Jabong.com - a third eye view. Some good, some strange findings

Its a lazy Sunday morning and I was just sitting at home, having a cup of tea with Sunday Times. My roomie turned the television on among all crappy Sunday morning shows, one thing noticed my attention - All new online lifestyle store: JABONG.COM!

Lot of things have been written about current and future shape of e-commerce in India, and this subject being one of my favorite, I decided to do some 'khufiapanti'! While TV ad seems quite boring and uninteresting, they have managed to create a good looking product. Lot of options and filters to choose product of your choice. Messaging is simple: Free Shipping, Cash on Delivery, 30 day return policy and Free Hotline! Enough to excite an Indian online buyer.

Then I decided to go more deeper and check out some other facts about site. Name 'Jabong' means a tropical fruit. Neither logo, nor anything on site relates to Jabong fruit btw! I don't even know how many Indians would be knowing about this strange name. This led me to check traffic on site, and here are some interesting facts:

• Alexa traffic rank: 119 in India (now that's impressive!)
  
• 1.6 Mn Unique visitors / month
• 8.2 Mn page views
• More than 6 page views / visit

Some images for better understanding of traffic on site:

Site page views:

Site traffic details from Google Ad Planner:

Visitor Demographics (Alexa):

Well, everything is interesting about site traffic, isn't it? A lesser known weird name, in highly cluttered e-commerce market generates so much of traffic. I was surprised. I decided to check how much of this could be organic. I went on to check popularity of site on Google's organic search and found this:

• 'Jabong' keyword has very 'low' search volume and generates approx 8100 search queries on Google
  
• 'Jabong.com' is even lesser popular and generates approx 1000 queries on Google

I could not figure out exact % of organic traffic, but its clear that name 'Jabong' is not popular among people and visitors do not search for 'Jabong' on Google. So, where do they come from?

Well, here is a possible answer: Social Media!

I went on to check social presence of Jabong, and it was a sweet surprise!

• Staggering 192,138 'likes' on facebook!! However, none of those is my friend :-(
  
• 11232 followers on Twitter! Btw, none of these followers in my network, again!
  

This brand is definitely doing some wonders on social media! Its kind of silent penetration which nobody noticed till date. I also checked if Jabong has been covered by news portals. Google News search throws only 4 relevant news items, most of which including ET, Hindu Business Line and Tech Crunch covers Jabong as just another e-commerce portal. So, Where does this site get traffic from? Paid promotions?? May be.

This led me to check origin of site and and a quick whois check revealed that domain was created in 2004 and last updated on 9th feb 2012. Even traffic data shows minimal traffic before february. So, its clear that site started operating only in february. Now, if that's the case - getting 8.2mn page views within 2 months is a huge success!

I also landed on this linkedin page, clearly suggesting they launched site 2-3 months back:

Now I strongly feel that getting such numbers organically in 2 months is highly difficult... and if you get it, you must get covered by all technology blogs and news media for sure! Question is why isn't anyone talking about it?

Also, here is an interesting finding. Google search of 'jabong' results shows a negative review on mouthshut on first page of results (written just one day ago). mouthshut.com shows overall rating of 1 star, out of 4 ratings. People talk about poor service and bad experience.

So, site's quality and 'look n feel' is nice. Site traffic is impressive and growing exponentially. It has managed to get huge numbers on Social Media profiles as well! However, some facts and figures shows different picture. Also, their huge TV advertising campaign is supported by online campaign and that should be driving traffic for the moment.

It will be interesting to see how Jabong.com fares in long run. E-commerce is game of trust service and quality. Jabong.com has a long mile to catch up on these factors. While flipkart, ebay, snapdeal and infibeam of the world are enjoying leadership position, I would love to see how Jabong differentiates and establishes its connect with consumers. Surely, there is a market for everyone and its up to Jabong.com to leverage potential of it.

