However the majority of buyers are still loyal to the conventional Brick and Mortar stores. The main reason being the fact that physical stores cater for the ‘touch and feel’ desire of shoppers.

Indian buyers want to not only see what they are buying but also get to touch and feel it, before deciding whether or not to make a purchase.

Their high preference to brick and mortar stores is further brought about by digital trial rooms available in these stores. Most if not all physical stores in India have trail rooms, where buyers can actually try the items they’d like to purchase before paying any money.

Until recently, online stores have not been meeting this ‘touch and feel’ need of Indian buyers. The experience has been just the opposite:

• Buyers can’t hold or feel what they are buying.
• There wasn’t a way to try on what they’d like to buy before paying for it.
• There were many cases of items being returned.
• This was making online shopping both a disappointing and time-wasting experience for buyers.

The end result was Indian people could not see the benefits of online shopping compared to shopping from offline retailers.

Recent Changes by Online Stores

After a long time of being the underdog to offline retailers, many online stores are starting to understand what Indian buyers want. A good number of Indian online stores have now come up with ways to give buyers a similar experience to offline stores, becoming more competitive.

1. Myntra.com

Myntra is one of the largest online stores in India that sells clothing. Just this year, the company introduced a virtual dressing room called the ‘Style Studio’. Style Studio is meant to give buyers the opportunity of ‘trying on’ what they want to buy online and see how it looks on them, before going ahead with the transaction.

With this feature, you can dress an image of yourself with the product you want to buy. You only need to turn on your webcam; upload a photo, click on the product and you will get to see how the product will look like on you.

The feature additionally enables buyers to share their looks on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, so that their friends can comment and give their opinion on the best outfits and clothes for them. Friends can simply rate your looks, allowing you to get different opinions on what you should buy.

The site further provides helpful tips on the latest and most fashionable outfits on the market today.

2. Zovi.com

Zovi is yet another online Indian store that has introduced a virtual trial room called the ‘Zovi Eye’. The feature works much the same as Myntra’s ‘Style Studio’, where you use your webcam to try t-shirts, trousers, jeans, dresses, pullovers, shoes and jackets on yourself, and therefore making a better decision on what to buy. Just like Myntra, you can also share the looks on social media sites and rate your friends looks, too.

Apparently since the company started using this feature, it has experienced over 20% sales increases. However, issuing regular zovi coupons to its customers have also contributed to this increase in sales.

3. Lenskart.com

Lenskart is one of the leading eyewear websites in India. Lenskart has introduced a ‘Virtual Mirror’ feature through which you can try on their glasses and contact lenses of different shapes, sizes and colors.

The company has voiced its intentions of extending the use of this feature to other product lines, such as watches and jewelry, in the near future.

4. Yebhi.com

Yebhi is known for its ‘Try and Buy’ feature. With this feature, the company allows buyers to try on their apparels and shoes at delivery and only pay for them if they meet their expectations. If the buyer is not satisfied with the item, he or she can simply return it and seek a replacement without incurring any additional fees or expenses.

The ‘Try and Buy’ feature, however, does not apply to all products offered by Yebhi, so it’s important that you check and confirm that the item you want is offered under the ‘Try and Buy’ policy.

Conclusion

Many of the Indian online stores that have come up with Virtual Trial Rooms are quickly drawing the attention of buyers as, with virtual trial rooms, the buyer can try on many clothes, apparels and shoes quickly at the comfort of their homes.

The incorporation of the social media feature has also made it possible for buyers to make good selections and decisions on what to spend their money on, through the help of their friends and family on social media sites.

Essentially, there have been evident advantages resulting from these major technological changes made by online Indian stores. Shoppers are starting to develop trust for online sellers and many Indian people are beginning to show willingness to take the risk of buying items online. Nonetheless most online stores are, in addition, offering coupons, huge discounts, 30 day return policies and Cash on Delivery payment option as ways of attracting more buyers.

The post How Virtual Trial Rooms are Bringing ‘Touch and Feel’ to Online Shopping Sites appeared first on Blogsolute.

How To Buy Kindle Fire HD in India?

