Simplybooks – one more online bookstore
SimplyBooks is an online bookstore joining the bandwagon in this crowded market. Simplybooks is a startup based out of NCR region and currently in Beta stage. It is all set to make a dent in the market share of Flipkart the leader in this space.
Simplybooks have 44 main categories and 638 sub categories and altogether they claim to have 10k books in their(suppliers) inventory. Simplybooks pricing is highly competitive and majority of their books they have priced it lesser than Flipkart. For instance book ” You can sell” by Shiv Khera is priced Rs.134 at Simplybooks, while flipkart charges Rs.146. Just now i ordered a book ” I bought the Monk’s Ferrari” by Ravi Subramanian and i paid Rs.165 to Simplybooks while selling price for the same book at Flipkart is Rs.172
Simplybooks delivery time is 7-10 working days which is quite high and its quite unacceptable to users who are not very price sensitive. Simplybooks checkout process is little tedious and user gets to know the delivery time after the checkout. They need to bring down the delivery time since 3-4 working days has become the benchmark for online bookstores operating in India. They need to improve the Search functionality and make site user friendly. It takes 3 clicks to search the author
Brownie Points – Simplybooks besides books also sells CDs & magazines. They have rewards program in place called e-Points, I eared 4 points by purchasing 1 book.
Share your views on this startup and do try them out.
-Hitesh, vcBytes.com
