Module Title: Industr y Project

FIRSTCRY.COM

Comparative study between FirstCry and Hopscotch Business Models

INDUSTRY PROJECT

SUBMITTED TO:

PROF. NEERAJ PAUL

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

PEARL ACADEMY

IN FULFILLMENT OF THE POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN FASHION

BUSINESS

(MARKETING & MERCHANDISING)

SUBMITTED BY:

MALVIKA SINGH CHOUHAN

ROLL NO.- 5000007820

2016-2018

PEARL ACADEMY

DESIGN|FASHION|BUSINESS

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 1
 Module Title: Industr y Project

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this Industry Project is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and
belief, it reproduces no material previously published or written, nor material that has been accepted
for the award of any other degree or diploma by any educational institution, except where due
knowledge is made in the text.

Name- Malvika Singh Chouhan

Date- 1st May 2018

Place- Mumbai

Signature-

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 2
 Module Title: Industr y Project

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank Pearl Academy, Mumbai for providing us with the platform to conduct the study
and all the faculty members for their guidance. The work is an original document and any references
taken from other sources have been duly acknowledged.

I would also like to thank Miss. Preeti Agnani, Premium Team Manager at FirstCry.com for her help,
patience and the valuable information given by her.

Lastly, I would like to give a warm thanks to our family, friends and fellow classmates for their
undying support and guidance when we were at a standstill. This project is dedicated to them.

NAME OF FACULTY SIGNATURE

Mr. Neeraj Paul

Mr. Anurodh Agnihotri

Ms. Indrila Varma

Mr. Ketan Chande

Ms. Falguni Shah

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 3
 Module Title: Industr y Project

SOURCE- franchiseindia.com

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 4
 Module Title: Industr y Project

TABLE OF CONTENT-
 Research Proposal on FirstCry.com
o Introduction
o Products offered by FirstCry.com
o Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
o SWOT Analysis
o 5 Porter’s Analysis
 Buying Process
 PERT Activities
o PERT Chart
o GANTT Chart
 Brand Positioning
 Introduction to Hopscotch
 Business Models-
o FirstCry
o Hopscotch
 Products offered by FC and HS
 Comparison between FirstCry and Hopscotch Marketing
 FirstCry and Mahindra Retail consolidate Business
 Online to Offline experience- FirstCry
 Traffic sources and Distributions- Comparison between FirstCry and Hopscotch
o Ranking
o Traffic on websites
o Traffic Sources
o Engagement
o Traffic by countries
o Social
 Conclusion
 Reflective Writing
 Referencing

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 5
 Module Title: Industr y Project

RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON FIRSTCRY.COM

INTRODUCTION-

FirstCry-

Parent Company- Brainbees Solutions Pvt Ltd

Sector- Online and Offline Retail Apparels, Baby products, diapers, toiletries and more.

Tagline- Celebrating the happiest cry ever.

USP- To provide variety of kids products in reasonable prices.

FirstCry was founded by Supam Mahreshwari and Amitava Saha in 2010.

FirstCry.com, an online and offline brand providing range of products for babies, kids and
moms, was born in 2010 out of a desire to solve Indian parents’ problem of not having
access to the best brands and products for their babies and kids. In these years,
FirstCry.com has emerged as the clear leader in its niche. The e-commerce company was
founded by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha in 2010. Being Asia's largest online
portal for baby and kids products, FirstCry.com has an inventory of more than 70,000 items
from over 700 top International and Indian brands like Mattel, Ben10, Pigeon, Funskool,
Hotwheels, Nuby, Farlin, Medela, Pampers, Disney, Barbie, Gerber, Fisher Price, Mee
Mee, etc.

FirstCry.com has the highest numbers of Stock Keeping Units (SKU’s) and they offer the
largest range of products. From maternity wear to accessories for nursery, diapers, cl othes
for kids till the age of 12, toys, school gear, prams, strollers, car seats etc, the portal offers
it all. FirstCry.com is like a megastore for parents

FirstCry.com works on a hybrid business model. So, apart from the online presence,
FirstCry.com also has over 100 franchise stores across India. FirstCry runs a unique
programme wherein the brand reaches over 70,000 unique parents each month by giving
out a FirstCry Box. Under this programme, free gift boxes are given to each new parent
across 6000 hospitals in the country as a token of congratulating them on the birth of their

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 6
 Module Title: Industr y Project

child. The box contains the basic necessities like diaper, lotion, oil, etc. fro m leading global
brands like Mamy Poko and Libero. FirstCry has already delivered 6 lakh boxes across
India and plans to reach 1.5 million parents soon.

