As the global economy shows signs of improvement, we at Effimark and Terimerideal get back to thinking about how to bring transformation of the retailing value chain in India. It is our strong belief that as India’ consumer and small business market continue to grow, they will follow some of the changes that took place in developed nations like U.S, U.K and other European countries about 40 to 50 years ago. However, Indian retailing will also incorporate some of the social and cultural pieces of our system that allow local corner store to flourish and support small, dense neighborhoods in large metropolitan and second tier cities. We believe the big retailers will start adopting some of the analytics based consumer marketing models, coupon based marketing etc. Some verticals like travel may support an online model, but most of them will be offline due to lack of infrastructure, trust in merchants and lack of electronic payments.

As a Indian and someone who enjoys travel, it was wonderful for me to recently see Oberoi Hotels in India mentioned in top 15 hotels to experience for world travelers. India has always offered high service, premium hotels for visitors and businessmen. However, it is high time they were recognized by international media, travelers and review sites. Here is a link for people who would like to see which hotels make up the in CNBCs top 15 selection. The hotels are in Agra, Madhopur and Udaipur. http://www.cnbc.com/id/32693373?slide=16

One of the big secrets of travel industry is that most of the travel suppliers use a multi channel inventory distribution strategy i.e. providing different discounts to various travel agents, online sites etc.. Not nly they use the channel but also a business model around opacity and restrictions that can enable them to sell the productwithout cannibalizing the most profitable sales to business clients. For example, they may provide a higher discount on the product to a tour provider and even a higher discount to a retailer such as hotwire or priceline who may not provide the details to a customer during the sale process.

To get a good price, customers should look at various channels, suppliers online site for deals, online travel agents, destination specific travel agents and tour providers. Most of the retailers will claim they have the best deal, however do not be misled by that simple assertion. Just do your homework and spend time searching around, especially for expensive lesire trips.

TeriMeriDeal.com is a website of an innovative startup (Effimark) that has been co-founded by two graduates of Harvard Business School and Indian Institute of Technology. The founding team has more than 40 years of senior leadership experience with various Fortune 100 companies in the area of strategy, M&A, marketing and product development. It is an innovative company that wants to transform the traditional marketing services chain for many retailers and small businesses in Indian market.

Our Vision

Our vision is to provide a Web 2.0 platform for the Indian Consumer and Small Business market where retailers can share their deal, promotions and product information in an easy manner with their customers such as consumers and small businesses worldwide. The platform does not disintermediate their current advertising channels, rather complements it through a new, analytics based, cost effective online platform that is optimized for online searches, feedback and ratings. the current classifieds and market services value chain for retailers. To bring our vision around innovative marketing services and social marketing, we partnered with an established entrepreneur Sena Palanisami and his team of brilliant technologist, engineers and marketing people to bring this online platform vision to fruition. Sena and his team at ViSolve have years of technology leadership experience and have supported many large companies such as HP in innovative engineering and online projects.

The benefits of TeriMeriDeal.com are significant for consumers and businesses. Consumers gain access to valuable information on deals, promotions, product feedback, company feedback that can help them make purchasing decisions either offline and online. Consumers can also become active network participants and submit deals, promotions and feedback to help others benefit from the information, thus socializing marketing in a rapidly growing Indian Consumer market. Retailers and small business services can submit information online and reach an audience that may not be accessible through traditional channels. Their information will also be optimized for web searches globally by a team of savvy marketers who have done this for fortune 100 companies.