Techcircle Startup Walkabout Pit Stop VII Jabong

The last leg of TC Walkabout took us to the Gurgaon base of fashion e-tailer Jabong, where we were warmly greeted by co-founder Praveen Sinha and operations head Rohan Chopra.

Around 25 startups had gathered together in a conference room for a free-wheeling interaction with the Jabong team.

Sinha nostalgically spoke about his journey from working at Maruti Suzuki to leading one of India's top e-commerce portals for fashion. He took questions on the four-year old Jabong's journey, especially the early days after inception in 2011. Sinha also spoke about the first startup he founded while studying at IIM-Calcutta. Interestingly, he is still associated with that firm.

The delegates listened attentively as Sinha dished out valuable tips on branding, customer acquisition, competition and hiring. He shared insights on Jabong's customer acquisition strategy and the value proposition of each advertising medium. After the questions were addressed, Chopra took over. He discussed operational challenges faced by the logistics division. He also highlighted the issue of 'returns' and the various methods being deployed to control the problem.

The 'app-only' strategy adopted by Myntra, Jabong's rival, was a also moot point. Participants also questioned him on the competitive dynamics in the fashion e-tailing industry.

The participants shared some light moments before bidding adieu to Sinha and Chopra.