With 70,000 items on inventory and tie ups with over 700 top International and Indian
brands, firstcry seems to be in a strong position to carve a niche.

While they have on-boarded 700 national and international brands, Firstcry also launched its
own private label. Babyhug is the apparel brand and CuteWalk is the footwear brand that they
have launched. Supam says, these two brands have good recall among its customers and
currently makeup for 20% of their revenues. Products sold under these two brands are a blend
of local manufacture as well as import.

Source- FirstCry.com

On the marketing and advertising front, Firstcry today doesn’t spend a single penny in mass
media advertising. While they did do normal TV and print ads in the beginning of their
journey, they realized it was a low return, high cost model. Today most advertising is through
word-of-mouth and some amount of online advertising. Firstcry had devised a unique
strategy of directly reaching parents-to-be through Firstcry Box Programme.

Products offered by FirstCry.com-

 Baby Clothes
 Kids Clothes
 Footwear

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 7
 Module Title: Industr y Project

 Toys, Books and School

 Diapering
 Feeding & Nursing
 Bath & Skin
 Health & Safety
 Gear & Nursery
 Moms & Maternity
 Birthday & Gifts

Source- FirstCry.com

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 8
 Module Title: Industr y Project

SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING-

SEGMENT- TIER
I to TIER III
cities.

POSITIONING-
Wide range of
Premium and
Non-premium
products.
TARGET GROUP- High
to middle income,
young parents who
are also online
shoppers.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 9
 Module Title: Industr y Project

SWOT ANALYSIS-

SWOT-

1.

1. It caters to niche segment which

1. 1,000,000 plus customer base and one of Asia's Largest is yet to develop fully in India.
Online Portal for Baby and Kids Products.
2. Collaboration with brands like Funskool, Farlin, Mattel, 2. Too much reliance on word of
Pampers, Disney etc.
mouth publicity can be a drawback
3.Increased sales and brand visibility by venturing into offline
mode of sale through its 100 stores in 85 cities. in a scenario when ecommerce
4. FC has acquired the franchise division of Mahindra Retail giants like Flipkart and Amazon
Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, which
owns online babycare business BabyOye for Rs.362.1 crore. have aggressive marketing
5. Concepts like “gift boxes” which it delivers to new mothers campaigns.
in collaboration with hospitals help in customer acquisition.
3. Weak in Advertisements.
SWOT
1. Competition from Hopscotch,
1. Expansion to other countries. Mom and Me etc.
2. Diversification to include home 2. Online competitors like
décor products. Sports products Hopscotch ,Me n Moms and
etc. BabyOye getting funding from
investors like Helion Venture
3. Strong focus expansion on its Partners, Velos Capital Partners
private label business called etc.
Babyhug can be very promising.
Table No. 2.1

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 10
 Module Title: Industr y Project

MICHAEL PORTER’S 5 FORCES ANALYSIS-

BARGAINING
POWER OF
SUPPLIERS IS
LOW.

BARGAINING
POWER OF COMPETITIVE
BUYERS IS RIVALRY IS
HIGH TO MODERATE
MODERATE MICHAEL
PORTER’S
5 FORCES

THREATS OF
THREATS OF
SUBSTITUTES
NEW ENTRY IS
IS LOW TO
HIGH
MODERATE

 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS IS LOW- Bargaining power of

suppliers will be low as there are hundreds of suppliers available in the market who
provides similar range of collections and with similar price points.
 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS IS HIGH TO MODERATE- Bargaining
power of buyers is high to moderate as there few competitors available in the market
who offer similar products in similar prices.
 THREATS OF SUBSTITUTION ARE LOW TO MODERATE- Talking about
substitutes available in the market, they can be the local retail shops. But FirstCry has
its own franchisee stores all over the country.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 11
 Module Title: Industr y Project

 THREATS OF NEW ENTRY IS HIGH- As there are only few other market
available who caters to the same market, threats of new entry becomes high.
 COMPETITIVE RIVALRY IS MODERATE- There are only few equal
competitors available in the market. So, the rivalry becomes moderate.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 12
 Module Title: Industr y Project

