With a humongous rise in the number of e-commerce users, coupon buying and deal sites have become must-visit websites for the obsessive online shopper. Understanding the scope in a burgeoning industry such as this, KR Murle, 30, Bangalore and Mohamed Wasim Raja, 30, Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu), both MBA graduates from James Cook University, Queensland, Australia, started Getextrabux.com, to grab a pie in the ‘cash back’ game.
Murle worked as a Private Equity Financial Analyst with Northern Trust in Bangalore while Mohamed was a Project Manager with MNG Technologies in Madurai before starting Getextrabux. “We used to do a lot of online shopping when in Australia. We observed that people used to visit a lot of cash back sites in the US for shopping online even if it was Walmart or Bestbuy. We thought it would be great to try it in India where people scout for discounts on everything,” says Murle.
Getextrabux is not only a cash back portal where customers can get cash back on each purchase, they have also integrated coupons, deals and price comparison features along with it. The price comparison engine searches from over 100 online stores to give the lowest quote. There is no hassle of a sign up here, as all a customer needs is to enter their email id to use any of these features. They are also working on alerting customers of prices of products that they marked as ‘favourites’. With their smart login feature (you just need to log in to the retailer’s site and not Getextrabux.com) and online chat support, Getextrabux is trying to fend off any kind of competition from their counterparts like Cashkaro, Pennyful and Gopaisa.
The duo has spent more than `45 lakh for the development of the website and they are planning to raise `1.5 crore to expand their operations. Getextrabux gets a commission on each purchase made by a customer from their site. In fact, Getextrabux has launched in Singapore and is the first cash back site there. One needs to type in www.getextrabux.sg to get to their Singapore site. They have partnered with around 30 online stores and are looking to tie up with more.
Confident about breaking even soon, Murle says, “Getextrabux is looking for funding to increase its advertisement reach. Once it happens, we believe we can break even in about 10 months.”
With six employees working hard to capture this space, Getextrabux markets itself using Facebook and Google ads. The e-commerce industry will reach $80 billion by 2020 and Getextrabux is leaving no stone unturned to lead this space.
— mathew.maniamkot@gmail.com