PluginIndia does depend on any sort of financial sponsorships from the EV and Clean Tech Industry. The revenue from Google AdSense is negligible, but it pays for the server and other infrastructure. Farah, Raphae and myself have regular jobs and we work on PluginIndia projects on the side, out of passion for EV's and Clean Energy.
An online shop will help PluginIndia stand on its own and thus help us to work on more projects in the coming months and years. For example, we are planning to start a Hindi section, where articles will be posted in Hindi. We are hiring a knowledgeable head master who teaches in a village in MP near Bandhavgarh National Park. Another example, PluginIndia can pay contributors for their contribution. We do know that many of our friends contribute to the site out of enthusiasm. But we have to be fair too. So you get the idea!
Also when PluginIndia is self reliant, we can work on more projects and execute ideas better.
Talking about the shop. Some features of the shop are
*** Instant Chat feature. Users can chat with us in real time about any query on any product.
*** Shop directly from our Facebook Page
*** Shopping Cart system.
*** Most products have videos reviewed by Raphae to highlight the functionalities of each.
*** You can use Net Banking , Debit Cards and other payment modes.
*** User comments can be posted below each product. Every feedback or suggestion is considered.
We have integrated with Shopify as our Online Shopping partners. Your shopping will be safe and secure. Please check the security link on the right hand side of the shopping page.
The products we display at the PluginIndia shop are carefully chosen by us. We work with partners who are developing, designing innovative products. These are the companies who are trying to create a social impact by doing something different. We would like to help such companies and work with them.
If you know of any such companies, please do write to us and we will gladly feature their products in our shop.
Farah and Raphae Halim, my partners at Pluginindia, have decided to offer their existing shop in Mumbai to feature PluginIndia products. We will be shipping most products from here. Do visit our shop (which is still under renovation!) and chat with us on all things EV and Clean Energy!
Offline shops can also be useful for people who don't want to shop online. We are open to having 'franchisees' in other cities :)
I know that the word 'franchisees' bring about lots of corporate/business policies like fees, sales targets etc.
All that is not applicable at PluginIndia, as we are not a corporate, we just want to spread awareness. So like minded people who own shops or businesses and want to help stock PluginIndia products in other cities, do contact us!
Here are some pics of our Offline Shop in Santa Cruz, Mumbai.
Happy shopping!