BUYING PROCESS (PREMIUM)-

1. Searching of new Brands on different platforms of social media.
2. Calling/Reaching out on mail and taking new vendor on-board (After looking at some
sample images of their existing or new collection).
3. Sending a greetings mail to the vendor including all the company, agreement and
business details.
4. Asking for all the vendor details, Bank details, signed agreements, GST no. etc/
simultaneously asking final/rough images of their first collection to review along with
the MRPs and Quantity.
5. Vendor and Brand Registration, Brand ID creation.
6. BUYING TEAM-
a. After reviewing and curating the collection to be made live, asking for the
final Line sheet in the given format, size charts and Final Images (if not shared
before). – Vendors can also get the photoshoot done at FirstCry which is
chargeable.
b. MAKING OF PO- After receiving complete details, preparing the range
which is here known as PO and forwarding it to the PO Team. PO format is
shared with all Buyers.
c. PO is sent to the PO Team on mail with complete details like- Vendor Name,
Brand name, Agreed Margin, GST, Images path and attached PO.
7. PO TEAM-
a. PO UPLOADING- After receiving the New collection PO, Size charts and
Final Images from the buyer, the PO is quickly scanned and checked by the
team and then uploaded in the system.
b. IMAGE TAGGING- 3 to 4 Hours later, image and size chart tagging is done
i.e. all images and size chart images are tagged with the group Product IDs.
8. IMAGE UPLOADING- All tagged images are sent to the image uploading team in
Pune HO by using FTP (file transfer protocol).
9. CONTENT/QC-
a. Content- After images are uploaded, the collection goes into QC and Content
section where the content is written for each style, colour and size.
b. QC- Eventually, Quality check for collection is done, where in any changes or
corrections are performed and then the collection is made live.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 13
 Module Title: Industr y Project

10. STOCK UPLOADING- Simultaneously with all the above activities, Vendor Panel
is created and vendor is provided with the access details and the training kit. After the
collection goes live, vendor finally needs to upload the stock/inventory through their
respective vendor panel.

NOTE- After the new collection goes live, we plan the boutique for the same along
with the Boutique Team (Boutique duration- 1 week) providing additional discounts
by FirstCry as a Marketing/Promotion activity so that the new collection and brand
gets more visibility and sale. The Margin includes all the Marketing activities,
promotions, Logistics, Packaging material etc.

PERT ACTIVITIES- (For a particular collection)-

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 14
 Module Title: Industr y Project

S.NO ACTIVITIES TIME CONSUMPTION

(NO. OF DAYS)
1. PO Processing- 3
1a Receiving collection, Images, 1
Size charts and line sheet.
1b Making of a PO 1
1c PO Uploading 1
2. Image and size chart 1
Tagging.
3. Image uploading 1
4. Content writing 2
5. QC 1

Table No. 4.1

PERT CHART -

Fig. No. 5.1

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 15
 Module Title: Industr y Project

GANTT CHART-

Fig No. 6.1

Table No. 6.1

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 16
 Module Title: Industr y Project

BRAND POSITIONING-

Fig No. 7.1

 FirstCry offers premium and high quality range of products and reasonable prices.
 FirstCry also offers marketing discounts which are totally bared by FC.
 Whereas, Hopscotch doesn’t have all the premium products with high quality.
 No discounts are offered by Hopscotch.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 17
 Module Title: Industr y Project

INTRODUCTION TO HOPSCOTCH-
Business Sulekha Nair Feb 27, 2016

Founde d- 2011

Founder- Rahul Anand

(Firstpost, 2018) Rahul Anand, 38, founder and CEO, Hopscotch.in, a discovery-based e-
commerce destination for moms, offering a wide range of curated children’s merchandise,
was initiated into business while still in school. Years later, looking back on his early
beginnings in the world of business, Anand is grateful for his interest in a family business
that his father was involved in deeply.

He went off to the US to do a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Operations and Mechanical

Engineering from University of Michigan and then felt 'compelled’ to do an MBA to be
equipped for an entrepreneurial career. “I was old at 30 years in class at Harvard Business
School,” he says,

Starting off working for a start-up after his MBA, Anand then worked as a Director with a
leading online portal for baby products based in New York – Diapers.com. The idea of
Hopscotch germinated while Anand was working with diapers.com. It was launched in
October 2012.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 18
 Module Title: Industr y Project

Identifying the need of Indian moms to provide the ‘absolute best’ for their children,
Hopscotch.in set up operation with the aim to make international standard merchandise and
variety accessible to mothers around the country.

