Tamil Nadu’s e-com users high on cashback offers

The key drivers of the growth here have been increased internet penetration, growing acceptability of online payments and an increase in per capita income. Tamil Nadu is among the top 10 regions when it comes to online shopping in India. 75 pc of the users are between the age group of 18-34; dominated by males with 70 pc share. 

The portal works with more than 1500 e-com sites. The company’s business model is based on the concept of affiliate marketing. Retailers pay it a commission for every transaction that is driven to them. CashKaro has raised close to $5 mn to date; of which $3.8 mn was raised in Series A funding from Kalaari Capital, one of India’s leading venture capital firms. Ratan Tata has also invested in the firm in his personal capacity. The portal has credited close to Rs 5 cr of real cash as cashback to online shoppers in Tamil Nadu.

The company has so far enabled Rs 1,000 crore in GMV till date and drives close to 10,000 transactions a day to partner sites. It has given out Rs 35 crore cashback to members as real cash and expects to cross more than Rs 45 crore as cashback in the next few months. With over 1.5 million users, it is planned to expand the footprint to South East Asia in the next two years. The portal was founded by Swati and Rohan Bhargava.