Nearbuy

nearbuy (earlier Groupon India) is a pan-India online marketplace platform (with Groupon as a minority stakeholder now) that allows customers to connect with local merchants and engage with each other across 33 cities in India. As a business, it allows customers to Discover, Buy and Save on these local merchants.

nearbuy operates in the $26Bn Services Retail market in India, comprising

• Food & Beverage
• Beauty & Wellness
• Movies & Events
• Things to do
• Hotels

Incorporated in May 2010 as Groupon India Private Limited, the company operated as a 100% subsidiary of Groupon Inc until August 2015, when it went through a management buyout and in the process changed its name to nearbuy,^[1] after successfully raising USD 20Mn (about INR100 crores) funding from Sequoia India,^[2] an arm of a Menlo Park, California-based venture capital firm, Sequoia Capital.

nearbuy has Ankur Warikoo as the Cofounder & CEO, alongwith 5 other founders.

History

Early History

Groupon was incorporated in India in May 2010 by acquiring SoSasta.com (a deal website), then changed its name to Crazeal (short for Crazy Deal) because the domain name and trademark they wanted (Groupon) had already been taken by someone else in India. Eventually, after winning a legal battle, the company rebranded itself to Groupon India in 2013.^[3]

When it started operations in India as Crazeal in 2011, it featured one daily deal on the best things to do, see, eat and buy across 10 cities in India. The top 3 players in the Indian deal-buying space at the time were Snapdeal, Dealsandyou and mydala, with SoSasta a distant fourth, according to a comScore study.^[4]

Management Buyout

In August 2015, Groupon India went through a Management Buyout to create an independent entity named nearbuy.

In the words of the then CEO of Groupon India and current CEO and co-founder of nearbuy, Ankur Warikoo, "We feel the path (Groupon) India will follow to become a leader in local commerce may not be one that Groupon follows globally." ^[5]

A similar sentiment was earlier echoed by Groupon Inc.’s interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Brian Kayman, “India, like Korea, is a fast-moving and competitive market that we believe will need significant investment to fully unlock value.”^[6]

After the rebranding of nearbuy in August 2015, Groupon became a minority stakeholder in nearbuy India’s operations. The new entity (nearbuy) has one member each on its board from Sequoia India and Groupon (aside from Ankur Warikoo representing the nearbuy founders).

Post August 2015

After its 2015 rebranding, nearbuy focused on moving from the Groupon technology to the inhouse nearbuy technology. Ever since that happened in February 2016, nearbuy has doubled its merchant coverage (by twice, since August 2015) while releasing new platforms for customers and merchants.

Business

Business Model

nearbuy does not charge anything from merchants for listing their services on the platform. Once they list the services, consumers prepay for these services. After receiving full payment from a customer, nearbuy keeps its commission and transfers the balance amount to the merchant after the product or service is availed.

The commission is 15-16% at an average, and it ranges from 2% to 25% based on the merchant popularity and categories.

Geographic Markets

As of May 2016, nearbuy operated in the following cities (33) in India:^[7]

Competitors

Some of nearbuy's direct and indirect competitors in India include:

• deal find
• Little App
• Timesdeal
• DealsandYou
• MyDala
• Fasdeal

Financials

nearbuy's major stakeholders in India include:

• Sequoia India – majority stakeholder with an investment of USD 20 million (about INR 100 crores)
• Groupon, Inc. – minority shareholder (figures not available)
• nearbuy co-founders – promoters in India – (figures not available)

nearbuy Mobile Application

nearbuy's mobile app works on smartphones (Android and iPhones) and is available for download via Google Play Store and iOS App Store.^[8]

As of October 2016, the Android and iOS nearbuy app contributes over 65% of the total revenue, while mobile web contributes around 7%.

nearbuy Promise^[9]

nearbuy states on its website that it backs every sale with a no-questions-asked refund in the following conditions:

• the purchase fails to live up to a customer’s expectations
• the purchase expired before it was redeemed
• the buyer changes their mind after purchasing a coupon

nearbuy Merchant-Facing Applications

nearbuy Merchant Centre^[10] website allows enlisted merchants to offer deals and update deal-related information in real time.

Awards & Recognition

Awards – 2013

The company won 4 awards from World Brand Congress, an independent not-for-profit body.

• Marketing Campaign of the Year – 2013^[11] (The Great Onion Deal)
• Digital Marketer of the Year – 2013^[12] (Sachin Kapur, CMO)
• Brand Excellence in E-Commerce and Internet Sector^[13]
• 50 Most Talented CMOs of India^[14] (Sachin Kapur, CMO)

Recognitions – 2014

• Fortune India’s 40 Under 40^[15] (Ankur Warikoo)
• Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award – Most Promising Category^[16] (Ankur Warikoo)

References