Kindle Fire HD is still a US only product but it can be bought and then imported in India. For that, there are various sites from where you can buy Kindle Fire HD online:

• Indiatimes – 16GB
• Grabmore.in – 16GB | 32 GB

Should I buy Kindle Fire HD in India?

Short answer: NO

Long answer: Thing which will provoke you to buy Kindle Fire HD is its price. Definitely, it is a low price product and could be considered in the list of budget tablets. But what lies inside this beautiful looking not-so-expensive tablet, unofficially available in India? Does it work fine in India or are there any problems?

Amazon is known for their content, call it Movies, Videos, Books, etc. and Kindle Fire HD is definitely for content consumers and entertainment and not a productivity tablet. But this content streaming and other stuffs are US only and not for India.

Even if you login using fake/arranged US credit card, people at discussion forum (Amazon) complained that it is still not accessible. So, without content, Kindle Fire HD would be useless.

Kindle Fire HD runs on Android ICS, highly customized and skinned to the level that you won’t even recognize that it’s Android.

Well, that’s not a problem but it lacks the core Google apps such as the Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube.

Essentially, we find things like the Contacts, Calendar, and Email apps, which are pretty basic as they can get. But, they don’t offer the same level of complexity and control as its full-blown Android counterparts. For example: the email app doesn’t even support threaded messages, and has no support for Gmail’s labeling.

Amazon Appstore is simply not up to par with either Google’s Play Store or Apple’s App Store in terms of application offerings. It lacks some other modern conveniences like a GPS receiver.

Alternative For Kindle Fire HD

If you had made your mind already but now confused after reading this article then here is an alternative solution. You can buy Google’s own Nexus 7 which is also super-affordable tablet offering quad-core Tegra 3 processor and unpersonalized Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Nexus 7 8GB version is available for Rs. 16,480 on Indiatimes or Homeshop18 or ebay. It is slightly expensive than Kindle but you won’t regret buying it. Another good news is, it will be soon (November 2012) available in India officially.

Based on review by PhoneArena

The post Should I Buy Kindle Fire HD In India? Does It Work? Any Problems? appeared first on Blogsolute.

Here is a list of some websites which allow selling used products online and offer buying second hand things there itself. In other words, they help meeting buyer and seller.

1. Ebay

Ebay doesn’t need any introduction as an online marketplace. Treasure is a part of eBay dedicated to selling used items and second hand things online. Here, Treasure is referred to any thing unused at your home which could bring some cash on selling.

For Sellers

You can create a shop inside eBay to list all your items or sell item as non shop subscriber.

Minimal insertion fee is charged while listing any item depending upon the category of product. For new sellers, first 20 listings are free. However, if product is sold successfully, there is a success fee called as final value has to be paid to eBay.

Payments can be accepted by PaisaPay (Fraud Protection), Bank Transfer or Cheque. Transaction has to be made via eBay itself while Shipping responsibility is completely on Seller.

For Buyers

Almost anything can be found in any category from A-Z. You must go through Pictures posted and verify genuineness of the product. Seller Rating is another feature which adds to trust factor and help from Fraud protection.

2. Second Hand Mall

It is a classified Ads website helping to find potential customers in your city. Not just buying and Selling but it also supports Donating and exchanging things. Stay true to its tagline- Where Things change Hands.

• Website design and Navigation is really easy.
• Posting of Ad is Free. No bugging to upgrade.
• Buyer can contact without revealing your email ID.
• Help out Seller in Courier and provides Loan, Insurance assistance. I always recommend One Sure Insurance which is from onesureinsurance

For Buyers, it has a nice feature called “Product Verification” by which product is verified by their team for authenticity. Also, the listing is moderated I guess because random items I looked for had enough description and real picture of items.

3. OLX

It is quite active classified ads site with maximum number of sellers and buyers from India. Maybe the TV commercials is the reason of its popularity but experience says, its quite good in their business.

For Buyer- Variety of product range is available from Pets to Vehicles and the number of products listed is also high. One thing lacks here is- Owing to high number of product listing, crawling through the search results and finding the product we want becomes difficult. Lack of moderation makes everything look spammy.

