How These 2 Startups are Making it Big with Baby Products in E-commerce Space Today's parents are careful about what their kids play with

The demand for baby products has undoubtedly increased many folds in this day and age, especially among the millennials, who have a better purchasing power, and are ever ready to invest in products for their kids.

They are always up for buying products that will make the lives of their tiny tots easy and simple. New-age parents leave no stone unturned to make their children the best in the world.

In addition to this, there is a boom in e-commerce sector all over the world and dot.com-frenzy people are increasing in number in leaps and bounds. All these factors have, in no uncertain terms, boosted up the Baby start-ups in India and all over the world.

Riding on the wave, Indian startups like Theglobalstocks.com and Flintobox are trying to make the most out of the huge demand for baby products today, and are especially looking at the e-commerce space for a faster growth.

Shreenidhi Srirangam, CTO and Co-founder, Flintobox, which produces activity boxes for children, rightly said we live in a world where we communicate with each other over mobile phones more than we do face to face. "For keeping in touch, shopping, hailing a cab, or ordering food, everything begins and ends with a smartphone," he gushed.

Srirangam opined that large scale internet penetration had made it accessible for the commoner in Tier II and Tier III cities to buy baby products that are not available in their localities.

According to Forrester, an American market research company that provides advice on existing and potential impact of technology to its clients and the public, China is the largest market for e-commerce, followed by the US, and India is the fastest growing one.

The Internet and e-commerce penetration is growing at an all time pace and this has created a bigger opportunity for start-ups in this sector as more and more people are willing to explore the e-commerce market.

Verun Rastogii, Founder and CEO, Theglobalstocks.com, seconded Srirangam's views stating that it's an upcoming business category. The nuclear family concept in India with both parents working, leaving the single child to the care of a governess has boosted the business.

"Most of the shopping happens in guilt, as they aren't able to spend much time with their kids and secondly, a new-age parent is more brand and quality conscious," he opined.

Smart Products for Smart Kids

In this age of smart phones, even parenting has got smart. Today's parents are careful about what their kids play with. This has seen a rise in the demands for S.T.E.M Toys and products that help children build skills.

When it comes to kids, safety is the other prime concern of parents, which has created a booming market for products like GPS Tracker watches for kids. This will help one monitor the activities of the kids on a smartphone.

To ensure safety, the products are being designed in consultation with child psychologists, pedagogy experts and game designers and are absolutely safe for children.

"We make sure that the products are safe for children. We look into various aspects such as non-toxic, non-chewable and non-swallowable part of it. Safety processes are involved right from designing, procuring, packaging to shipping," said Srirangam.

Rastogii relies on internationally accredited laboratories to test the products before they are out in the market. "It is ensured that all products are non-toxic and have all safety certifications and compliance met in advance," he pointed out.

Challenges are Manifold

Though demands are on the rise and the market looks booming, challenges are aplenty in the category. While Srirangam faces the challenge in convincing parents that the games can be played by children without much interaction or involvement from parents, Rastogii is troubled by cheap and harmful products that pose a threat to the kids' industry.

"There are suppliers in the local market who offer non-compliant products at the cheaper prices and lack of awareness among consumers is adding up to the problem. Secondly, there are a lot of fake alternatives in the market, which damage the economics of the ethical businesses," he rued.

Innovations and Diversification to Drive Businesses

It is a given that start-ups will have to keep innovating and implementing change to grow and scale. While Flintobox is diversifying by foraying into curriculum, theglobalstocks.com is adopting right technology, improving communication and understanding customer needs and fulfilling their requirements seamlessly to give a competitive edge to its businesses.

E-commerce in Kids Segment all Set to Dominate Market Space

The e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart, and telecom majors like Geo-network have rewritten the e-commerce landscape of India. These players have changed the way people buy not just baby products, but products catering to all age groups.

Srirangam agreed that in five years, every child who grows in India will grow through a tech and innovative environment. To make most of this opportunity he aims to be the fun-learning partner of children from 1 to 12 years by creating appropriate products and tools for all the touch-points that create opportunity for fun learning – school, home, media and technology.

Rastogii agreed, albeit with a rider. According to him the Indian e-commerce will dominate the market if it's supported by the omni-channel strategy. "Standalone e-commerce or standalone offline stores cannot build their competitive edge against the omni-channel," he said.