Cory York, Founder and CEO, Social Linked Digital Commerce; Gaurav Kachru, CEO, dealsandyou; Shailen Amin, CEO, Bestylish.com; Vinay Gupta, Founder and CEO, Via.com; Nitin Padmawar, Director- Technology, Martjack; Puneet Kumar Bhatia, Director - Internet Business Solutions, Cisco; Mohanjit Jolly, MD, Draper Fisher Jurvetson India; K Vaitheeswaran, Founder & CEO, Indiaplaza.com; Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Groupon India; Sundeep Malhotra, Founder & CEO, HomeShop18; Nikhil Raghavan, Principal, Bain Capital Advisors (India) Pvt. Ltd; Satya Prabhakar, President and CEO, Sulekha.com; Ajay Kelkar, COO, Hansa Cequity; Manish Vij, Founder, Vun Network; Pavan Duggal, Advocate Supreme Court of India & Cyberlaw Expert; Ruchir Punjabi, Managing Director, Langoor (Australia); Vivek Nayak, Chief Operating Officer, Avenues India Pvt Ltd; Ms. Ishita Swarup, Founder and CEO, 99labels Private Limited; Prabhuram R, Co-Founder & Execetive Director, EBS; Amrish Rau, Vice President and Country Manager, First Data; Amanpreet Bajaj, Co-Founder & COO, Letsbuy.com ; Sanchit Gogia, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research India ; Himanshu Singh, Managing Director, Travelocity India; Vivek Sharma, Sr. Vice President, Rediff.com India Ltd ; Abhishek Chakraborty, Executive Director, DTDC; T. S. Ashwin, Managing Director, ODYSSEY INDIA LIMITED; Peyush Bansal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Valyoo Technologies; Ambareesh Murthy, Founder, Pepperfry ; T. A. Krishnan, Vice President-North Region, Blue Dart.

The platform will engage the listed exhibitors: Ebay India pvt. Ltd; Gitanjali Jems; EBS; Salmon LLC; Xebia; Ferns and Petals; Vinove; mydala (Kinobeo); Cosmic Retail; RewardPort (travel port); Ozonetel and many more.

About the organizer, FRANCHISE INDIA: Franchise India is Asia's largest integrated franchise solution company since 1999, with an absolute authority on Franchising, Licensing, Retailing, Real estate and Marketing. The company has consulted several major brands over these years like Sbarro, Peter England, Barista, Booster Juice, Videocon, Perfect Wellness, Satya Paul, Bwitch, HCL, MGF, Quality Walls, Tata, Gitanjali, HSBC, Levis, JK Tyres, Lakme, D'damas, Adidas, Euro Kidz, The Apollo Clinic, Chhabra 555, Kidzee, Motilal Oswal, Rosebys, Next, Welhome and more, through media, advisory and exhibitions. With its strategically formed divisions, Franchise India has created its own niche as the pioneers of franchise industry and a small business authority.