MeDigit News Pack

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HCP calling entrepreneurs

Highland capital partners (HCP), a VC firm from US is seeking potential student entrepreneurs to partner with. This is their 3rd annual summer entrepreneurship programme. Company's vision is to tap entrepreneurs at early stage. Nurturing young talent and making successful entrepreneurs.

This 3rd annual "Summer@Highland" programme is scheduled for 10 weeks. Budding entrepreneurs will get a chance to work on their business plans and they will be paid stipend. There will be an opportunity of receiving VC funding if your idea is proving results. And the best part is, you are under no obligation after summer.Teams can have up to 4 people and will be given the option of working in the VC firm’s Menlo Park, CA or Lexington, MA offices. Stipend amounts range from $7,500 to $15,000, depending on how many people are part of the team.

Follow these links for details:

HCP's site: http://www.hcp.com
Summer internship programme: http://www.hcp.com/summer
Apply here: http://www.hcp.com/summer/apply.php

Android powered HTC Magic to be launched by April

A tipster points out to Phandroid that the Vodafone website confirms the Android-powered HTC Magic, recently announced, is arriving in April.

More...

Flock ditches Firefox, moves to Chrome

Flock, a social focused web browser is one of most popular social web browser in open source firefox browser. As per news coming from TechCrunch, next flock will be built on Google's Chrome platform. Flock has achieved 6 Million number of downloads and USD 30 Mn funding within 3 years of operations. Popularity of Flock as a browser is very low and it doesn't have significant market share; even lesser than netscape.

The reasons speculated for this migration are: lesser attention by Mozilla to develop this browser any further and ease of operations with Google. However, recent comments from Flock CEO Shawn Hardin reads like this on Tech Crunch:

I was responding to your email from only a few hours ago when I saw your article. It’s important to clarify a couple of things. We haven’t ceased development efforts on the Mozilla platform. Our upcoming release of Flock 2.1 is built on the Mozilla platform. Having said that, the browser space is heating up, and we’ve seen a variety of exciting technologies emerge over the last several months that are appealing.

We always have and will continue to make architectural decisions that balance what’s best for our users and what’s best for Flock as a business. This has resulted in a healthy, growing user base and business for Flock, and we expect this to continue in 2009. In fact, with over seven million downloads almost entirely from word of mouth, Flock enjoys a highly satisfied user base with consistently over 92% customer satisfaction, very strong net promoter scores, and an average of four hours of usage per day.

With a continuing focus on user-centered browser innovation, our team is in active research and development on a range of exciting new enhancements to Flock. It is still far too early to comment on anything specific, but we are very excited about this design phase…

Microsoft launches AdNetwork in India

Microsoft launched its online ad network, DrivePM in India. DrivePM has already tied up with 25 indian websites and running 28 campaigns.

It is interesting to see many global giants entering online advertising market in India as the market is maturing. Online ads occupy very less share of advertising spend pie in India. Typical ratio is around 3-5.5 % compare to 10-20 % in matured countries.

http://www.alootechie.com/content/microsoft-launches-its-online-ad-network-drivepm-india

New Push SMS Services

After MyToday and SMS Gupshup, many new service providers are joining the crew by adding bulk push SMS services to their portfolio.
Aletrix, free SMS alert service from Spot On Media, a subsidiary of ValueFirst offers alerts on Career Tips, Cricket Trivia, Health / Fitness Tips and Inspiring Thoughts.

ibibo sms+, allows small businesses to send SMS at cost as low as 0.10 Rs. ibibo's rate card here.

SMS is generating revenues and also provides good setup for small, targeted and engaging advertising. I hope to see many other players in this arena soon!

Reliance to offer mobile stock trading

Volantis, wipro, reliance and religre have tied up to offer stock trading application via mobile. Stock trading will see new avatar as mobile stock trading is new for india. With 3G knocking the doors and stock trading becmoming prominant in India, this will bring radical shift in stock trading.

To download the application, you need to send MARKETS to 56636. Or else you can download this application using GPRS. RMoney.moby as they call this application will allow all reliance money users to directly login and trade through mobile. Though, this service is not active currently, people are waiting for it eagerly, says medianama.

