1.1 Company Overview of Thamel.com
Thamel.com (TDC) is marketing and Development Company established in 1999, located at Panipokhari, Kathmandu, Nepal. The company sells goods and provides remittance service through its online portal www.thamel.com. With high quality customer services and as pioneer in the field of e-commerce in Nepal, the company has already built trusted brand name. This in turn has helped TDC to rapidly grow and expand further the services it offers. The company currently has three divisions:
· Thamel Gift Shoppe: Basically sells gifts to the Nepalese diaspora1, which are then procured and delivered locally to their family and friends still living in Nepal.
· Thamel Remit: provides comparatively low cost remittance services than other remittance services in Nepal.
· Export Division: helps entrepreneurs export products by providing e-commerce platform.
The goal of TDC is to create new opportunities for Nepalese workers, generate cultural value, and help move local businesses in a new direction. To accomplish these goals, TDC has built several key practices into its business model:
1. Targeting the Diaspora:
2. Empowering local business:
3. Innovative use of technology:
4. Localization:
5. Customer service:
1.2 Company Origin of Thamel.com
Thamel.com (TDC) was founded in early 1999 with an initial investment of Rs 17,50,000. Thamel.com is named after tourist hub Thamel at Kathmandu. The site was initially set up to be the first comprehensive online directory of local Nepalese businesses and aimed at foreign tourist. TDC provided local businesses with a profile page, Web site link, and email address. For an additional fee, the company offered to design, register and host a business's homepage. TDC was also the first portal to offer city maps, java enabled chat, and online tools to learn basic Nepali.
Within a year of its start, the sustainability of company was in doubt as things did not work as they had expected. At the end of first year, most of the companies didn't renew their subscriptions. This was because they could not easily see a direct benefit from their Web presence. There was no mechanism for companies to discern whether or not email inquiries or store traffic was generated through the online business directory. A substantial decrease in tourism also hurt the business model.
1.3 Company Structure of Thamel.com
Thamel.com is a privately held firm based in Kathmandu that is also registered in the State of Oregon, USA to do retail transactions. Final decisions are made by the founders and heads of the company, Bal Krishna Joshi and Rajesh Joshi (no relation). They have implemented an American style of management that takes into account local sensibilities. The company currently employs 50 people fulltime and expands to up to 100 people during peak festival times. New employees will be hired primarily on the specific skill set they bring to the operation. Mr. Balkrishna Joshi himself takes part while hiring new staff as well as while training new staff on how to operate. Employees who work at least a year also qualify for shares in TDC's employee ownership plan. Currently, 15% of the company is "owned" by the employees.
1.4 Market Overview
Nepalese Diaspora includes 1.2 million people. However, TDC only represents 3,00,000 as its current market target.
TDC is focusing its services basically on developed countries. This is because these countries have higher IT literacy rate and their market needs and more well-defined. Nepalese Diasporas to these countries are also more likely to be able to afford the cost of gift merchandise.
1.5 Modus Operandi Of TDC
1.5.1 Export Division
TDC's business expansion plans focus largely on increasing exports to both diaspora and nondiaspora customers. Currently the export has been increasing, hence delivering the Nepali products to the International Communities.
The main export from the TDC is mainly the Nepali Handmade Khukuri which reflects the bravery of famed Nepali Gurkha Warriors. For this thamel has also established a separate portal in its website. It is the most expanding export business today for TDC.
TDC also deals with money transfer and financial services and it is among most expanding business of the TDC. Thamel.com began to offer money transfer services in late 2002.
TDC has approached and partnered with Nepal-based Kumari Bank Ltd (KBL) to launch its money transfer services. In addition to lowering transfer costs, it is the first remittance platform that directly connects the customers, local banks and the recipients between the USA and Nepal.
1.5.3 Thamel Gift Shoppe
The Thamel.com Gift Shoppe is an e-commerce portal that sells a wide variety of goods including cakes, sweets, flowers, electronics, apparel, cosmetics, jewelry, toys, motor bikes, and other home accessories and appliances. Gifts are purchased by the Nepalese diaspora for procurement and delivery to relatives still living in Nepal.
The company contracts with about 100 vendors selling more than 8,000 products online. These vendors which don't use ecommerce themselves, and without the TDC platform, would not be selling products online.
Vendors are recruited based on their ability to deliver order on time, the quality of their product, the presence of a locally recognized brand, and the novelty of a vendor's background story.
Demand
The majority of TDC business is associated with a festival or holiday. Mothers Day and Sister and Brother Day are the busiest holidays, followed by Fathers Day are Valentine's Day.
Distribution
TDC has five distinct types of items to distribute: perishable, non-perishable, large items, products to be delivered outside of Kathmandu, and export products to be delivered outside of Nepal.
Perishable items include cakes and flowers; flowers first come to the central office, while cakes are stored in the producer's refrigerators for pickup and delivery in one trip. Like the flowers, nonperishable items are brought in centrally and then distributed. Larger big ticket electronic items, such as refrigerators or washing machines, are delivered from the vendor by a technician who will set up the gift, explain to the recipient how the item works, and provide long-term servicing. A representative from TDC is also present to ensure customer satisfaction and to take a photo for delivery confirmation.
1.6 Business Ecosystem
Different business may have its own type of ecosystem. Here we are focused to TDC business eco-system which is clearly depicted in the above data flow diagram. The business cycle starts with the customer request for goods from Thamel Dot Com. For this the customer need to log in if he or she is already a member of TDC else a sign up is required. TDC request for item with the vendor. The vendor delivers the item to the recipient.
1.7 Conclusion
Thamel.com has proved to be a successful business making profit for the diaspora Nepalese community and defining a new way of online business. Localization has also been key to the company's success. TDC has developed local solutions to local problems, increased local product development and sales, and has attracted and retained customers by localizing its online content. The company has also expanded markets for local vendors, and has encouraged the establishment of new businesses. TDC has continuously improved its product and service delivery, developing a trusted and recognized brand name that allows it to more easily experiment with new products and services. The company's unique combination of e-commerce, remittance, and business development services demonstrate how combining the power of IT and diasporas can create opportunities at the base of the pyramid.
Group Members;
Lasang Jimba Tamang
Rojina Maharjan
Subash Poudyal
Ujjwal Panthi
VK Pandey
VK Pandey
(07 BSc CSIT batch)
