Chennai: It is well-known that retailers, of any stature, opposed foreign direct investment (FDI) in India for fear of losing power and control over the billions of dollars that the industry is worth. When American retail giant Walmart acquired Flipkart, protests rose from traders unions too.
Experts were keen to point out the importance of keeping Indian currency within the country and the detrimental effects FDI in retail will bring to the running in the long-term.
From this perspective came CTONSHOP, a mobile app that aims to become the digital marketplace for all shops. News Today caught up with Prathapraj, the founder of the app, also a Chennaiite, to learn more about his startup.
“Flipkart and Amazon were able to inculcate the online shopping behaviour in India at a time when we were so skeptical and suspicious about buying something online. The two firms gave us the trust that was needed in the online medium,” began Prathapraj who lives in Thiruninravur, near Avadi.
A postgraduate in M.Des from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Prathap said his decade-long experience in a top IT firm helped him carry out the necessary study he needed to undertake before launching his app.
“I was keeping an eye on startups, their aim and vision. I was upset to see that foreign giants could just come and buy them (Indian startups). I was concerned about the economy because, when companies are within the country, the cash circulates in India. There was a question about the sustainability of currency circulation,” he said.
“If we ignore the neighbourhood shops, what will happen after 10 years?” he asked. That is when Pratapraj came up with the idea of ‘Come To Our Neighbour Shops’ or to put it simply, CTONSHOP app.
According to him, the app will help people locate items they wish to buy at shops in the city they are present in, without having to check for its availability online.
“People are busy nowadays and do not get the time to explore. At the same time, shopkeepers are suffering as well, because they have to pay their mortgage. That cannot be done if they are not getting customers,” reasoned Prathap.
“I did the research, spoke with all kinds of shopowners. The online giants did not help such shopkeepers somehow. I decided to make an application. CTONSHOP is a digital platform for retail shops where they can sign up for free. They just need to give their basic information and they will be open for everybody to see,” he explained.
The application that took four years to develop, also has navigation services and other ubiquitous feeds like user reviews. Pratap said he aims to release a retail card that will work on rewards basis and give frequent users offers and discounts.
But he is betting big on his application’s use in bringing in more work. “We are currently working with shopowners to tell us about job availability and if they are open to employing transpeople who are neglected by society. Senior citizens might make use of this, too,” said Pratap.
Currently, the app is available in English only and the founder is on the lookout for investors to launch it all over the nation. Pratap says he needs more funds, hence the lookout for investors, to roll out more features including regional languages.
CTONSHOP is currently present in Chennai and Bengaluru and will soon be rolled out in Mumbai and Hyderabad.