For Seller- Posting ad is free and also support anonymous posting. If you want your product to be listed at first place and on featured section on Homepage then Rs. 250 is charged.

Books, Pets and Mobile Phones are popular products sold on such sites as per my view.

4. Juna Bazaar

Juna means old in Marathi language while Bazaar refers to Market. Looks like a newly established site and even the design of site is broken but the categories mentioned have products listed from all over India.

For Sellers, posting of ad is completely free and and various upgrade options are available which helps you attract buyers.

For Buyers, Site does not take any responsibility except offering communication with seller.

5. Quikr

Another classified ads site highly promoted on televisions. Owing to the popularity, it has a vast product range and alternatives of same products for Buyer.

Seller can post ad for free while upgrade plans for premium ads varies according to the product sold.

One thing must be noted that Shipping has to be done by seller and no site takes responsibility of that.

One problem common with all of these sites except eBay is Spam. They should allowing anonymous posting and make Mobile and Email verification mandatory. Also, posting of picture with a minimum amount of words in description should be a requirement for publishing product listing.

I personally have experience with Quikr, OLX and eBay while other two have been posted as per my view on their site and online reviews. If you have experienced selling or buying or became victim of any classified ads fraud, then let us know by commenting.

The post Best Sites To Buy and Sell Second Hand Used Items Online in India appeared first on Blogsolute.

Online Bookstores in India have flooded like anything thanks to easy DIY eCommerce setup packages. Most importantly, the reason is tendency of people turning towards shopping books online at cheapest price without stepping out of home.

Just when you finished up reading the title of article, one name that may have clicked in your mind might be Flipkart, right?

This article is written to let you know about other online stores in India selling books and not just restricting yourself to some kart. Let’s begin with our list of Online Bookstores in India and thereby comparing to know which one offers cheapest price.

There are many reasons to list Flipkart at #1 including your trust on them. This includes Fastest Delivery sometime within 24 hours of ordering and the customer base especially for books is quite good offering genuine reviews on site itself. But Flipkart isn’t the cheapest option.

Next option to buy books online from reliable site would be HomeShop 18 at #2. No doubt, they are in shopping business from a long time but included Books recently. For any book I searched, HS 18 had the cheapest price online and that too with Free Home delivery without any condition.

Apart from this, it is receiving good reviews from customers (check out Facebook Thread) about their Free and Fast delivery with Cash on Delivery option.  Also, to delight their customers, Free goodies like pens, bookmarks and ‘thank you’ cards are shipped along with orders.

There is actually a tie between uRead and Infibeam for position #3 but I let Infibeam lead not just because it is an old player but also because of personal good shopping experiences with them. Infibeam has prices almost same as Flipkart though delivery might not be superfast.

Other Online Bookstores have been covered in form of table for reading ease and comparative decision.

List of Online Bookstores in India

Compare Prices of Online Bookstore in India

If price is the main concern, then here are two good services which lets you find the cheapest price for any book searching popular online bookstores in India.

1. Go to IndiaBookStore and enter the name of any book you want to purchase and search results shows its availability in various online book stores with prices. This makes finding cheapest option easy!

2. Another way to compare prices would be ISBN.net. Though, the site doesn’t have good visual interface but offers comparison of prices of major online bookstores in India.

http://isbn.net.in/ – Suffix this website address with a ISBN or EAN. That’s it.

This article is a result of personal experience and what I heard about these stores from others. And the comments made are according to the scenario at the time of writing this article. You experiences and views about the article and shopping sites are welcome in comments.

The post Which is Cheapest & Reliable Online Bookstore Site in India? appeared first on Blogsolute.

Additionally, 90,000 more units will be shipped later over the next four months as per reports. Actual price of Tablet is however Rs. 2,200 which is subsidized by 50% to bring it down to Rs. 1,100 per tablet per student.

Sakshat Tablet Features

1. 7 inch touchscreen LCD display
2. USB port
3. Wi-Fi
4. 32 GB hard disk
5. 2 GB RAM
6. 2 Watts of power consumption with solar charging option
7. Multimedia support(Can play audio/video)
8. Inbuilt Keyboard
9. Linux OS and computing capabilities such as Open Office, SciLab and Internet browsing.
10. Headphone jack

This tablet was in development for long time and outcome of efforts from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay.

