AllSchoolStuff.com has been launched as an online store for all school, learning and educational needs in India. This retail venture has been founded by Manoj Chandra, a senior retail professional, who was last heading the marketing portfolio for Bata India, the largest retailer of footwear in India and the leader in the school shoes market. In an exclusive interview with India Digital Review, Manoj Chandra talks about the idea behind launching AllSchoolStuff and also the company’s future roadmap.

You had been associated with the offline retail industry. What was the idea behind launching AllSchoolStuff.com and entering ecommerce?

The idea behind AllSchoolStuff.com was to create a new retail concept in the area of educational and school supplies for the benefit of parents and schools, in a category hitherto dominated by the unorganized sector and make a difference to the Indian consumer retail space.

How has your offline retail experience in Bata helped you in this venture so far?

My learning from Bata and my previous organizations has been vast and impactful, in the areas of retail and consumer centric business as well as supply chain. I acquired skills in merchandising, customer service, brand development, financial management, channel development and warehousing and logistics. During my stint in Bata, I also developed the company’s ecommerce channel, which helped immensely in quickly launching my own ecommerce venture.

The kids’ e-retail market in India is becoming very competitive with new players entering the segment. What is your take on this?

India is a baby boomer country and is forecast to have the youngest population in the world by 2015. Considering this, it is but natural that finally the retail industry has started focusing on this immensely lucrative and very large sector. We are happy about the entry of numerous players in the space as it will help grow the market and create consumer awareness, as well as, build a healthy supply chain with many vendors entering the Kids category. The game is just beginning and the clear path to a winner is far away.

How do you see the revenue growth of AllSchoolStuff so far? What are your expectations this year?

We have been seeing 3X growth on a monthly basis so far, over the past 4 months that we have been selling online. We have successfully proven all the business models that we put in our business plan and expect this growth to go stronger as move into the School Season over the next 4 months.

How many shippings are done by AllSchoolStuff presently on a daily basis?

We are currently doing around 50 orders per day and expect this to scale upto 1000 orders per day over the next quarter.

What ratio of AllSchoolStuff’s business comes from Tier I and Tier II cities?

Almost 50% of our orders come from smaller cities and we are currently shipping to over 24 states every week.

Will we see AllSchoolStuff diversifying into other categories as well?

We have chosen the school and educational supplies vertical for our business model. However, this vertical is actually a huge horizontal with scope to expand into more and more categories. We already have over 200 product groups on the store and expect this figure to double over the next few months.

What is your funding status? Any plans?

We raised our Angel round last year and are currently working on our second round of funding.

What are your priorities for AllSchoolStuff right now?

The single largest priority to focus upon is to continue to grow the brand, acquire a significant consumer base and customer satisfaction.

A lot of ecommerce brands are being created via extensive marketing. What are your marketing plans for AllSchoolStuff?

We have started investing in marketing and our focus is on building the AllSchoolStuff brand amongst our various consumer groups. We will be using a 360 degree approach including social media, online, email, and offline media.

We expect social media to be a huge driver for our business. Our social community is developing very well and we see large number of parents joining us to know more about AllSchoolStuff’s vast range of educational supplies and new and innovative products. Consequently, consumers are rejoicing in the convenience of India’s 1st School Supplies Store. At the same time, we believe this community will continue to grow as we reach out to all corners of the country. Just to highlight, last weekend, we crossed the landmark of 50,000 fans on our Facebook Page. In order to celebrate this landmark, we offered an exciting promotion to our fans and received an overwhelming response of nearly 300 orders.

If 2011 was a year of ecommerce companies being funded, 2012 will see consolidation. What are your thoughts on this statement?

I believe the ecommerce space in India is just beginning to happen. The consolidation is being seen in categories where businesses have been built on unviable models. I do believe the sector will continue to see 3-5X growth this year and many more players will enter the market, specially in niche categories, as also in department store formats. Many established players will expand their categories also.

What would be your suggestion to somebody who is willing to setup in an ecommerce startup?

•           Find a good mentor

•           Think big, and plan for scale

•           Be clear on what you want to do, and have a plan

•           Build a Good Team

Where do you see your brand in the market two years down the line?

AllSchoolStuff will be India’s largest retail brand in the School and Educational Supplies space.