Dogspot – a Delight for Dog Lovers

Dogspot is a portal where you can buy the widest variety of dog products in India. Also they have a community where you can discuss anything related to dogs. I have been tracking this website for a while and have seen it grow from stage to stage.

They started out as a community for very long and then got into ecommerce a few years back. Initially they were selling products of various brands. With the big horizontal ecommerce players entering this space, they are moving towards creating a private label.

WHAT I LIKE

Speciality Store – They are sticking to a niche and have emerged the leaders in that space.

Strong Community – It is the biggest and strongest community for dog lovers. It serves as a great tool for engaging users.

Very Targeted Market – Dog Lovers & Owners. They are building tools for them and hence the engagement is higher.

Private Label  - Dogpsot has a big user base and is now pushing it’s own private label. The good thing here is that the margins are higher and a private label is sustainable in the longer term. They are also selling their products on other websites like Amazon.

CONCERNS

Small Market – The market size is quite small for dog products in India.

My Suggestions

Demerging – They are currently running 2 businesses, a community and an ecommerce store. They should demerge both of them as both have different growth potentials and challenges associated with them. This will help them unlock value in the future.

I feel that Dogspot has created a strong place for itself in this niche and is currently in the process of pivoting it’s business model into one which looks more at profitability and sustainability. 

The Business of E-Commerce

Ecommerce includes any commerce which happens on the internet, be it buying and selling of any products and services. This includes a host of online business industries like online travel, retail, business/consumer services etc. Also the business can be conducted between 2 businesses (B2B), a business and an individual consumer (B2C) or between 2 individuals (C2C).

During my work in Beveragewala, I have seen multiple models of ecommerce existing in the market.

Inventory Model: The seller buys and maintains inventory and sells it online. The benefit is that the seller controls product/service quality and all logistics around it. On the other hand, it also means a higher capital infusion required to buy inventory. Private labels of goods/services, online travel tend to work on this model.

Marketplace Model: The seller simply acts as a platform for commerce between buyers and vendors registered on it. It provides all logistics and payment support around the sales which happen on it’s platform. The benefit is lower capital required as no inventory is maintained. Big ecommerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart etc. tend to work on this model.

Drop Shipment Model: The seller takes an order and passes it onto the vendor. The vendor directly ships the product directly to the buyer. The benefit to the seller is no inventory and logistics required. However, the buyer’s experience, and hence the seller’s brand, is totally dependent on the vendor. This model has not found much acceptance and has been replaced by the Marketplace Model in most cases.