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NetCarrots Provides Alternate Payment Option for Credit
Card Shy eShoppers
New Delhi, March
15, 2001 |
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| KhulJaSimSim.com & GoodLiving.com
tie-up with NetCarrots to reap benefits |
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| KhulJaSimSim.com, India's largest
discount eStore & Thegoodliving.com,
a leading lifestyle products eShop have purchased
an alternate payment solution for their sites from
NetCarrots. Customers at these sites will now have
an option of paying for their purchases in Carrots,
an alternate currency floated by NetCarrots.
According to the agreement, NetCarrots will also
provide a direct access to their online banking
solution to these customers to ease transactions
in Carrots. The deal will help these sites
to induce trials from both the non credit card holding
and the 'online card usage phobic' eShoppers. Another
leading virtual store FabMart.com has already been
using Carrots as an alternate payment option on
their site. |
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| Explaining the rationale behind
the deal, Anupam Trivedi, CEO, Thegoodliving.com
said, "Our findings indicated that a substantial
portion of the netizens did not possess credit cards
restricting them from purchasing online. More so,
there were those who had the cards but were reluctant
to use it online. After evaluating various alternative
online payment options, we decided to use Carrots
as a cyber currency. Not only does it help make
purchases without the necessity of card, but it
also allays fears of those who possess one. NetCarrots
has provided an opportunity to enhance our potential
customer base significantly, well beyond the existing
five million card holders". |
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| How it Works: Each time a customer
comes to shops at these sites, he will be presented
an option of paying either fully through credit
card or Carrots
or a part of each. To introduce existing customers
to this new payment option, all buyers paying through
credit card at these sites will automatically get
some Carrots.
They will then be prompted to open a free account
at NetCarrot.com to bank these Carrots
for future purchases. Besides this, Thegoodliving.com
will pay 300 Carrots to all first time shoppers. |
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| KhulJaSimSim also, on its part will
be running registration drive at the NetCarrots
site, which has an active user base of 40,000 customers.
According to Vikas Verma, CEO, KhulJaSimSim.com,
"Most registrants at NetCarrots are bargain shoppers,
having spending power both in money and in Carrots
derived by surfing & spending at other affiliates.
They are also used to the idea of online shopping.
I'm sure that once introduced to our site, they
will be our most active purchasers. I will be happy
to pay for netting such customers." NetCarrots is
already driving business to the tune of Rs. One
lakh per month to FabMart.com. It expects to drive
an equal amount of business at both KhulJaSimSim.com
and Thegoodliving.com. |
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| Benefits: Besides their customers,
both NetCarrots and these alliance partners stand
to benefit vastly from the deal. To bank their Carrots
rewarded while purchasing products from either of
the sites, the e-shoppers will be driven to NetCarrots'
loyalty and rewards site NetCarrots.com. Once at
NetCarrots, these new customers will be introduced
to free Carrot earning opportunities at the site.
These Carrots
earnings can then be used to shop at the site the
customer initially came from. |
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| NetCarrots is expecting an additional
user base of 20,000 due to the deal. The deal will
also ensure a much bigger product range at a discounted
price for the NetCarrots customer without the site
having to invest in own backend infrastructure and
logistics. According to Sanjay Nayar, Head - Alliances,
NetCarrots.com, "Both the deals have a lot of synergy
with our business requirements. By having FabMart,
an excellent store for books, music & toys etc.;
KJSS a huge general & electronic product discount
store and Thegoodliving, a lifestyle product shop,
we have ensured liquidity for our customers earning
Carrots
from various offline and online affiliates". NetCarrots
will also source its bidding, contests and other
product purchases from KhulJaSimSim. |
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| NetCarrots, which started in October
2000 has investments from Puneet Dalmia of JobsAhead.com,
Saroj Poddar of Indian Shaving Products Ltd, and
HT Vision, a Hindustan Times group company. It provides
complete loyalty solutions to corporate and retail
clients. The company's business model is similar
to some internationally successful organizations
like Netcentives and MyPoints. It has recently reached
monthly cash breakeven and is now looking at ramping
up operations. |
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