The market size is estimated to be around $40 billion, of which a large chunk is unorganised.
Of this, apparel penetration is barely 2 percent online.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 19
 Module Title: Industr y Project

BUSINESS MODELS-

AND

FirstCry-

• Firstcry.com works on a hybrid business model. So, apart from the online presence,
Firstcry.com also has over 100 franchise stores across India. Firstcry runs a unique
programme wherein the brand reaches over 70,000 unique parents each month by
giving out a Firstcry Box.

Hopscotch-

• Hopscotch’s business model focuses on a Flash model where it sources products from
vendors in 40 countries. . The company has a boutique sale of selected brands that
lasts for three-seven days. It also has 70 in-house brands on the site. He feels one of
the reasons for the start-up’s success is that 20 new collections are put up every day.
“Moms are spoilt for choice,” Rahul says.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 20
 Module Title: Industr y Project

PRODUCTS-

FirstCry Hopscotch

Baby Clothes
Kids Clothes Baby Clothes
Footwear Kids Clothes
Accessories Footwear
Toys, Books and School Accessories
Diapering Toys, Books, Games and
Feeding & Nursing School
Bath & Skin Diapering
Health & Safety Feeding
Gear & Nursery Home
Moms & Maternity Kitchen
Birthday & Gifts

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 21
 Module Title: Industr y Project

COMPARISON BETWEEN FIRSTCRY AND HOPSCOTCH

MARKETING-
September 26, 2014

FIRSTCRY-

NEED GAP-
The Baby and kids industry in India is massive, with a large portion of it being untapped and
unorganized. There was a dearth of quality products and brands that were available in the
market. Apart from that there was a huge gap in the access that parents in smaller towns had
to quality baby products. We have been able to democratise availability and at the same time
we have made sure we create delight with our variety. We cater to the widest range of price
points in each category in order to provide for parents from all socio-economic profiles.

FIRSTCRY BOX PROGRAMME IS ONE THE BIGGEST MARKETING ACTIVITY

DONE BY FIRSTCRY.COM-

(Mishra et al., 2018) Firstcry.com has tied up with more than 6000 hospitals across the
country and has already delivered to 2 lac FirstCry boxes. Big hospital chains like Apollo,
Columbia Asia, Fortis, and well known maternity homes like Seven Hills in Mumbai,
Manipal in Bangalore, Paras Springs in Delhi, Ruby Hospital in Pune are all part of the
program. We have partnered with some of the world’s leading baby brands like Mamy Poko,
Libero and Chicco in making sure that new moms receive quality samples in a quality box.
The momentum at which we are tapping newer parents every month is unmatched.

FIRSTCRY LEVERAGED DIGITAL MARKETING TACTS FOR BRAND

AWARENEDSS-

 FirstCry’s Business Objective- The foremost objective of the company has always
been the best and safe products for the children of the world by being techno driven
and innovation centric and to create the ultimate eco-system for parents in India.
 Strategies adopted by FirstCry-
o Focus on Parents- It started with Brainvisa E-learning company (which is a
sister company of First cry) which focused on helping businesses around to

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 22
 Module Title: Industr y Project

increase the learning & training effectiveness by designing learning solutions

which again focused on defined business objectives.
o Digital Marketing Strategy- FirstCry designed and implemented the
technology-driven intricate material and order management workflow for the
smooth operations of the Hybrid Model. It focused more on Digital Branding,
Online Advertising, Content Management, Communities, Social Media
Frameworks, Mobile, Email Marketing, Videos, YouTube Marketing, Web
Experiences and Customer Experiences.
o Direct Marketing and Advertising Strategy- Firstcry did normal TV and print
ads in the beginning of their journey but they realized it was a low return and
high cost model. Then they adopted advertisement through word-of-mouth
and online advertising media.
o Social Media Marketing- To give a taste of online shopping to in-shop
customers, firstcry started installing 32” touch screens in its retail stores, so
that customers coming into their shops can also see what their online store has
to offer them.
 Internet Marketing- Building a high performing team for delivering products, SEO
and Web Analytics. On Page Optimization, Off-Page Optimization by maximizing the
visibility of client sites in the digital space, through the management of SEO, through
Keyword research, Competitor Analysis, Meta Tag Creation, Developing the Website.
Creating successful store-front landing pages. Cart, Loyalty Cash Programs, Online
Sales Return Cash Refund, Customer Profile, Reviews and Ratings, Baby Gear
Assembly.
 Promotion Management Modules- Online Reputation Management: Kiosk
innovations at First cry stores, is a very unique concept which acted like a catalogue
allowing customers to look through the 70,000 and above products on a 32 inch touch
screen in stores, order online instantly, and find the product available at the store in 2-
3 days. Thus the kiosks have enabled to increase conversion rate up to 10%.
FirstCry’s also had “Shop’n’Earn” Loyalty cash program and buying guides for
FirstCry.com
 Mobile Marketing- FirstCry capitalized on mobile growth by launching mobile
products like FirstCry.com mobile web, android & iOS Apps by posting messages

