Excl: Former Reliance Entertainment (Digital) CEO Rohit Sharma Launches Wopshop.com, A Kids' Online Toystore

Rohit Sharma, chief executive officer of Reliance Entertainment (Digital), has teamed up with two of his former colleagues Vaibhav Odhekar and Sanjeev Singhal to launch an online kids toystore Wopshop.com.

Wopshop started with toys but it will foray into new segments such as kids stationary, home entertainment and publishing in the next few months.

The site offers products in four broad categories including toddlers, infants, boys and girls. Further one can also find products through 'find by category' and 'find by age'(0-13). Wopshop has tied up with most of the tier A, B and C toy manufacturers and importers in the country. In addition to this, it is also getting toys from other countries like Europe, China and the USA.

Speaking to Techcircle.in Rohit Sharma said, "We want to create a destination for kids, where the parents can come and find all products required for them. Unlike most of the e-commerce portals Wopshop is not in form of an open catalogue but a deal site."

Sharma is the CEO of the start-up with over 12 years of experience in the Internet and digital entertainment industry. He joined Reliance Entertainment way back in March 2006 and prior to that he has worked with Times Internet Ltd and Cyber Media India Ltd. A Physics graduate from Delhi University, Sharma completed his MBA from Lancaster University.

Vaibhav Odhekar is the COO of Wopshop, who comes with about 8 years of experience in the industry. Previosuly he was the vice president of Zapak Digital Entertainment Limited. An alumus of Bhilai Institute of Technology and IIM Lucknow, he has previously worked with ICICI Bank.

Sanjeev Singhal, the CTO of Wopshop, has around 11 years of experience in the industry. Previously he was the CTO with Reliance Entertainment (BigFlix). He has also worked with Indian Express, Informica, Times Internet Limited, India Today Group Digital before joining Reliance.

Right now a self funded company, the online kids toy store is also looking at raising fund in the coming 2-3 months for further expansion. Sharma said, "In the coming few months, we will be focusing on our product catalogue, sourcing of goods, customer acquisition, good deals and most importantly creating a beautiful experience for the customers."

Right now a team of 13 including the co-founders, Wopshop only has the cash on delivery (COD) and net banking facility for payment, but intends to initiate the credit card and debit card facility in the next 2-3 days. It offers free shipping across the country.

The new website is bound to face competition from various other kids portals who specialise in toys such as kidloo and redbell besides sites such as firstcry and babyoye who are in baby products as also generic e-com firms who also sell toys such as Indiaplaza and Homeshop18 among others.

According to Sharma, "Compared to the other online baby stores, Wopshop is ahead in terms of sourcing and merchandising strategy. As we were in the toy business before, we know this segment in and out. We would be able to give more discounts, a better positioning than others."

Though the portal looks pretty neat and attractive with deals, to attract the kids and the parents it needs to include more products in terms of variety and quantity to compete with the incumbents. Probably, it might need to also think of introducing a 24-hour customer care helpline on phone and a live chat service.

Techcircle.in had first reported that Rohit Sharma is launching  his own e-commerce venture which will focus on kids.