Infosys co-founder and ex-chairman of UIDAI Nandan Nilkani has invested Rs 25-30 crore in 10i Commerce Services, the parent company of e-commerce platform ShopX, as indicated by Economic Times yesterday. ShopX will use the funding to expand across “hundreds of towns and cities in India”, added the report. ShopX claims to enable offline retailers and smaller shop owners to sell online using its ecommerce platform. It currently claims to have 13,000 registered retailers, 10,000 unique products with operations in over 150 towns across India, and operated in stealth-mode since incorporation in March 2015, as per the report. The startup operates in three ways as per information on its website: -Retail app for sellers: The seller app allows small shop owners and other retailers to build their own customized online storefront. Sellers are assisted with in-app mobile phone/DTH recharges, listing and categorization of products, creation of custom deals and offers, and other utility apps for download within the app. -App for consumers: Products listed by these sellers will be displayed on an app for consumers. They can place an order within the app and get it delivered to their doorsteps. The company says that “customers can place orders without the need for internet to their nearest retail store,” although we are not sure how this is possible; probably after browsing through products a user’s order could be sent as and SMS. MediaNama has written to the company for more clarifications, and will update the story when we hear from them. -Retail…