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 23
 Module Title: Industr y Project

like “Get everything your baby needs with new and intuitive FirstCry.com Android
App! Plus the ‘big store for little ones’, always handy on his mobile.”

RESULTS ACCOMPOLISHED BY FIRSTCRY-

Direct- to-parents strategy helped Firstcry.com to reach 60,000 parents every month.
Consistently growing at more than 100% growth rate and being the largest e-commerce
player with an Omni channel business model with a focus on mobile, physical store and web.
Improved conversion across SEM, Facebook, Remarketing, displayed by 15% to 40% with
high growth in visits.com received 10,000 daily visitors and had over 15400 fans on
Facebook. It initiated various contests for parents on Facebook. The firm, which delivered to
25,000 cities and towns in India, expected to do 1000 transactions per day in ne xt three
months. Firstcry built its portfolio from 100 SKUs in 2010 to 90,000 SKUs from 900 brands.
“Firstcry.com had an inventory of more than 90,000 items on its online platform. There is an
inventory of around 15,000 to 20,000 products in our offline stores.”
Facebook is the most engaging platform for the brand and it has witnessed over 517000 fans
over the platform. Its Twitter page has around 2100 followers.

LEARNINGS-

 Generate more sales from a mix of e-commerce and physical stores, which are run by
franchisees.
 Experiential marketing is very important.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 24
 Module Title: Industr y Project

INTERACTIVE KIOSKS AT STORES TO BOOST SALES- FIRSTCRY

December 8, 2014 02:39 by Sudipto Dey

FirctCry customers can request the store managers to order from the full online inventory -
comprising products from 600-odd Indian and international brands - of Firstcry.com with the
help of the touch screen terminals. "This has helped improve footfall in our stores," said
Supam Maheshwari, co-founder, Firstcry.com, adding that some of its store have reported a
20 per cent jump in footfall after the seamless integration of online and offline channels.

On the technical front, the interactive kiosk is being positioned as a business-to-business

online platform for its franchisee store owners. start-up follows a purely franchisee-owned
offline model. In some cities, the stores also act as delivery centres for those ordering online.

HOPSCOTCH-

In October 2012, Anand and Kennedy co-founded hopscotch.in. Every day, a different brand
is available at the website. The company has a boutique sale of selected brands that lasts for
three-seven days.

The company, which had initially tied up with 50 brands, now partners 500 and records
100,000 customers a month.

Business model-

All registered customers are sent mails on boutiques, or about 20 brand offerings, for a
period. Each boutique, available for three-seven days, includes global brands that aren't
available at stores in India.

GROWTH OPPURTUNITY-

Apart from buyers in tier-II and -III locations, the company also has individual buyers in
regions such as the US, Africa and China, though 90 per cent of its business comes from
domestic sales. Anand says tier-II and -III towns account for 30-40 per cent of the portal's
customers.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 25
 Module Title: Industr y Project

India records 27 million births a year, providing immense opportunities to companies in this
segment. The market for baby, kid and maternity products is estimated at Rs 42,000 crore
annually and growing 20-25 per cent a year.

- By M Saraswathy in Mumbai

Hopscotch has always seen about two-thirds of their sales coming from mobile devices and
this has always been continued to increase. India is a mobile-first country and there are more
mobiles than laptops here. Fortunately, from the very start they invested and built their
website to be mobile friendly, and so have never had to adapt it any further. Mobile will
continue to play an important role in Indian e-commerce going forward.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 26
 Module Title: Industr y Project

FIRSTCRY AND MAHINDRA REATIL CONSOLIDATE

BUSINESS-
MUMBAI, OCT 15

 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd said the franchisee division of its subsidiary Mahindra
Retail Pvt Ltd (MRPL) is being transferred as a going concern on a slump sale basis
for lump sum consideration of Rs 362.1 crore to Brainbees Solutions Pvt Ltd
(“Firstcry”).