Good news for indian music Bands

MyBand.co.in, website operated by nediaplus offers online community exclusively for Indian Music Bands. You can upload, share and sell music. You can announce events, interact with people and promote your band here! So, dear music lovers what are you waiting for??

This is second phase of social networking. What happens when one market saturates? Marketers tend to find a niche and design product around specific attributes. This is exactly what MyBand.co.in offers.

MeDigit News

Digital and media stocks update for last week. http://cli.gs/pVTTrp

Long awaited mobile number portability starts from August. Cheers, India! http://cli.gs/8z1jQH

An insight in to Social media usage pattern of Indians. Indians spend comparatively low time on SNS. Orkut Rules!! http://cli.gs/NGybXU

Oodle, classified aggregator service provider to power AOL classifieds. http://cli.gs/NBuqA4

Study: Local / Mobile search has now overtaken yellow pages. http://cli.gs/UjmBBa

MySpace mobile - readying to beat facebook on mobile front. Mobile social networks on a roll... http://cli.gs/7Zut48

Twitter and question of Identity. A psychological point of view - must considered by markets. http://cli.gs/HpbBNY

Facebook and twitter are generating news around. What's the gist and who creates news?? http://cli.gs/SnrZ2q

What will you do when social media is not social anymore?? http://cli.gs/znVt1q

Mobile update: 8 upcoming technology that will change our lives! http://cli.gs/7GYstg

MeDigit News

Another Google application to make your life better. Google Power Meter - designed to measure your home power consumption. Application is still in test mode and will soon be launched [http://cli.gs/z2gNZ9]

Social networks join pact against cyberbullying. This pact is expected to improve safeguards against abuse of any social network online. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29120870/]

Twitter - finally a new development on revenue generation front! I had posted before that something is wrong with twitter's revenue model... well, twitter is coming up with paid services for corporate. New features will be specially designed for businesses and will be charged!! [http://cli.gs/zLqW3m]

Find out what Microsoft still don't understand! [http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=3461]

Get ready for lower priced iPhone. $99 iPhone is scheduled to rock the market!! [http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/2/99-iphone-coming-this-summer]

Microsoft has picked up minority stake in mobile marketing firm Affle! Giant like microsoft taking interest in mobile marketing is surely a signal of mobile marketing becoming next big thing. [http://cli.gs/7VBBrj]

India on the way of Rural Revolution! State owned BSNL has started rolling out low cost Broadband connectivity for rural areas. The DoT has signed an agreement with BSNL to provide 8,61,459 connections to individual users and government institutions through rural and remote exchanges over a period of five years, i.e, by 2014. A good sign for Internet marketing industry! [http://cli.gs/2YdUbH]

LG mobile's marketing strategy... check out what's new. No one knows whether it will succeed or not. Worth reading I must say... [http://digital.afaqs.com/perl/digital/news/index.html?sid=23295]

3G launch in India by MTNL

Today starts a new chapter in India's mobile telephony sector. With 3G services soft launch in Delhi, MTNL has pioneered 3G services space in India. [Source: http://cli.gs/9qDh4S] With this, the most awaited and most anticipated chapter has begun and it will surely bring changes in the way mobile phones are being used in India.

Here is the snapshot of what you can do with 3G enabled smartphone:

• Video conference on mobile.
• High speed internet ranging from 256kbps to 2mbps accessible from mobile / computer.
• Various data related VAS like: Mobile TV,GPS, Online Gaming, Video Streaming, High speed downloads

For accessing the MTNL 3G `Jadoo Service` a user will have to pay a onetime activation charge of Rs 500 and, thereafter, a monthly rental of Rs 599, besides usage charges with regards to voice calls and data downloads, MTNL chairman and managing director R S P Sinha said while launching the service. [Source: http://cli.gs/7L86Rr]

