After HomeShop18, Yebhi launches virtual shopping walls

Delhi-based fashion and lifestyle e-tailer Yebhi.com has launched 30 virtual stores across Café Coffee Day outlets in Delhi and Bangalore. At these virtual stores, customers can buy products from virtual walls.

These virtual stores feature pictures of products from Yebhi's portal, with each having a corresponding QR or NFC code. Customers can select any item by scanning the QR code or tapping on the NFC code via their smartphones and they will then be directed to the website where the purchase is completed.

"We settled on outlets near corporates and youth hangouts as customers who come here have time and money to shop," said Nikhil Rungta, chief business officer, Yebhi.com.

Earlier this year, online and TV shopping network HomeShop18 launched virtual shopping walls at Terminal 3 of New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. In a similar pattern, buyers can scan the QR code and go to the HomeShop18 portal or call the store.

Earlier Yebhi launched some offline stores in different cities. The virtual walls may not help so much in increasing the number of actual sales as Internet penetration on the handsets required for it to become big is still shallow. It seems Yebhi launched the new initiative, using out-of-home advertising (OOH) model to involve shoppers, as an attempt to make a few more people take notice of its brand.

Will this new spin work for these e-commerce players? What is your opinion?