When Abha Mahajan sought quality children's accessories and products for her new born, she found a gap between what she wanted and what was on offer. Then was born a new business idea and The Pipal came about. This e-store offers a variety of interesting products for children. Read on to hear the interesting thoughts and story of Abha here today,
How did the idea of 'The Pipal' come about?
Living in a Tier II city(Chandigarh) it was difficult to find good quality kids products, specially furnishings and accessories, when our son was born in 2007. My husband Anuj and I realized the market potential for the same. What started as an experiment to decorate our son's room keeping in mind his interests and our tastes quickly snow balled into a company that catered to a market that had no online sellers at the time (2010). We wanted to design and create the perfect fantasy for babies and kids. Our USP is personalization! Customers can add a name or words of their choice on any product to make it special and one-of-a-kind. The reaction of a happy client thrills us and is the driving force of the Little Pipal team.
What are the greatest challenges of running an e-commerce platform?
Logistics and on-time delivery, technical expertise is required for running an e-commerce store - running the website, payment gateway, social media for advertising etc, updating and upgrading technology continually.
What are the top 3 marketing tips that help you achieve your targets?
Professional product photography and presentation.
Targeted advertising on social media backed up by market research.
Highly responsive Customer Care.
What are the short-term plans for your business?
We now focus on wew products and designs and m-commerce.
Any words of advice for other women entrepreneurs?
There is nothing tougher than running your own business - taking risks, making decisions, failing, succeeding...but at the end of the day there is nothing more satisfying either.