Considering the cost, We thought that Sakshat Tablet may have cheap construction and components. Though, Government cleared that they canceled old tender owing to the reason that they were not upto computing standards. This means that new devices made are of better quality but couldn’t make it upto 35$. So, the slight rise in price is obvious which is now 49$.

Still, I think it’s a step ahead towards Computer literacy especially in Rural areas at School age helping them in Education. Tablets will be distributed by HRD Minister directly to Education institutes.

The post Sakshat: Low Cost Tablet Computer in India to arrive in June at Rs. 1100 appeared first on Blogsolute.

PayPal is most preferred way of payment on most of the popular web hosting services. In India, however, PayPal is nearly dead as you cannot spend PayPal funds anymore for online shopping and payments. Though Credit card payments are also supported but the problem still persists as not everyone has Credit Card.

People here are more used to Net banking for online payments which they use for booking rail tickets and making bill payments. So, Here I list some Reliable Web Hosts and Domain registrars which supports Net Banking transfer and Debit Card payments of all nationalized banks in India.

Even the newbies who are not aware of PayPal like stuffs can start their own blog or make website online using NEFT / Online Banking Payment option.

1. Hostgator

Hostgator is already a popular hosting service in the world and now they have a branch in India officially. Blogsolute was hosted on Hostgator itself for a long time and I was totally satisfied with their service and customer support. No doubt, they are reliable and your data will be in the safe hands.

You can always check to see if they have a currently active coupon or a HostGator Thanksgiving deal 2016 – they always run promotions!

2. ZNetIndia

ZNet India is another popular web host trusted by by giants on web. Along with Shared hosting service, they also offer VPS (Virtual Private Server) and Dedicated servers.

Plan Pricing starts from Rs. 239 and offer 24×365 Live Chat support online.

Visit ZNet India

3. BigRock.in

BigRock is one of the most popular web hosting service which have a dedicated site for India. They have web hosting plans (Windows and Linux) starting from as low as Rs. 59. Along with a good web host, BigRock is a domain registrar allowing to purchase domain names.

If you don’t have much experience, take benefit of Website Design service offered by BigRock. This includes: Do it Yourself package where you can choose from readymade templates. You may opt for Build-It-For-Me package where Experts build websites for you.

Visit BigRock.In

4. GoDaddy India

Another big player with a dedicated site for India. I have heard of many bad stories about them but never had a bad experience. In 2012 itself, they started accepting Indian Netbanking as payment option. Web hosting plans start from 161 Rs. only which is a big attraction.

Visit Godaddy Web Hosting

5. HostDime.In

HostDime offers almost all services related to Web Hosting. Starting from Shared Hosting (Linux and Windows), VPS, Dedicated Server setup, and Service addons like Remote Backup Services and Site Builder. Their Plans start from Rs. 199 / month which is Rs. 2189 if you pay them annually.

Visit HostDime

All of the above Web Hosts (may not be completely based in India) supports Visa, MasterCard Debit cards and Online Transaction via Net Banking from all major Banks in India.

There are many other Web Hosting services around the web but I beleive I have listed the best and reliable out of them offering good customer service and better uptime.

The post Web Hosting sites with Net Banking, Debit Card Payment Support in India appeared first on Blogsolute.

I agree that PayPal alternatives exists but they may not be accepted by all payment gateways like PayPal but Credit cards are accepted everywhere then let it be Online shopping portal  or Web Hosting sites.

Generally, Credit Card approval requires Income Tax Return (ITR) of Gross Annual income Rs. 1,80,000 Minimum which means some Rs. 15,000 per month which may be case with many Bloggers but I guess not all of them files Tax returns.

So, Here I mention some ways to get easy approval Credit Card from Banks in India which are especially suited for Bloggers, Freelancers and Online Marketers or any Indian who want to find alternative of PayPal for shopping.

