In 2015, Voonik grew by more than 220 per cent and app repeat purchase rate doubled. Voonik has more than 4 Million app downloads and another 2.5 Million unique users across mobile web and desktop.
Reward Diversity in Start-up workforce
Many start-ups are preferred places for women, as they get flexible timing, work from home and other benefits. Start-ups give women a great opportunity to fulfil their personal commitments without compromising success at professional front. I feel, government should encourage diversity, by giving certain tax benefits to encourage inclusion of women in start-up workforce.
FDI in B2C Ecommerce
Currently there is a lot of confusion in terms of what constitutes B2C ecommerce vs. marketplace and where FDI is allowed. We expect clarity on FDI policy and definition of what entails a marketplace.
Removal of Angel / Startup Tax
We are awaiting clarity on the angel tax. While Finance Minister mentioned that provisions will make in the Income Tax Act for exemption to a notified class of investors, we are still awaiting details.
Staggered/Laddered Service tax
Even though a 3 yr Income tax holiday is given to new start-ups, the issue of Service tax is not addressed yet. I hope in the new budget, some laddering like that of Income tax slabs is given to start-ups. This will help us in being able to invest a part of our revenues to business, reduce our dependence on VC funds and once we reach a certain stature we can definitely pay ST at par with other Listed companies.
Infrastructure
To make Ecommerce sector profitable, we need a robust delivery system. All ecommerce companies are struggling with delivery delays, package losses in transit etc. For customers, getting their order in time is the bare minimum expectation.
On the other hand, for a company to deliver on time through polite courier boys is a big challenge. Often many courier partners are not equipped to handle cash collected in delivery. In the new Budget, there has to be a more focused plan on improving road & rail infrastructure, so that companies like Voonik can profitably deliver the orders to our customers.
Financial innovation for easy credits to SME & small traders
We scout through the country to bring online, many large and small regional stores, artisans and stand-alone outlets. With our excellent trending features very soon the new sellers start getting 10X number of orders. One of the key challenges for our sellers face is the liquidity crunch when they have to suddenly scale up to cater to a huge online demand. I feel, the new budget should encourage NBFCs to create fast, easy and reasonable loans for the sellers who start selling through online retail.
Mobile Money
If in the new budget, government can announce rebates/ subsidies through Mobile money platforms, this will help us in encouraging prepaid order placing, thus reducing our cash on delivery handling costs.
