Business & Commerce, Winners 2016:
innovative services | security | finance | marketing
1. m’REAP & d’LITE
ORGANISATION: Netree E-Services Pvt. Ltd. URL: http://www.netree.in/
COUNTRY: India LANGUAGE:English EMAIL:p@netree.in
A cloud-based retail business networking platform
Today, retail supply chain, especially manufacturers in India, lacks critical insight on end customers, inventory, consumption trends and top sellers. Digital technology, however, gives those in the chain a magic wand to access information related to these areas in near real-time to use it as a powerful tool for planning, strategising and effectively conducting operations along the value chain.
Netree has created the world’s first ecosystem where all handlers of the retail industry, right from manufacturers to last-mile retailers, are connected and engage directly for an extremely simplified yet intuitive experience.
Mobile Retailers Engagement and Productivity (m’REAP) solution is a centralised multi-homing mobile and cloud-based retail business networking platform that enables related stakeholders to connect and engage for business transactions. The platform has Point-of-Sale (PoS) functionalities incorporated, which helps retailers engage with suppliers and customers in real time while improving their productivity in the areas of sales, inventory and profits.
With 14 million registered retailers and 20 million unregistered retailers, 93 per cent of India’s $950 billion retail market is controlled by small and medium retailers. Keeping this in mind, Netree has developed the all-in-one POS device that has all required functionalities for a store on one platform. Netree has, thus, built a unique model of technology to empower small and medium retailers of India and other developing countries.
So how does m’REAP work? A retailer is required to install d’LITE — the all-in-one SmartPOS machine — or can download the software on a tablet; and set it up for a particular business vertical such as pharmacy, books, clothing and electronics, among others. Relevant products and services are then downloaded on to the device from the cloud as a template. At the same time, an online store is created for the retailer.
The cloud provides an API or Web interface for suppliers and other stakeholders in the chain to connect with the stores and engage in an integrated delivery system for product distribution. This API allows the suppliers and the manufacturers to get a clear visibility of the stores in their chain, product movement and stock data. Meanwhile, updates on available new products in the market remains Netree’s responsibility, thus eliminating the need for retailers to submit periodic updates on new product releases.
When there is more than one supplier available for a particular product, it is often difficult for retailers to know about the different pricing of all the different suppliers. However, this gap has been bridged by Netree with the help of technology. Netree has designed a special algorithm for its clients that allows technology to take over the decision of choosing a supplier when an order needs to be placed.
Through its efforts, Netree aims to develop Internet technologies that would improve the effectiveness and efficiency of business transactions in the retail industry by connecting all stakeholders in the ecosystem via one common platform.
2. Share At Door Step
ORGANISATION: Share At Door Step URL: www.sadsindia.org
COUNTRY: India LANGUAGE: English EMAIL: anushkajain@sadsindia.org
Happiness at your doorstep
Share at Door Step (SADS) is a donation pick-up service for individuals who wish to make non-monetary donations or partner with brands for Cause Marketing Initiatives. There are plenty of great platforms to donate money to charity but practically no platform devoted to non-cash donations. Hence, donors often simply dispose of potential reusable items. SADS bridges the gap between donors and NGOs, thus making sure that nothing reusable is wasted.
Those wishing to make a contribution through the channels of SADS can simply schedule a pickup via the official website; and be assured that the collected items will reach a person in need.
The idea of SADS was coined when its founder, Anushka Jain, noticed a huge gap between charitable organisations and donors. As a child, Anushka saw her mother donating clothes and toys to NGOs every year on her birthday and wondered why it was just an annual act and not a regular activity. She assumed that her mother was either too busy or too lazy. However, the real reason was that there was hardly any easy and accessible way to make non-monetary donations — donors are often unsure of NGOs’ requirements, don’t find it convenient to drop the items off at the collection point or just don’t trust.
To overcome these barriers, SADS was launched. At present, SADS supports more than 100 NGOs through its pick-up services; and has through its efforts — and engagement with 40,000 individuals and five corporate partners — managed to spread the joy of giving to more than one lakh people.
