This case study presents the solution implemented by a technology and digital lifestyle e-tailer to gain credibility for its online operations.

The need/challenge
In 2006, when CafeGadgets.in was launched, most brands were reluctant to distribute their products through its website. The reason cited was the cynicism that the brands had cultivated towards domestic online portals. Marketers were collaborating with local resellers in the grey market, and the resulting transactional frauds and fake products were affecting consumers negatively. Thus, establishing credibility for its brand among consumers and brand owners was an issue. Discussing the problems that CafeGadgets.in faced, Hitesh Dhingra, COO, CafeGadgets.in, said, “The major challenge was to convince the brand owners about the scope of e-commerce and the credibility of an Indian website to sell products.”

The solution
To counter these issues, CafeGadgets.in implemented a cluster of solutions on their website that include payment gateway integration with a ‘quick checkout’ functionality, embedded search engine and easy-to-navigate design.

The execution
Payment gateway integration was provided by an application service provider in the form of a transaction interface that was coded through the payment link. In addition, simple logic was embedded within the payment gateway programme to authenticate transactions. The quick checkout feature was integrated through this payment interface, which was programmed using a high-level programming language like Java or a markup language such as HTML. The codes for these were obtained through open source software. A dedicated search engine was used to run a quick search for specific products. The search engine algorithm was based on the logic of detecting keywords, which included the product’s name, code and product type and brand name.

The result
“Today, our customers are equipped to make faster transactions. Quick checkout enables customers to add products to their carts, and the customer can now be redirected to the shipping page by simply filling a basic information form. The easy-to-navigate function has made product search more user-friendly. Today, we have grown by 300 percent from what we started of in the year 2006,” concluded Mr Dhingra.