Usage charges for this comes around 5 Rs/MB. Of course, this is significantly high pricing and not affordable for large group of people. However, I would say that despite high pricing, 3G will find its usage in mobile telephony and will surely be a successful in India. High speed internet mobility is major problem for many of us and 3G is there to fill this need gap.
While 3G promises various advantages and promises, its success will largely depend on various other factors such as:

• Long term pricing
• Network feasibility
• Adaptability of 3G services
• Quality of services
• How Indian consumer responds to it

As a marketer, I see lots of opportunities associated with 3G. Now a days, we hear lot of buzz about internet marketing, mobile marketing, advertising using social networks, blogs, microblogs and customer engagement through various applications based on Internet. Here is how I see 3G as major opportunity for marketers:
Internet possesses personal nature. That is, most of things you do on internet are personal. Be it your email, social networking sites, blog or anything else. Everything is accessed by username and password. The only barrier to this was non mobility of Internet! With 3G this problem will be solved and you will have access to your private mailbox, blog, photos and anything on internet wherever you want.
Potential is enormous, market place is changing, customers are responding and marketers are adapting to changes. Challenge is to tap the potential of this medium! MTNL calls its 3g services as "MTNL 3G JAADU". Let's see what JAADU it does to Indian telecom industry.

Web 18 registers loss

Web 18; online venture of Network 18 has registered loss for Q3; 2008 - 09. Company posted net loss of 9.57 Cr during last year. It will be interesting to see how online business sustains during recession as giants like Web 18 doesn't seem breaking even in near future.

Must see company's press release here as it's showing various important statistics for media industry.

Reliance BIG entertainment

Reliance's media and entertainment arm BIG was to launch 20 TV channels during end of the year covering genres such as music, movies, kids, entertainment and news. However, company reports that it is no longer ready to enter the market and will postpone the launching. This rescheduling is in lieu of current market conditions and company's strategic decisions.

Also, BIG entertainment is in process to start new vertical dedicated to movie marketing, media planning and buying and creative. This vertical will cater to internal needs of BIG entertainment.

One aspect of having own TV channels is that in near future; IPTV is going to become buzz word in industry and customized channels will play major role in acquiring market share for all players. With Reliance IPTV services ready to launch during later this year, having personal TV channels will make big difference and give an extra edge to reliance.

Finally, we can say that Reliance is coming in E&M industry in BIG way. Company's plans seems to be gigantic. However, success of such business largely depends on marketing and content. It will be interesting to see when company tests the water. Till then keep your fingers crossed!

UTV's new media business

UTV's new media ventures have registered profits for Q309. Titled as UTV New Media business, UTV has Softwares, interactive products under this umbrella. Company also has Gaming as another segment. Compare to loss during last year, this year has proved to be successful for UTV. UTV gaming showed EBITDA of 12.23 million while New media segment showed EBITDA of 1.405 million during the quarter. However, consolidated figures for last 9 months for these verticals shows loss. New media business accounted for 4% of company's profits. Source: Medianama




It is interesting to see companies registering earning revenues and sustaining businesses during tough times by appropriate media strategies and using new media as driving vehicles for new age business. I believe that proper mix of conventional media and new media products will help corporate to sustain during recession and get an edge over competition.

Crucial time for NDTV

NDTV is going through crucial time and effects of recession has started showing up. Company is cutting down its expenses and re looking at few ventures. NDTV registered net loss of 174.8 Million during third quarter. While company's revenue showed 10.7 % growth, expenses were on higher side which resulted in overall loss; reports Medianama.

Here is the snapshot of what these figures looks like:

It is rumored that company will either downsize its delhi based channel MetroNaton or shut it down. NDTV was in talk with HT and BCCL for strategic partnership about this however, both of them have denied this offer.

It would be interesting to see how NDTV takes this matter forward. Mounting pressures, declining revenues and increasing competition in Indian News business would surely result in something good. If media houses manage to provide valuable news content and can sell it across various media vehicles, it would be great for E&M industry.

CyberMedia India Restructuring

CyberMedia India Online Pvt Ltd (CIOL) has undertaken major restructuring processes. Company will merge its online portal with its Parent company CyberMedia India Ltd. CIOL claims to receive a monthly average of 10.5 million page views and 1.1 million unique visitors.

