Shopmatic Success Story with Yen Ti Lim and Anurag Avula

In the dynamic world of Indian e-commerce, Shopmatic, led by visionary founders Yen Ti Lim and Anurag Avula, has emerged as a game-changer. This Singapore-incorporated company, which commenced its Indian operations in January 2016, navigated its way through challenges to become a transformative force in the online business landscape.

In its infancy, Shopmatic faced the reality of entrepreneurship, undertaking an extensive exploration of over 25 towns and cities across India. Co-founder Anurag Avula, armed with decades of experience, spearheaded this venture along with Yen Ti Lim and Kris Chen, former colleagues at PayPal. The initial exuberance gave way to a learning curve as the team encountered a 27-day delay in onboarding its first consumer, reinforcing the startup adage, “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

Over the past four years, Shopmatic has evolved from a platform offering custom web stores to becoming an end-to-end service provider. The comprehensive suite now includes payment gateway integration, logistics and shipping support, digital promotions, and big data analytics insights. This evolution reflects in the financial numbers, with Shopmatic’s revenue catapulting from a modest ₹1.5 crore in 2017 to a run-rate of ₹27 crore by March 2020.

A pivotal moment in Shopmatic’s trajectory was the shift to a transaction model in 2019, incorporating a nominal annual hosting fee and a 3 percent charge per successful transaction. This model, coupled with India’s booming e-commerce landscape, propelled Shopmatic’s user base from over 56,000 in March 2017 to an impressive 4 lakh by the following year. The backdrop for Shopmatic’s success is the surging digital wave in India. With smartphone users reaching 500 million and internet users at 451 million, the country witnessed a transformative shift in consumer behavior. Digital transactions skyrocketed from $40 billion in 2018 to an estimated $100 billion by 2020, presenting a vast landscape for growth.

The introduction of the transaction model marked a strategic shift for Shopmatic, disrupting the market and garnering over 2.5 lakh merchants within nine months. The “pay us only when you’re successful” approach resonated well in India, where subscription models faced challenges. This shift not only boosted merchant adoption but also aligned Shopmatic with the aspirations of individual entrepreneurs.

Venture capitalists recognize Shopmatic’s success as a testament to the immense growth potential in bringing small and medium businesses online. A Google and KPMG study from two years ago revealed that 68 percent of such businesses in India were offline. Shopmatic’s ease of onboarding, coupled with end-to-end services, has found traction, especially in Tier II and III cities.

While acknowledging the challenges ahead, including effective execution and managing unit economics, Anurag Avula remains focused on meeting consumer expectations. In the face of Amazon’s significant investment in Indian operations, Avula emphasizes staying calm, focused, and customer-centric. For Shopmatic, the mantra is clear: “They win, we win.”

In conclusion, the journey of Yen Ti Lim and Anurag Avula with Shopmatic reflects a relentless pursuit of innovation and adaptation in the ever-evolving Indian e-commerce space. As Shopmatic continues to redefine the rules, the founders remain committed to empowering businesses and individuals, contributing to the digital transformation of India’s entrepreneurial landscape.