We would love to know your journey into the world of SaaS?
We had already been working on several international IT projects for various clients like GDGT, ClassPass, and RCRDLBL etc. even before StoreHippo was born. However, while working with them, we realized that except some customizations, the entire process was a mere repetition. This realization further made me think and evaluate the advantages of SaaS and thus the idea of building a turnkey ecommerce solution that could be customized easily for businesses of any scale and size was ignited.
How would you define the evolution of StoreHippo since its inception?
The growth of StoreHippo since its launch has been quite interesting and motivating. We have grown strength and strength in the past years. With each passing year, we have been successful in expanding our horizon. When we began, we majorly catered to SMEs and solopreneurs. However, at present, we are powering some of the biggest enterprise brands across the globe.
How has the ongoing pandemic affected StoreHippo – both in terms of business and no. of users?
The pandemic has definitely affected our business. Just like others, it was an unforeseen obstacle for us as well. However, we have been fortunate enough to be amongst the ones who saw positive momentum even during the pandemic last year.
Luckily, we recorded a significant growth within the range of 50-70% during that phase last year and we are expecting a similar growth for our business this year too. In fact, we have also managed to add some of the most renowned names from different industry verticals to our bouquet of clients.
- How do you think e-commerce will evolve? What trends would we see emerge out of our experiences during this crisis?
E-commerce industry has been experiencing an unprecedented growth since the past few years which further got accelerated with the onset of the pandemic. Owing to the pandemic, the number of online shoppers increased significantly as people preferred shopping from the safe confines of their home. This increasing numbers of online shoppers therefore present a huge growth opportunity for the e-commerce companies to explore and utilize as a key component for business growth.
With e-commerce at its peak, mobile commerce is also uniquely positioned to help industry players of all sizes manage their business more efficiently. Additionally, Headless commerce and technological integrations including Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are likely to drive the new wave of ecommerce with high focus on improved and exceptionally personalized UX.
What’s next from StoreHippo? Any new features that users should be looking out for?
We keep adding new features as per the business requirements of our clients on a regular basis. For the future as well, we are working on a bunch of features.
We are expanding our Enterprise Integrations with ERP systems and advanced OMS features for high volume merchants. We are also adding to our list of advanced reports and adding more channels to make the process flow seamless for our merchants.
How Ecommerce SaaS platforms are helping traditional D2C brands to beat the pandemic woes
India’s e-commerce industry is on the path of exponential growth with D2C selling expected to be the next big thing in the market. With competition intensifying every passing day and brands coming up with more advanced options, it is important for brands to fortify their D2C supply chain with logistics technology to fulfill dynamic customer expectations.
D2C e-commerce is an emerging Omnichannel trend among retailers across categories including apparel, electronics, FMCG, furniture, grocery, and lifestyle goods to name a few. These days, an increasing number of Indian retail brands are adopting the D2C strategy to sell and deliver merchandise directly to consumers without depending on any third party which is indeed helping them establish a strong presence in the industry.
Furthermore, with plug and play ecommerce solutions like ours, adopting D2C and reaching customers across various channels has become easier for the brands. Even with the new generation of multi-channel ecommerce, brands can easily focus on catering to the specific needs of their customers.
In simpler terms, with the right content and marketing and a good ecommerce solution, brands can keep their customers loyal and reach new markets which were earlier a little difficult to tap.
What are your views on the advent of new wave of m-commerce
M-commerce has been one of the most talked about trend of lately. With mobile apps, customers can be easily persuaded to buy more and can be targeted better with personalized offers creating a win-win situation for the retailers. Furthermore, mobiles have remained a constant companion for the people, even during the pandemic; thereby driving high sales for the brands.
Additionally, M-commerce provides sellers with a new marketing channel that makes sales possible in minimal time. With M-Commerce, brands can market their products with customized and highly personalized content that helps in getting better engagement, customer loyalty and retention, and expanded reach.
Hyperlocal which is now a prominent word in the ecommerce industry is one of the driving factors of this new wave of m-commerce. Furthermore, as m-commerce gains momentum, democratizes shopping and becomes a significant contributor in Omni-channel success, a “new normal” or second wave of mobile commerce adoptions will definitely be agitated.
How StoreHippo offers multiple choices through various payment options and helps in implementing customized checkouts?
StoreHippo offers 60+ integrated domestic and international payment gateways for its clients. Along with these StoreHippo also covers a full spectrum of agile payment methods which include Apple Pay, subscription-based payments, pay-later options, marketplace payments, UPI, wallets, offline payments, COD etc. Our clients can easily customize their checkout by using a combination of these payment methods to offer frictionless payment options to their customers. We also offer full support for multi-currency and location-based payment method selection.