Company has 15 Major publications and 12 websites catering to various verticals of digital, internet, mobile and IT industry. It is also expected that company will go through several cost cutting initiatives as Medianama reports.

Here is snapshot of company's changing revenue mix for last year.

Well, CyberMedia's publications are thoroughly written and provides valuable insights for marketers, managers and entrepreneurs. However, company's online initiatives doesn't seem so much appleaing. I personally believe that CyberMedia can do much more at this front to attract viewers. Let's hope restructuring results in better revenue generation for the company.

Medigit News

Fast track news from Medigit....

Latest news from Media / Internet / Mobile world...

• Beware!! Scams are taking advantage of your trust on social network... http://cli.gs/07rz82
• Friendster - 28 Mn out of 30 Mn visitors are from Asia. Friendster can now claim itself as Asia's social network... http://cli.gs/4v39Sg
• 1.5 Mn Obama related status updates within one day!! facebook connect Rocks!! http://cli.gs/QTt2dE
• MySpace launches black curtain screening program for Slumdog Millionaire and more movies. New age marketing for sure... http://cli.gs/0svYt4
• Airtel launches IPTV services in NCR region; important milestone for new age television experience in India: http://cli.gs/tXdGry
• 57% of internet users in India are in age group of 18-35: http://cli.gs/16vZrD
• Did Twitter Just Pass Digg? http://tinyurl.com/95lpgc via @ShareThis about 1 hour ago
• Digital media stock updates: http://tinyurl.com/73htam
• Google is laying off 100 recruiters..... http://cli.gs/LdGBt1
• Nortel, North america's biggest maker of Telecom equipments filed for bankruptcy... http://cli.gs/0gYa6N

Media Roundup - Top news from Media last week

New York Times to sell stake in Red Sox — The Times is planning to sell its 17.5 percent stake in the Boston Red Sox in an effort to raise $150 million to $200 million in cash. The company may also sell The Boston Globe and About.com to gain additional breathing room. [Source: Silicon Alley Insider]

Post and Sun to share content — Longtime rivals, The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun, have inked an agreement to exchange some news and sports stories. The deal doesn’t include some news topics, such as University of Maryland athletic coverage. [Source: Editor and Publisher]

USA Today to be sold on Kindle — USA Today will join The Washington Post, The New Tork Times and other large newspapers on Amazon’s Kindle e-reader device. While the final monthly subscription price has not been released, similar papers sell for $10-$15 a month. [Source: paidContent]

Pew Survey: TV still #1 source for news, Web catching up — As a news source, the Web has surpassed newspapers for the first time in the survey’s history to become America’s second most popular source of news behind television. The survey asked 1,489 adults about their news habits and also ranked the top news stories of 2008. [Source: Pew Research]

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Online News, political sites and blogs: Where are we heading to?

Last year, we have seen lots of websites offering news in various forms. Blogs, Political websites, News portals and Print media's online ventures are few of them. Of course, news has become commodity when it is to be consumed over internet. Majority news websites offer news and also provide access to add comments on news items. Bloggers put forward their point of view in very subtle way that you cant differentiate whether it is news or something which blogger says. Apart from this, forums are where people discuss ideas and create something out of it which creates mass movement.

As a News marketer on Internet media, I would say that Online media lacks authenticity and integrity. Small websites and private bloggers provide information which is either copied  from somewhere or it is not conveyed by authenticated source. In case of news paper's websites, yes, they are trying to communicate authenticated information. However, I would say that people don't find it easily accessible and it caters to very small geogrophic area. Also, it lacks some sort of interactivity, which an internet user always expects. In case of small websites and local news portals, there is lack of traffic which get them larger ad revenues... So, what would be probable system of distributing authenticated, user friendly and customized news over internet??

Given such a scenario, it is challenge for marketer to make his / her news website preffered choice for people. Can you suggest anything?

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