Online businesses and Startups in India are growing at an astronomical speed. Today where everything is available online, any product or service need can be resolved in mere clicks. Where there is a need, there is a website/app to fulfill it, unfortunately, the visibility of these websites is quite limited to the general internet users. Knowing where to get what online is the problem. Weblistr, India’s No. #1 online shopping guide aims at solving this problem.
Weblistr is a one of a kind startup that accumulates useful information from e-commerce websites and apps across 20+ categories such as fashion, home décor, travel, food delivery, jobs, healthcare, education etc. It also has user generated ratings and reviews for online startups on their platform.
The platform hosts over 500 websites/apps and has gained over 1500 reviews in just 2 months of launch. They also run an active blog through which they provide engaging and unique content on online startups to its readers. Weblistr is a Nasscom 10k startups with offices in Kolkata and Bangalore.
Who can Use Weblistr and When?
Weblistr helps online shoppers discover new and best online marketplaces. Users can search according to the categories, products/services, or website names. The portal provides users with all relevant information about the ecommerce websites such as products/services offered, locations served, delivery time, payment methods accepted etc. The most important information being website ratings and reviews which helps online shoppers make an informed buying decision by giving them a wider perspective. Users can share website reviews, bookmark and save their favorite websites as their “Weblists” and even list new ecommerce companies. They can browse through “Collections” to discover websites according to their personality/tastes.
Weblistr helps online businesses reach out to more potential customers and engage with them. It is important for online businesses to remember how important it is to provide a user-centric website for customers. This should be central to the design phase when creating things like wireframes. You can find more info here. Through this platform, startups can gain visibility and traction by promoting themselves. They can also manage their online reputation by interacting with their reviewers and improving their experiences. It is especially useful for newer and lesser known startups.
There is Something About Specialists!
If one has pain in their ear, he goes to an ENT doctor, if one has a growing wisdom tooth he goes to a dentist. Why not just go to a general physician? Well there is something about the specialists, isn’t it? Just like your healthcare needs, nowadays shopping needs are also specific. Then why shop from the same handful of websites for all your product’s or service needs?
Weblistr helps users find the best online business suitable to their product or service need. If you need to book Adventure travel, Weblistr will suggest websites that specialize in adventure tour bookings instead of just informing about the well-known travel websites. If you’re looking for funky mobile covers online, Weblistr will point you to websites providing the coolest stuff. It makes online shopping very simple, relevant and valuable.
Website Reviews, that’s new!
We’ve heard of product reviews, restaurant/hotel reviews, movie reviews! Reviewing websites and apps, that’s new! Weblistr believes that this is important as it brings trust and accountability to online shopping. There are more than 2000 online startups in India today. Knowing where to get what is just solving one half of the problem. Being able to choose the best among various alternatives is the complete solution. What better way to make this decision than learning from the experiences of others? Shoppers guide other shoppers and this brings authenticity.
There is an algorithm and filtering system designed to separate out the fake reviews from the genuine ones. There is also an approval system in place. This helps build the credibility of the website rankings on the platform.
The Brains Behind The Venture
Weblistr is the creation of 2 college friends and MBA graduates who are both active online shoppers. Rashika Jain, a gold medalist from Great Lakes Institute of management and a BTech from PES Institute of technology quit her job at Bharti Airtel to start working on her startup idea about a year ago. Karthik K Bhandary, born and brought up in Kuwait, has also done his MBA from Great Lakes and Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology. Karthik quit his job in Kuwait and decided to move to India to join Rashika and together they started the journey to simplify online shopping for users. The seeds of the idea sprung when Rashika was trying to send a gift to Karthik for his birthday and could not find any trustworthy websites who can deliver to Kuwait. It then occurred to them that there are 100s of online startups coming up each day but most users continue to be unaware of them. So they thought of Weblistr.com. Starting as a work from home project with 1 intern, Weblistr currently is a 10-member strong family with average team member age being under 24 years.