Easy Approval Credit Card Options for Bloggers

ICICI Instant Credit Cards

As the name says “Instant”, ICICI offers Walk in branch and Walk out with Credit Card option. As you are not providing ITR, you have provide something as Security to bank and it requires you to make a Fixed Deposit of minimum Rs. 20,000.

On the amount of Fixed Deposit amount, you get 85%  Credit limit. For example, you make FD of 20K then limit of spending will be Rs. 18,000.

HDFC Gold Credit Card

Even this can be obtained against assurance of Fixed Deposit giving you credit limit of 80% of Fixed Deposit Amount. Only difference is that this is not instant and required minimum 10 days to process ad get in hands.

Axis Bank Credit Cards

In similar way, Axis Bank offers same facility at minimum deposit of Rs. 25,000 and they give just 80% credit limit of what you deposit.

Virtual Credit Cards from Indian Banks

Last but not least, if you find above options difficult to obtain then virtual credit cards which act and function similar to real Credit cards and easiest to obtain.

You just need a Savings account in banks (Axis, HDFC, ICICI or Kotak Bank) They are called as Netsafe cards in HDFC while in Axis bank they call it eShop card. These are made for online transactions and can be generated real time online.

Advantages of Credit Card for Bloggers and Freelancers

1. It’s the ultimate solution for PayPal issues in India.
2. Can be used for Web Hosting Bill Payments and Domain Renewals
3. Can be used to verify PayPal account
4. Add to PayPal account and send funds to any PayPal account which will be debited from Credit Card.

The post Easy Approval Credit Cards for Bloggers, Freelancers in India | PayPal Solution appeared first on Blogsolute.

This article has been updated and revised from time to time since 2010 in accordance with IRCTC website.

Fortunately, as of today on 05th October 2014, IRCTC website loads very smoothly and fast even during 10:00 hrs to 12:00 hrs. Still, the problem of getting tatkal isn’t solved completely. More and more people have access to internet today as compared to 4 years back and with high speed internet and quick responding website, tatkal quota finishes off within 3-5 minutes.

As site loading issues are negligible these days, only thing we can bet on is form filling time.

In this article, we will learn how to automate form filling and payment option to get confirmed Tatkal ticket guaranteed.

Automating Travelers details by Pre-Filling

1. Day before booking, visit Magic Autofill where you can fill up traveler details along with berth preferences and phone number.
2. After filling all details, press I am feeling Lucky button.
3. Drag the Magic Autofill button to Bookmark toolbar of your browser.

This website has a form which exactly resembles the one at IRCTC.

Booking Procedure

1. Login to New Generation IRCTC website around 09:50-09:55 Hrs.
2. Enter Station names and date followed by Submit button. I assume you have prioritized your train to be booked.
3. Watch out for the clock timing on IRCTC website and notice the difference in timing of your computer clock.
4. Deciding the difference, press submit again as soon as the clock hits 10:00:00 hrs.
5. Press Tatkal radio button and select the class of travel given in front of respective trains.
6. Proceed to Booking
7. Press the bookmark button which we created to fill out traveler details.
8. Enter captcha manually and press next.

Automating Payment Methods

We generally prefer Internet banking for payment of Tatkal tickets but let me tell you why you shouldn’t. It involves entering username and password for login and then many banks require entering of transaction password. Moreover, banks like IDBI wants you to create One Time password for internet transaction received via SMS.

Entering three kind of passwords takes too much of time and you cannot automate bank password.

Solution is to use Credit Card or Debit Card.

Entering of Card number is done on IRCTC website itself which can be automated. Moreover, it just asks you to enter 3D secure password if enabled also called as  VBV (Verified by Visa) or MSC (Master SecureCode).

Tip: In case of 3D Secure, use VBV/MSC password instead of OTP which causes delay.

How to Automate Card details by Pre-filling

Update 07 Nov 2014: Copy and Pasting of script was creating errors for may user so, I have given the download link of the script in text format. Download Card Info filling script

Script made by Nitin Sapkal.