 The franchisee division generates a turnover/ revenue/ income of Rs 16.43 crore,

aggregating 8.19 per cent of the turnover/ revenue/ income of MRPL, said Mahindra
& Mahindra in a notice to the stock exchange.

 In a joint statement, FirstCry.com (BrainBees Solutions Pvt Ltd) and Mahindra Retail
(BabyOye) said they have consolidated their business activities to create a dominant
presence in the baby and kids market in India.

 The merged entity will conduct its business under the brand name FirstCry.com, a
FirstCry Mahindra Venture.

 “A Business Transfer Agreement (BTA) has been executed by and between MRPL,
Firstcry and founder shareholders of Firstcry on October 15, 2016…The rationale for
the slump sale is to strengthen presence in the combined offline retail and online
environments in India’s baby and kids market,” it said.

 The notice said the consideration for the sale will be discharged by Firstcry by way of
issuance of equity shares aggregating Rs 354.6 crore and payment of Rs 7.5 crore in
cash.

 The statement said FirstCry has additionally raised $34 million of new equity capital
from the Mahindra Group, Adveq (a large private equity fund), Kris Gopala krishnan
and participation from all existing shareholders.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 27
 Module Title: Industr y Project

ONLINE TO OFFLINE EXPERIENCE-

By RAJIV BHUVA , May 5, 2015

(Fortuneindia.com, 2018) FirstCry started off at a dead run, not bothering with the crawling
and toddling stages. Launched in November 2010, the online retailer specialising in baby-
care and kids’ products lost no time in adapting the omnichannel model (then called the
hybrid model) to add an offline flavour to its online presence. Supam Maheshwari and
Amitava Saha, co-founders of Pune-based BrainBees Solutions—the company that runs
FirstCry—decided to run counter to the standard e-retailing model or the more conventional
route of starting offline and moving online. The intriguing backflip—from online to offline—
seems to have paid off. Now a handful of e-commerce sites, such as Myntra, Zivame,
CaratLane, and FabFurnish, dealing in popular fashion, lifestyle, home décor, and furniture,
have gone the FirstCry way.
The contrarian approach is all the more intriguing because when FirstCry launched, it was in
an environment of tremendous hype around e-commerce. By the end of 2010, India’s
consumer-facing e-commerce market was growing at a whopping 49.1%, and reached a
market size of $9.9 billion (Rs 62,538 crore) the next year. If ever there was a good time to
launch a niche e-retail company, this was it. But within seven months, Maheshwari and Saha
decided to branch out into brick-and-mortar.
“Online is convenient,” agree the co-founders, but in niche segments, the sweet spot often
lies elsewhere. “Convenience is one thing but going out with the family and shopping for kids
is something [entirely] different,” says Maheshwari, BrainBees’ chief executive.
Also, most customers take time to adapt to technology and the slow growth of online retail is
disappointing. Retail in India is a $500 billion industry, according to retail consultant
Technopak. Organised retail accounts for 8%, while digital is a mere speck at 0.5%. Now,
look at the segment itself. Estimated at $100 million in 2014, the online market size of baby-
care products is pegged to be $500 million by 2017, according to Nitin Bawankule, industry
director for e-commerce, classifieds, and entertainment at Google India. It currently accounts
for less than 2% of the $5 billion baby-care products market.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 28
 Module Title: Industr y Project

“Clearly, the opportunity outside e-commerce is huge,” says Maheshwari. FirstCry’s first
franchise store was opened in Bharuch, Gujarat, in June 2011. Today, the company operates
nearly 107 franchises across 85 cities (of which only 31 are tier I locations).

