Valyoo skips plans for more vertical e-com properties; LensKart, WatchKart, BagsKart & JewelsKart together shipping 1,000 orders a day

One-and-half-year old  Valyoo Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs a string of vertical e-commerce sites LensKart (eyeglasses), WatchKart (watches), BagsKart (bags) and JewelsKart (jewellery), has decided to focus on its existing four e-com sites. This marks a change from the previous strategy wherein it was looking to introduce more fashion and lifestyle portals by the end of 2012.

"We have decided to stop with JewelsKart, and right now have no intention of getting into more categories. We will concentrate on the existing four," Peyush Bansal, founder and chief executive officer, Valyoo Technologies, told Techcircle.in.

The startup had unveiled its fourth (and last) property JewelsKart in February this year. Bansal had earlier told Techcircle that it may look at other products such as cosmetics to launch more niche e-com sites.

One source close to the company said the firm is now shipping around 1,000 orders a day with an average basket size estimated to be around Rs 1,500. The company had told us in January that it was handling around 500 orders/day with its three properties (before JewelsKart was launched) with an average order size of Rs 2,000.

This implies that while the number of orders has gone up, the average order value has shrunk. Going by the latest numbers, Valyoo should be clocking gross merchandise value of around Rs 4.5 crore a month.

Bansal declined to comment on the latest order size and daily transactions, though he said LensKart drives the business. He added that Vayloo is currently handling 10,000 SKUs and is growing at 15-20 per cent month-on-month and intends to break even in the next two years.

Last October, Valyoo Technologies raised $4 million in first round of funding from IDG Ventures India.

Bansal said, "Right now we are 'passively' looking for funds, 'significantly' more compared to what we raised last year. This round will probably also see the participation of existing investor IDG Ventures."

The proposed round of funding will be used to propel growth by expanding warehouse capacity, improving customer support, building a stronger team (especially logistics) and going deep into the existing segments and increasing their product range.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)