Silicon Valley to India – the enigmatic Radhika Ghai of ShopClues exuberates inspiration

India’s first woman to enter the prestigious Unicorn Club, this wonder woman is all about a never die attitude and great perseverance.

Yes, Inventiva is featuring in today’s article, none other than the co-founder of the humungous ShopClues.com. Radhika Ghai is currently the Chief Business officer of the company.

It was she along with her co-founders that recognized a market need and opportunity. They believed in the idea so sincerely that despite tons of competition in and around the industry, they decided to pursue you it with all their might.

So what is ShopClues.com? For those not fully aware, it is an online shopping platform established in 2011 in Silicon Valley. However, aren’t there many other big players for the same? What makes ShopClues different from the rest?

Radhika aptly puts out why ShopClues is distinct and why is it that they decided to launch it in the first place. Entrepreneurship, as we all know, is about solving a problem area or addressing a gap in the market, and this is exactly what Radhika and her team have done brilliantly at ShopClues.

“They thought,” she said that “In every country, offline retail and online retail should look the same”. She lived in the US before returning to India and so did the other co-founders.

They realized that in America, shopping on websites like Amazon or Walmart.com and shopping at offline stores looked the same; however, in India this was barely the case. Radhika proposes that the “offline retail space in India is 92% unorganized”.

There are too many small shop owners still attracting a loyal customer base. She recalls “Mishraji ‘s” local electronics store being her mother’s favourite. The aim was to bring these small-scale retailers online, by creating a market place for them.

Back in 2011, the above was quite a task for the team. She personally went to these small stores, waiting to be addressed for hours sometimes, and individually convincing each to come on board.

Moreover, she says that their target market is what sets them apart. ShopClues actually took a rather unique path, orienting itself especially for the middle-class Indian masses.

Radhika says that the middle-class Indians are not only after value for money, they are also aware of the selection they should be offered. ShopClues thus displayed more than 16 million SKUs and 6800 product categories within the first few years itself.

This gave the masses, the much sought after variety of products that they couldn’t dream of achieving at an individual store. Today the website lists products from over 6 Lakh merchants to offer a complete selection to each customer.

Another key differentiating factor, she along with her team have focused on is a super easy on-boarding process. Their developed technology comprising artificial intelligence, allows the merchant to make his or her shop live in 90 seconds.

Moreover, their AI doesn’t allow fake products to be listed on the website in the first place. So the buyer is protected from devious intentions. In case the product is not found as described, the return policies of ShopClues are exceptionally reliable.

In 2017 ShopClues saw a 3 fold increase in revenue. Radhika is proud of the fact that over 2.50 lakhs of all their merchants have had at least one sale successfully. She says this number in itself is a proof of concept and execution at ShopClues.com

More about the lady herself?

Radhika pursued her MBA from the University of Washington. She has also attended Stanford for specialized courses.

A glorious corporate career at the Goldman Sachs and Nordstrom in the US honed her for running her own business. She ran her first venture FashionClues for around 2 years before ShopClues.com

Her achievements and awards speak volumes and how! CEO of the Year Award to the Exemplary Woman Entrepreneur of the Year to the Outlook Business Woman of Worth, she’s made her own mark inspiring women all over the world.

Radhika’s enigmatic personality is apparent in all her work. She says “I show up every day. I don’t give up. I think that’s it.”

A mother of two, she exhibits the ideal home-work balance. She believes that women should not be associated with the term ‘sacrifice’. In the end, it’s all about prioritizing what’s more important at a given time.