Rocking Deals is an Indian marketplace for open box and excess inventory items. It has a comprehensive quality-check procedure, experienced product expertise, and unrivaled customer care. The company intends to become the safest and most trustworthy destination for buying certified refurbished items. This makes India’s one-stop solution for all unboxed, returns excess inventory and refurbished inventory with guaranteed authenticity.
The startup’s growing clientele and customers witness the high quality maintained at all of their stores and warehouses. The company is building an advanced setup of quality checks to provide all stakeholders with a solid platform to partner and grow.
Yuvraj Aman Singh founded Rocking deals in 2005, and he holds a degree in Business Information Systems and Management from Middlesex University, UK. He has initially worked with his brothers-in-law in England for a year and helped him streamline operations for his e-commerce venture.
He returned to India in 2003, where he took up a franchise of Tata Teleservices and currently working as Managing Director of Rocking Deals. The company has brands like TATA Teleservices, Idea, Huawei, Lenovo, Blackberry, Micromax, Samsung and Aircel on its profile.
Starting the category for the likes of Amazon and Shopclues, the company is one of the largest and oldest players. It started the concept of Seconds in India. It has sold over 4 million units to the end customers, which is an achievement while guiding and educating them about the product condition. The company is selling more than 18 major categories in 27 countries globally.
In an exclusive interview with India Tech Desk, founder Yuvraj Aman Singh takes us through the journey of his company in the segment of open box and excess inventory sales.
Would you please briefly inform us of the specifics of the client base and give a business overview?
Our company provides a distribution channel that facilitates urban and rural consumers by offering amazing discounted deals and after-sales support for online and offline sourced products.
Apart from eCommerce (online) and offline stores, we emphasize our distribution network, franchise model, and refurbishment capacity. Our revenue model comprises self-owned stores (30 percent), franchises (10 percent), B2B model (40 percent), and e-commerce (20 percent). This gives us leverage to grow and build a strong retail presence and cater to our business partners with excess inventory and certified refurbishment ability.
Would you please briefly explain the market size?
This segment is mainly dominated by unorganized small retailers, which organized players gradually and steadily occupy. According to projections, the Indian refurbished industry would approach $20 billion in six years.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) evaluated the country’s used-items market at $1,530 in 2015. It was predicted to reach $12-15 billion by 2020, indicating a growing need for pre-owned goods. According to the Global Consumer Insight survey, 80 percent of secondhand market customers utilize online platforms for information and trading, positioning India well for growth in this field.
India’s internet population reached 687.6 million as of January 2020, making it the fastest-growing online retail market in 2019. Statista, a business data website, estimates the number of digital purchasers in the nation to be around 329.1 billion.
Would you please briefly explain your business model covering online and offline stores?
Our business model covers both online and offline stores and is quickly on its way to becoming one of the biggest nationwide distribution services of its kind that allows merchants and enterprises to source items for a wide range of products on a single platform.
We at Rocking Deals cater to an exhaustive list of categories that include electronics such as speakers, mobile accessories, computer accessories, home appliances that range from kitchen to other large home appliances like coolers and heaters.
We also provide heavily discounted deals on cosmetic items and sports gear. Overall, our consumers get to choose from a variety of certified refurbished goods checked for quality and performance and high on value for money.
What challenges does this industry face or will face as the race intensifies? Explain from an industry perspective and company perspective?
The refurbished market, like any other, was not immune to the ravages of difficulties. All prominent sell platforms or buy-back schemes have established a marketplace for used items, but with little or no emphasis on quality, warranty, or customer experience, all of which are critical to the refurbished business.
The customer experience of a refurbished product must be practical and visually striking, as well as emotionally enticing. India is a developing country with a thriving population from prosperous households. It is challenging to change this demographic preference for brand new items that display their social standing.
Since the greatest challenge is adoption, approaching it is by building awareness of the benefits of a refurbished market. As the industry grows, the awareness and adoption will increase and benefit the players and consumers alike. Since consumers are more concerned about quality and value for money, it would be critical to maintain high certification standards and provide seller warranties to help assure and build trust with the consumers.
Would you please elaborate on Rocking Deals Logistics, services and its USP?
Rocking Deals’ USP is to provide its customers with a unique opportunity to sell large brands with steep discounts all under one roof.
Our qualified research and development team procures from brands, portals, and distribution houses across the country. We have built-in a multilevel quality check process (manual and app) and have a current QC capacity of 25000 units a month for refurbishment. By FY 21-22, we would be increasing our capacity by three times to cater to the rising demands of consumers turning to refurbished goods.
Would you please talk with data about the demand of your products and their performance?
Our company offers world-class quality checks on verified products at highly discounted prices with a vision to empower individuals to build stronger businesses. Relatively lowered income among all classes after the pandemic and long working hours spent at home with the ongoing advancement of technology has resulted in a massive increase in demand for reconditioned things across the board.
Driven by market expectations, technology and goods continue to improve, and humans have an inherent urge to keep up with the latest. This has resulted in a spike in the reconditioned products sector in India, which was previously popular as a cost-effective choice but is now a successful enterprise.
Following the Covid-19 outbreak, the market size of used products increased and the demand-supply chain imbalance has altered the whole industry’s operating environment. Everyone wants to save money; therefore, secondhand items—which cost nearly half as much as new devices—are in strong demand.
What are some of your current focus areas and future growth plans?
We are planning to launch 200 stores in the next five years while gearing to launch their e-waste management system by FY 22-23 first quarter and launch their home appliance renting facility in FY 21-22 fourth quarter. In the past five years, we have sold more than 1 million products of major global brands.
Refurbished gadgets are offered for a 20-30 percent discount. In some cases, it goes up to 50 percent compared to their original price tags, making them a profitable alternative, especially with the rising inflation and cost of daily commodities.
The increase in demand for these commodities has also resulted in a price increase for certified refurbished goods. In the future, we are gearing up to build and launch a state-of-the-art renting facility dedicated to home appliances in FY21-22 Q4, followed by an E-waste management system in FY 22-23 Q1.
