Honest 836 Report post Posted April 3, 2008 Mobile Store Launches Online Version For a couple of years now, Indian consumers have had the facility to shop online. Although spotting a trend, there is now the opening up of niche online stores that sell specific products to the masses. A case in point is the online avatar of 'Mobile Store' at www.themobilestore.in. Though formally launched today, the Web site isn't new to the Indian Web space -- the company informs; it has been running a pilot limited to Mumbai until today. Now of course, users across eleven cities including Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin, Ahemadabad, and Pune will be able to avail the facility of purchasing mobile phones, accessories, and music and gaming devices through this online store. Eventually, the store services will be extended to other locations across India. The Web site hosts blogs, reviews, news, and latest offers available at the physical Mobile Stores. The site promises multiple angle images along with the promise to deliver handsets in three working days at no extra charge. Prices would also be updated regularly, they say. Rajeev Agarwal, chief executive officer of 'Mobile Store' had this to say to this correspondent: We provide value for money through bundled deals, special offers, and value add-ons. We are different from other online stores who may stock products in warehouses or source them post the order and take anywhere between 3 to 30 days to deliver the orders. We have the backing of more than 600 stores and we plan to ramp that up." As offer, the online store currently has, to give consumers, a scratch card upon every handset purchase that they make (no matter the price), along with the possibility of winning one out of four given prizes: a home theater system, a holiday package, a digital camera, else Rs 5,000 cash back. The site claims to be secured by 'Thwate' a rival to VeriSign that incidentally offers the same 128-bit SSL encryption technology. On the flip side, Agarwal said the rates of the products sold online are going to be on par with those sold in actual stores. Which may be unfair -- to some -- who're used to online stores like eBay which sell similar products but at a cheaper price. For the enthusiasts who want to buy handsets as soon as they are launched globally, Agarwal said they're working on legal imports for sales of products not yet launched in India. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
