NEW DELHI: Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved on Tuesday partnered leading e-commerce players such as Flipkart, Amazon, Paytm Mall, BigBasket, among others, to sell its products through these sites. “The partnership will help us to reach more and more consumers in urban and rural regions,” Ramdev said. The company aims to earn revenues of over Rs 1,000 crore through online sales this year.
The Haridwar-based firm said it has developed a detailed plan to make its products available from “Haridwar to every door step online”. The firm had earlier launched its own e-commerce platform, which has done online sales of over Rs 10 crore in December 2017.However, Patanjali will not give any discount to boost online sales.Managing director and CEO of the firm, Acharya Balkrishna, said the agreement would expand the company’s product reach.
The company is confident that the online push will have no impact on its offline business. Ramdev said, “It will not have a negative impact on our offline distributors. We are also focusing on growing offline distribution.” Patanjali is growing its direct distribution network and wants its product to reach 50 lakh stores from the current 10-15 lakh stores.
However, experts say there is nothing new in Tuesday’s announcement except for creating a buzz. “Patanjali products have always been available on e-commerce portals. But, Baba Ramdev being one of the finest marketing minds in the country surely knows how to push his products,” Arvind Singhal, chairman of Technopak Advisors, a consultancy firm specialising in retail, told Express.
Patanjali products face stiff competition from retail giants such as Hindustan Unilever and ITC in the online and offline marketplace.Founded in 2006, Patanjali reported revenue of Rs 10,561 crore in FY17 and has set a goal of doubling it to Rs 20,000 crore in FY18.
Revenue target
Founded in 2006, Patanjali reported revenue of Rs10,561 crore in FY17 and has set an ambitious goal of doubling it to Rs20,000 crore in FY18