OfficeYes Offers Franchise Opportunities In India
By Ben Sillitoe
Indian OP e-commerce business OfficeYes.com has announced a franchise opportunity for resellers in the country.
Franchise partners will be required to focus on selling office supplies in stores, while the OfficeYes team will help with inventory, marketing and delivering products to its resellers’ customers.
The e-tailer said it expected the franchise model to generate impressive ROI and profitable margins for partners following an initial investment. Franchisees will also need a minimum retail space of 150 sq ft (15 sq m) to participate.
Commenting to OPI today, OfficeYes Co-founder and Managing Director Siddharth Nambiar estimated that the Indian stationery and supplies market is worth around $10 billion and said there is significant potential for resellers despite its current "fragmented" state.
"We are already successfully consolidating some of this demand via our online portal and our corporate accounts," he explained. "However, on our own we will never be able to capture all, or even most, of this immense market opportunity."
Nambiar was the focus of OPI’s Final Word feature in March, where he explained how 2013 could be a pivotal year for the e-commerce OP market in India, but it is clear that OfficeYes still views traditional retail avenues as an important part of the equation.
"Many Indian consumers still like to purchase small amounts of stationery offline, and the school and college markets buy from local shops," he added. "Given India’s massive size, the reseller channel is imperative to reach customers for basket sizes that can’t be profitably served via e-commerce."