If you look at the figures from the last couple of years, 50% of the e-commerce ventures that were launched have had to close their doors within 12 months. Today, 80% of the ventures are financially hanging on a thread and cannot hope to receive capital from VCs who have frozen their investments in the first rounds of these young start-ups. In a globalised economic environment, entrepreneurs need to develop an intelligent vision of the world that surrounds them by making a clean break with the existing paradigms. That means building the e-commerce of the future for today's consumers. Flash Winners unpacks the brave and dangerous world of e-commerce for the entrepreneur. With feet firmly on the ground, it also offers practical advice to enable e-commerce ventures to achieve that all-too-elusive-goal: PROFITABILITY!

2. The Harsh Reality of E-commerce in
India: a Model’s Failure

3. The Indian Entrepreneurial Dream
‘Those who have no imagination will have to settle for reality’
The story of the successful
entrepreneur who starts with
nothing and conquers the
world feeds the Myth to be
able to launch a company,
get quickly funded with
several millions without
having generated even one
dollar in revenue, sell the
said company less than 3
years after and become
rich.
Unfortunately if you look at
the figures from the last
couple of years, 50% of the
e-commerce ventures that
were launched have had to
close their doors within 12
months and today 80% of
the ventures are financially
hanging on a thread.
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4. The Apprehension of Market Codes
‘Those who understand the past are better prepared to build
the future’
Instead of basing your market study on the question ‘Is it a good idea to
launch an e-commerce venture in India?’ you should focus on finding the
answer to the only question that has an interest, ‘What are the needs of the
market and how can I meet them effectively?’
The market is a collective thought that you must understand and apply to
your daily activity.
Understanding it, interpreting it and implementing it can have just one goal:
making sure your business exists.
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5. The Mutation of the Indian Consumer
‘To understand a system, one must get the most out of it’
The Indian society has
reached a point in history
where the supply of goods
and services is higher than
the demand in many fields.
The concept of abundance
of products makes it so that
man surrounds himself
inexorably with objects and
in the end, he sees and
swears by them,
surrendering little by little his
wish to become more
functional.
Do not trust the appearance, the
Indian consumers are not becoming
more westernised. They are
becoming more and more modern
and international, but they distinctly
remain Indian.
The Indian consumer is mutating
whatever the consumer class he
belongs to. It is not a transformation
since he retains his cultural
uniqueness. However, by
intensifying the consumer society,
he could lose his soul!
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6. The Fair Perception of the Winning Product
‘We discern from the world only what we are prepared to
perceive’
Winning Products
While
innovation is
necessary, it
should not be
considered as
sufficient
The
construction of
a range of
products
around it is
equally
important
Having a range
of products,
even more so if
they are new,
involves
educating the
consumer
about the
manner in
which they
have to use
them
The mean of
distribution is
simply capital
especially in an
unorganised
market
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7. Rethinking Inventory Management:
A New and More Efficient Model

8. A New Strategy To Reach Profitability
‘We can no longer think differently because we have been
perfectly conditioned to perceive things in a certain way’
The pitfalls which directly affect the profitability of an e-
commerce inventory-led model
The first issue
is the inventory
risk which
weighs over he
unsold
products.
Delivery
services could
also be a thorn
in the
entrepreneur’s
side and free
shipping
remains
something that
batters the e-
commerce’s
cash flow
The second
profitability
issue of the
inventory-led
model revolves
around the
marketing
costs to sustain
the e-
commerce
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9. A New Strategy To Reach Profitability
‘The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in
escaping from old ones’ – John Maynard Keynes
The Mass Distribution Model
First you need
to understand
the structural
relationship
between the
distributors and
the suppliers
based on the
question –
‘How can I buy
the products at
the lowest
price?’
This model of
revenue is no
longer based
on margins but
on the turnover
of assets; the
profitability
being reached
by the
negotiation due
to a high
volumes of
sales
The profitability
is based on the
‘Back Margin’
model which is
the result of the
negotiation
between
distributors and
suppliers to
generate new
sources of
revenue
REBATES
DISCOUNTS
COMMERCIAL
CO-OPERATION
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10. How can I implement this Model on my E-
commerce?

11. A New Format for E-Commerce
‘The strongest is never strong enough to be hegemonic. At the
awakening of the weakest, a new balance of power is established’
BACK MARGINS
REBATES DISCOUNTS
COMMERCIAL
CO-OPERATION
Cannot be
used at
the
beginning
Cannot be
used at
the
beginning
Key of the
model but
cannot be
used with
a format
‘shop’
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12. A New Format for E-Commerce
‘The most critical stone of your business is the foundation’
The new format which shall influence the negotiation between you and your
suppliers on a more equitable level to generate new revenue is that of the
SHOWROOM.
This showroom format will allow you to bring up some services for your
suppliers around 3 thematic – ‘Image – Distribution – Product Range’
To be efficient, this showroom must be a tool of predictable success!
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13. The System as a Tool to Achieve the Model
‘To reach what is right, sometimes you must get rid of all the
received ideas and build a new and more efficient System’
SYSTEM
IMAGE
PRODUCT
RANGE
DISTRIBUTION
How are you
doing to develop
an image
strategy?
How will you
highlight the
new products?
What will be
your
undeniable
rigour to
reassure your
suppliers?
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14. ‘What we do in life echoes in eternity’
- Marcus Aurelius
In the coming years, more and more young entrepreneurs will try their
luck on the e-commerce market and unfortunately, more and more
failures will emerge from this development.
Annihilation has taken over creation!
The idea of this book is to try to stem this phenomenon of chaos that
affects entrepreneurs and give a little hope in this futuristic model that is
e-commerce in India.