These 3 startups prove the e-market potential of Northeast

E-Commerce is seeing a huge boom in India and states from all over the country are contributing to online sales including the Northeastern states. In fact, these states are seeing a double-digit growth after the last-mile delivery challenges were addressed in these states. Recently, Ashish Chitravanshi, Snapdeal’s VP operations commented that the Northeast region has the potential to be at par with other metro-politician cities like Delhi and Mumbai in terms of business potential. 

What issues earlier existed in the Northeast region?

The Northeast region is known for its beautiful hilly terrain. However, the hilly terrains of the region have proved to be a huge obstacle for e-Commerce companies as it has limited road and flight connectivity. This created a hurdle for the companies to expand in these regions. However, with improved logistic services by courier companies like VRL, and eKart, the connectivity to the remote location has improved to a large scale. As a result, the Northeast region has become one of the fastest-growing markets in India. In addition to SnapDeal, even other e-Commerce companies like Flipkart, Myntra, Bluestone.com and ShopClues.com are seeing huge sales from these regions. In addition to these big e-Commerce companies, the region itself is seeing huge growth of start-ups to meet the demand and supply of various products. Here is a list of three such Northeastern start-ups that proves the potential of the region.

Northeast startups that are marking their presence in eCommerce

• My3DSelfie

My3DSelfie is a Guwahati-based startup that creates 3D figurines of any phone. The company was founded by Harsha P Deka in 2016. Deka is an alumnus of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Previously, he also founded Myware Solutions, his first start-up. He realized the huge potential of the 3D industry and decided to be a pioneer in this industry in Northeast India. The company works in both B2B and B2C models and not only serves in different states of the countries but also other foreign countries and it ships its products with the help of both domestic and international logistic companies like TCS. Till date, the start-up has raised money from IIMCIP and the Government of Assam and also, joined hands with Northeast India Fund Fest. Even during COVID, the company saw huge growth.

• Zizira

It is a Shillong based start-up that deals with spices and herbs. Zizira started with a vision to offer better employment opportunities to the youth of the North-East. The herbs and spices produced by the farmers of Meghalaya are delivered across the country to health-conscious customers. The start-up works directly with the farmers to deliver its products all over India. The target audience of the company mainly is from metro cities that are seeking pure spices and herbs. The company was founded in 2015 with a vision to make the farmers famous. Zizira faced some obstacles during the Covid lockdown but it used the obstacles that it faced growing the company further.

• Runaway Nagaland

Runaway Nagaland was founded in 2012. It is a platform that provides the local artisans of Kohima to showcase their handmade products. The handmade products available in Runaway Nagaland are created with the help of indigenous techniques and designs to preserve the art of Nagaland. From home furnishing to jewellery, plenty of hand-made products are available in the region. This start-up is a popular name in the fashion industry and it has seen remarkable growth in the past few years. Just like Zizira, even Runaway Nagaland faced issues during the Covid lockdown and during that time, it worked on increasing its social media presence to go back to business.

It is no longer a hidden fact that both big and small businesses faced huge issues during the Covid lockdown last year. It would be interesting to see how these businesses come with innovative solutions to improve their business in the coming time. With improved logistic services in the Northeast region, the Northeast region presents a huge potential for the expansion of both small and big eCommerce companies. There are plenty of unexplored markets in the region which when tapped carefully will yield huge profits for many companies. The companies, for start, need to improve their logistics service to yield the benefits of the potential customers of the region.

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