1. Copy the above script to notepad.
2. Replace the details highlighted in code. where:
   1234123412341234 refers to 16 digit Credit/Debit card number.11 refers to expiry month. November in my case so 11.
   2016 refers to year of expiry in YYYY format.
   123 refers to CVV code of card. These are 3 digits printed on rear/back side of card.
   Your Name is name printed on card.
3. Create new bookmark in your browser (Chrome or Firefox preferable) and in the location box, enter the above script.
4. Choose Credit Card /Payment Gateway and select the issuing bank. If it is not listed below, choose any VISA/MasterCard option without worrying about Bank name.
5. Press the bookmark created for filling up Card details and press Make Payment.

For those who don’t have credit card: All VISA/MASTER Debit cards (If enabled by card issuer) can also be used for ticket booking through any of the VISA/MASTER credit card Payment gateways (ICICI PG, HDFC PG, AXIS PG, CITI PG).

Here’s your ticket! Congratulations!!

Any Tatkal Booking Software?

Please avoid looking for them. There are some software programs spreading on internet under the name of IRCTC and CRIS for tatkal ticket booking but they are fake.

The one I tested is just a web browser opening IRCTC website inside it. It doesn’t help out in any way but installs crap toolbar on system and also tries to spy on you.

Please do not fool yourself by using any program named as IRCTC tatkal booking software.

What does CKWL Tatkal Ticket means?

In a rare case, it may happen that while moving on to bank webpage, you are shown Availability but till you come back, the ticket provided has status CKWL.

CKWL means the Waiting List in Tatkal Quota which differs from GNWL (General Waiting List). In my case, CKWL 5 was cleared up within 2 hours of booking but it may vary train to train.

The above procedure tries to minimize the time spent in filling up forms and speed up tatkal booking so, you can grab confirm tatkal ticket before the quota is over. Good Luck and let us know of your success rate in getting a confirm tatkal ticket.

You may feel that the procedure is too lengthy to follow but read it once completely, it will take time in first shot especially for non tech-savvy people but it is easy to follow and a matter of getting Confirmed Tatkal Tickets

The post How to Book Confirmed Tatkal Train Tickets [IRCTC] appeared first on Blogsolute.

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal unveiled MNP in Haryana and said that it will be available throughout the country by March 2011.

Now that MNP has come to India, let us look into details what it is and how to port a mobile number.

What is Mobile Number Portability / MNP?

Mobile Number Portability allows you to retain your mobile number while changing from one mobile operator to another. For example, it will allow you to facilitate Airtel services on a Vodafone number.

How to Port a Mobile Number

1)      You initially have to Send an SMS to 1900 in following format: PORT<space>Mobile Number – eg. PORT 987654321.

2)      Therafter, you will get an SMS reply that contains a unique porting code.

3)      SMS to the preferred operator quoting the unique code. This code is valid only for a few days and you will have to apply again if it expires.

4)      Your existing operator will check with new operator & if there are no dues then approval will be given for porting.

5)      You will get an SMS on the time and date when porting will take place. The process is said to complete after 4 days of applying.

6)      After porting is complete, wait for an SMS from your new operator confirming the switch.

7)      Your phone may be offline for about 2 hours when the porting takes place.

A maximum of Rs. 19 will be charged by any of telecom operators for porting a mobile number.

Via: TOI

The post How to Port Mobile Numbers using Mobile Number Portability in India appeared first on Blogsolute.

Here, I share complete guide on how to access LIC account online, view status details and Pay premiums online easily and safely on time and that too sitting at home!

1. Create LIC account on LIC India by filling registration form here. (This is a preliminary step to verify whether you are a LIC Policy holder.)

2. After confirming LIC Policy number, Installment Premiums and other details, set a username and password for your account login.

3. Your account is created and now you can login to view LIC Policy status and details, Loan inquiry details and Maturity terms.

What you can do with online LIC account?

• View detailed status of enrolled Policies
• Policy Maturity
• Pension plan details
• Loan Enquiry
• Pay LIC Premium online
• Pay ULIP premium online
• Register complaints

Isn’t it easy? No need of going to LIC agent or LIC office to check and pay installments.

The post Check LIC Policy Details Status and Pay Premium online appeared first on Blogsolute.