Most e-commerce players know by now that physical showrooms pay off, not just by
drawing sales (more than 90% of organised retail business takes place offline) but by syncing
online data with offline experiences and marketing strategies. Omnichannel has become the
latest buzzword as industry research suggests that customers opting for multichannel
shopping spend 3.5 times more than other shoppers. Today’s “connected” shoppers like to
walk into a store that already knows their preferences by analysing their online shopping
data, allows them the try-before-you-buy ritual, and lets them leverage the benefits of online
shopping on the spot—be it price comparison or inventory search.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 29
 Module Title: Industr y Project

TRAFFIC SOURCES AND DISTRIBUTIONS- Comparison

between FirstCry and Hopscotch-

RANKING-

TRAFFIC ON WEBSITES-

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 30
 Module Title: Industr y Project

TRAFFIC SOURCES- ON DESKTOP

ENGAGEMENT-

FIRSTCRY HOPSCOTCH

Total Visits 5.36M 4.62% Total Visits 2.11M 17.44%

Avg. Visit Duration 00:04:56 Avg. Visit Duration 00:04:15

Pages per Visit 5.83 Pages per Visit 5.84

Bounce Rate 26.74% Bounce Rate 50.86%

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 31
 Module Title: Industr y Project

TRAFFIC BY COUNTRIES ON DESKTOP-

FirstCry Hopscotch

Source- similarweb.com

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 32
 Module Title: Industr y Project

SOCIAL-

FIRSTCRY-

HOPSCOTCH-

Source- similarweb.com

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 33
 Module Title: Industr y Project

CONCLUSION-

 I would like to conclude that FirstCry and Hopscotch are two different models in the
same industry, hence doing well in different perspects.
 In terms of quality of products, firstcry has a better curated products available.
 Whereas, In terms of site visibility, Hopscotch has much attractive site than FirstCry.
 FirstCry has more number of trusted customers than Hopscotch.
 FisrtCry gives discounts whereas Hopscotch doesn’t.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 34
 Module Title: Industr y Project

REFLECTIVE WRITING-

MALVIKA SINGH CHOUHAN

PGFBMM- 5000007820

During my Industry Project at FirtCry.com for my course (PG Diploma in

Fashion Business), I have learned a lot. I have learnt how the professional world
works. At FirstCry, I got to learn about different aspects of Merchandising and
Buying. I was given many numbers of brands to deal with. Vendor management
was the challenging part for me.

Vendor meetings were also the parts of my project in which we got a chance to
meet our vendors and discuss and plan for the upcoming collections and
seasons.

At FirstCry, my jobs as a Buyer was to on-board new vendors and make every
collection live for the existing vendors. Vendors used to give us a new
collection every week and our work was to process them by going through
different stages of Buying.

I learnt how to prepare a range for a new collection in a standard format given
by FirtCry, train vendors how consolidate the whole data and send so that we
can prevent our time.

Invoicing was also a part of Buying in which we Buyers need to confirm the
monthly invoices by rechecking and recalculating payment for every product.
Once the Invoice is confirmed by us then it is being sent to the vendor.

I was supposed to fill up various trackers every time to maintain the decorum.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 35
 Module Title: Industr y Project

I also got a chance to meet up various industry people to learn from them and
also to go for different exhibitions held for Kids wear.

At last, I learned a lot and managed to give my best and perform well as a
professional.

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 36
 Module Title: Industr y Project

REFERENCING-
 Firstpost. (2018). There is more to life than numbers, says Rahul Anand, founder &
CEO, Hopscotch - Firstpost. [online] Available at:
https://www.firstpost.com/business/there-is-more-to-life-than-numbers-says-rahul-
anand-founder-ceo-hopscotch-2645600.html [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].
 Mishra, S., Khan, S., Mohapatra, A., Nair, N., Nair, N., Nair, N. and Nair, N.
(2018). FirstCry.com taps the market for baby care products with innovative
offerings. [online] PitchOnnet. Available at:
http://www.pitchonnet.com/blog/2014/09/26/firstcry-com-taps-market-baby-care-
products-innovative-offerings/ [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].
 Swami P., (2018). [online] Available at:
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/firstcry-mahindra-retail-
consolidate-business/article9224266 [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].
 Fortuneindia.com. (2018). FirstCry: Child’s play. [online] Available at:
https://www.fortuneindia.com/investing/firstcry-childs-play-/100413 [Accessed 25
Apr. 2018].
 more, S. (2018). hopscotch.in Traffic Statistics. [online] SimilarWeb. Available at:
https://www.similarweb.com/website/hopscotch.in#websiteContent [Accessed 25
Apr. 2018].

Name: Malvika Singh Chouhan

PGFB (MM)
2016-18 37