Rohit Sharma, ex-CEO, Reliance Entertainment (Digital) launches e-commerce portal

Sharma, who had quit in December along with two other Reliance Entertainment (Digital) employees, has launched Wopshop.com, a deals site for children.

Rohit Sharma, ex-chief executive officer of Reliance Entertainment (Digital), has ventured into the e-commerce space and has launched a deals site called Wopshop.com for children. The site currently features deals on toys and will subsequently expand into stationery, home entertainment and publishing.

Sharma has partnered with two of his former colleagues from Reliance Entertainment (Digital) for this venture. Vaibhav Odhekar, who was instrumental in setting up Zapak Toys from scratch and building it into a Rs 30-crore company, is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Wopshop.com. Also, Sanjeev Singhal, ex-CTO at Reliance Entertainment (Digital), is the co-founder and CTO of Wopshop.com.

Sharma, CEO of Wopshop.com, says, "There were three primary reasons for entering into the e-commerce space - the great potential this segment offers, the opportunity to explore the kids segment, which is still unchartered territory in the e-commerce space, and the expertise our core team has accumulated over a period of time working at Zapak."

The portal has partnered with most of the Indian toy manufacturers and importers in India to build the product portfolio. It has also tied up with some leading toy companies outside India. The portal caters to all age groups, including infants, toddlers, boys and girls in the 0-12 years age bracket. The team says that the differentiator of the site is the daily discounts and offers (like add-ons and freebies), which ensure that the customers get a value-for-money deal every time they shop.

The site currently offers cash on delivery and netbanking options for payments. The credit card payment mode is expected to go live in about one week. Clearing misconceptions about e-commerce and security, Sharma says, "It is a misnomer. People are not concerned and are willing to shop online. The talk about the low rate of adoption of e-commerce due to security reasons is just hype."