Condoms on the Net

Are you among the large number of people,who are shy, hesitant and embarrassed to buycondoms from the nearby pharmacy or generalstore?

Then certainly, CondomKing.in is the portal thatyou should check out. It allows customers to buycondoms and contraceptive products online and alsodelivers it at homes in just four working days. Thesite offers a wide range of condom brands for menand women. CondomKing.in is the brainchild ofhealthcare business expert and entrepreneurRamesh Srinivas, Bonne Sante Healthcare's founderand President, based in France. Srinivas' firm hasbeen selling healthcare products such as condoms,contraceptive items and accessories in 26 countriesin Europe and other regions for the past sevenyears. However, it took three years to ideate aunique business model and approach for India thatfinally shaped as CondomKing.in, launched onNovember 3, 2010.

About the model and approach, Srinivas says,“People in Europe and US are highly literate andinformed but it's not the case in India. The usershere are not well informed and they are unawareits proper usage, various types, benefits and otherdetails.”

Through this platform, CondomKing wants tocreate a critical mass of informed users orcustomers. This apart the site also has the supportof an advisory panel of doctors, sexologists andexperts to address the customers' queries andhealth problems. The site has two dedicated servicepersonnel to help and support customers' queries.Also, the customers can interact with the advisorypanel via emails and online chats with voice andtext support. “No other site is providing andexplaining such information about condoms andcontraceptive products to users,” claimed Srinivas.

Like any e-commerce portals, first the customerhas to register with the site in order to place anorder and make payment via credit/debit cards, net-banking or via PayPal. Subsequently, the customer'sorder is forwarded to the respective condomcompanies, which processes it delivers the order atthe customer's residence with the help of courierservice in four working days.

For secured online payments gateways, thecompany has tied up with HDFC Bank, TechProcessSolutions and PayPal. At present any customer canplace a minimum order of Rs 195 per brand. However,Srinivas stressed, “In the next 18-20 months, I wantto bring down the cap on price-order and also reducethe delivery time to 48 hours or 2 working days.”

According to Srinivas, the condom andcontraceptive product market in India is wortharound Rs 250 to 300 crore and growing at 10percent annually. “Out of such a big Indian market,a miniscule of less than 0.02 percent contraceptiveproducts are sold online, which is very patheticcompared to other countries and markets,” arguedSrinivas. And that is what gives him confidence thathe would be able to make hay when the sunshines.

PANKAJ MARU

CIOL