Shopyourworld.com India’s first and only shopping portal to offer products & promotional offers from the US & UK market, announces its Series ‘A’ investment. The undisclosed funding was raised from the Singapore Governments’ National Research Foundation, a department directly operated by the Prime Minister’s office along with two leading Asia focused venture capital firms; iGlobe Partners and WaveMaker Labs. The company is expecting to raise a second round of funding of 15-20 $ mn in the next six months.
Shop Your World is a new paradigm for online shopping. It’s a one-stop shop for international shopping in India. Owning the entire logistical process from the US/UK to India, enables Shop Your World to reduce costs at every stage of the delivery process offering its customers competitive pricing and opening up the doors of cross-border trade in India. With the Series “A” funding, they are addressing the grievances of few customers whose orders were not delivered in time due to international shipping and logistical issues. The funds are primarily being utilized for executing ShopYourWorld.com expansion plan of building further operational & procurement capabilities, raising brand awareness, enhancing technology along with service levels & customer care quality.
The company which is based in Singapore with wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States, United Kingdom and India, is primarily focused on importing products & brands from the US & UK and delivering them to its customers in India. It offers a range of over 1 million products from leading global markets. ShopYourWorld.com gives access to exclusive international products otherwise unavailable to the Indian consumer, enabling the customer to choose from a wide range of products and brands from developed markets.
The company has uniquely constructed specific algorithms to calculate product pricing, inclusive of shipping costs, exchange rates, customs duty and taxes in real time. All prices seen on the website are final, delivered to the customer’s door. Additionally the website utilizes a three-tier server architecture enabling it to host a vast number of products at any given time.
ShopYourWorld also has a strategic advantage that it primarily focuses on direct imports. This is where the company offers its expertise, with an advanced logistics network and operational capabilities, it offers a plethora of brands and products from the US and UK to customers in India delivered to them within 7-10 business days. The company in particular is optimistic as they are competing in a similar capacity with different logistical suppliers, leading to higher contributions than the competition and to potentially higher valuations.
The ecommerce market in India is expected to grow by 33 per cent to reach Rs 62,967 crores by the end of 2013 as per the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International report. The ecommerce market was valued at Rs 47,349 cr in December 2012