SADS aims at building an environment where corporates believe in social responsibility. It sees cause-related marketing as an important tool for building a better society and progress of a responsible and profitable company.
3. Giskaa
ORGANISATION: Catena Technologies Pvt Ltd URL: http://www.giskaa.com/
COUNTRY: India LANGUAGE: English EMAIL: m.singh@giskaa.com
An online store bringing forth the lifestyle and culture of North East India
Giskaa is an online shop that focuses exclusively on promoting eco-friendly, organic and natural products. The eCommerce venture focuses on promoting skilled artisans, craftsmen and suppliers from North East India by making their unique and eco-friendly products reach mainstream India.
Launched in March 2015, Giskaa targets to soon move from the list of the country’s top three to become the most trusted and premier brand in the eco lifestyle space. Giskaa persistently strives to promote healthier and sustainable lifestyle among its customers through the promotion of environment friendly and natural products.
The motivation behind Giskaa has been to make the eight north-east Indian states’ unique food and beautiful handicraft reach the rest of India through its engagement with more than 100 artisans and product suppliers. So far, Giskaa has shipped more than 3,000 orders across the country.
Every month, at least Rs. 5 lakh are pumped into the North East via product purchases, impacting the livelihood of hundreds of households in the region. A major chunk of this income goes to a remote village called Nungbi Khullen in Manipur from where the extremely popular black pottery items are sourced.
GISKAA stands on three foundational pillars — health, environment and society. Every product that is promoted is reviewed and rated based on a comprehensive system that uses specific parameters to measure its impact on health, environment and society. This gives an eco-friendly/natural score to the product, which is published on its sales page.
Further, its gamification feature called Green Rewards, which awards customers reward points for every natural product they buy, encourages the purchase of eco-products.
With more than 6,000 unique products on the platform, Giskaa is today India’s largest online shop for organic and natural products; and it is deeply rooted in the principle that individuals hold the key to change in their hands.
Special Mentions 2016:
NE-Fresh Online Auction System
ORGANISATION:Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, CDAC, Kolkata
URL:https://eauction-neramac.in COUNTRY: India LANGUAGE: English
EMAIL: goutam.saha@cdac.in
On-line auction management system
The NE-Fresh online auctioning system has been developed by C-DAC Kolkata for the use of NERAMAC under the Ministry of Development of North East Region. This flexible solution supports lot-based online auctions of major north eastern crops, spices and fruit such as large cardamom, pineapple, jackfruit, kiwi, passion fruits, citrus, ginger and turmeric, among others.
The system has been designed to ensure its scalability to support both a large number of auction-able items and bidders in an active auction. The online auction system allows users to browse through lots and place bids using a user-friendly interface and secure server.
The web-based eAuction system has been developed to overcome shortfalls of a manual auction system that was run by NERAMAC; and replace it with an online auction management system for buyers and sellers to come together over Internet and trade fruits, crops and other agricultural produce without the need to be physically present for the auction in the eight north eastern states. Through a system of easy accessibility, transparency in price and global market outreach, the platform prevents buyers from engaging in or with trade cartels. At the same time, a better traceability and fair pricing for farmers is ensured by the platform, besides systematic consolidation of data across the platform.
The e-Auction system consists of a Web portal where users can register, propose new auction, place bid on existing auction, interact with other bidders and receive related news via e-mail. To ensure authenticity and credibility of users, the registration process is integrated with a secure pre-confirmation step. At the backend, the system is realised with a three-tier architecture that includes a relational database of information regarding items, users, auctions and categories of auction; an application server that cares about the business logic of the system; and a presentation layer that allows users to interact with the system.
The centralised e-Auction system is deployed in all eight north eastern states; and supports farmers/producers in the region who receive fair remunerative for their produce. This way, the initiative does not only bridge the gap between farmers and the market but also enhances the agricultural, procurement, processing and marketing infrastructure of North East India. The initiative aims to benefit more than 1.7 lakh farmers and traders in the North East through NERAMAC.