Naaptol
Naaptol is one of the leading home shopping companies in India that sells various products in categories ranging from apparel, electronics, home furnishings, kitchen appliances, furniture, etc. Naaptol is an alternate retail platform that is present across various forms of media to cater to a wide audience across the country. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
History
Naaptol was started by founder and CEO Manu Agarwal, an IIT Kanpur alumnus in January 2008 as a product research and price comparison service. This website would let you compare the pricing of as many as 10 products to make an informed purchase decision. It also listed the details of local sellers. In 2009 it adapted the marketplace model and stated selling products online but unfortunately in June 2013, Naaptol was caught red handed in selling Chinese products of Rs.200/- for Rs.2000/- (After discount Rs.500/-) and legal officials seized goods of Rs 1.26 crore in this raid.
Business Model
Naaptol follows the marketplace business model wherein it facilitates online and offline sales of third party products to its customer base, in addition to handling the customer service. In other words, it provides a platform for merchants and sellers to sell their products through Naaptol so that small-time merchants/sellers can reach out to a wider customer base and customers enjoy great value-for-money products.
Finances
In the initial stage, Naaptol started with a seed capital of Rs.50 lakhs. Later in 2009 it expanded as an online marketplace and started offering products to purchase online. With this slight tweak in the business model, Naaptol shot up its turnover to Rs. 10 Crore (2009-2010) from Rs. 1 Crore in 2008-2009.In 2010, naaptol started investing in Print Media and increased its print media market share by 0.3% with top 3 position for two consecutive years. Henceforth in 2014, it facilitates transactions worth Rs. 3 crore every single day. The company services more than 11,000 orders every day.
Multimedia Operations
Naaptol has raised funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Canaan Partners and Silicon Valley Bank during its journey since 2008 and launched a niche shopping website called Naaptol Club. By 2010, Naaptol ventured into print media and increased its print media market share by 0.3% securing a position of top advertiser for two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010. It has been among the top 3 advertisers in 2011 and 2012 as per the ET TAM Adex report advertising in more than 60 print publications. In 2012 the company started showcasing its products through broadcast media and was the first home shopping company to use 60 Sec. spot advertising back then. Naaptol today advertises in around 35 broadcast publications. Naaptol with its network of delivery partners provides its services in all states and union territories across India. It is the only company in its category that uses the services of India Post for deliveries of their orders.
Exclusive Product Launch
In 2014, Naaptol collaborated with the well-known mobile technology company Swipe Telecom to introduce into the market the latest model of the Swipe Konnect series of Smartphones - the Swipe Konnect 4E.
Awards and Recognition
2014 - Naaptol won the “Retailer of the Year” award given by the Asia Retail Congress in the category of online shopping and e-commerce. Naaptol.com beat six other competitors in the category to emerge as the winner.1
2014 – Manu Agarwal, CEO Naaptol.com received “Entrepreneur of the Year” at Entrepreneur India Awards organized by Franchise India Magazine.
2014 - Naaptol bagged the ISO 9001:2008 certification for excellent quality management system – 2013 and the ISO 10002:2004 certification for excellent customer complaint management system. 2
2014 - Naaptol won the “Most Innovative eRetailer Award” at India e-Retail Awards organized by Franchise India Magazine.3
2013- Mr. Agarwal was bestowed with the “Most Admired Entrepreneur Award” by ABP News Brand Excellence Awards hosted by the World Brand Congress.4
2013- Naaptol is in the List of lowest priced mobile stores, compiled by e-commerce observer Zoutons.com with Average Discount Percentage (ADP) 0.91.
2012 – Naaptol was awarded the “Hottest Internet Company of the Year” at CNBC TV18 Young Turks Awards. 5
2011 - Naaptol was conferred with "New Brand Award" by Star News