Inkfruit Relaunches As A Social Commerce Site

Inkfruit, a portal where people can submit, explore and buy custom T-shirt designs, has revamped its website with a plethora of new features which allow users to share the products they like on their social networks.

Online buying has become easier too, as transactions now require only a few steps.

Inkfruit's co-founder Kashyap Dalal says, "The site has been revamped to ensure that the previous user interface turns into a Web 2.0 experience. It is different from conventional e-commerce sites as it brings value by leveraging the benefits of social networking and the community approach."

A glance at the website before (L) and after (R) :

Inkfruit

Headquartered in Mumbai, Inkfruit was founded by Kashyap Dalal and Naveneet Rai in December, 2007. It allows artists to submit their unique designs on the site and those selected are printed on T-shirts, mugs, posters and laptop skins for consumers to purchase.

Although Inkfruit regularly conducts design contests, its 24x7 open-door policy lets anyone submit his/her design all the year round. The prize money for an accepted design can be anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000, although no royalty is paid as of now.

"It's 'fun' and it's 'creative' – those are the two words that distinguish Inkfruit. And that happens to be our driving force. Another thing that is very unique about Inkfruit is the entire co-creation model which helps us do exciting things over and over again. This model makes sure that every new launch by Inkfruit is something different," added Kashyap.

New Launches

Inkfruit will also launch new products and mainly focus on the footwear segment. Some of the key launches this year will include flip-flops, slippers adorned with unique graphics, as well as canvas shoes. There will be bags as well, including laptop bags, sling bags, tote bags and so on. In addition, Inkfruit intends to come up with unique items in the accessories segment, namely great-looking brollies and wallets. The new site showcases some of these products, but there are more to come.

Investment Plans

Earlier this year, Inkfruit had raised $3 million from SAIF Partners. The funds raised were largely focused on three areas – infrastructure, team-building and marketing. Right now, the prime focus of Inkfruit is to launch innovative products and build a comprehensive product portfolio. Currently, the company has 300 transactions a day and although it focuses on both retail and online sales, it's the online segment which is growing rapidly.