From market gap to market leader: The success of Brother-mart.com

KATHMANDU, MAY 20: Brother-mart.com was founded by Ashesh Prasai, who saw an untapped opportunity in the Nepali online shopping market. “At that time, there was an immense opportunity waiting to be exploited,” Prasai recalls. Recognizing the absence of an online shopping platform specializing in gadgets, he launched Brother-mart.com to fill this gap. For the past eight years, Brother-mart.com has been dedicated to providing a seamless digital shopping experience, offering a variety of gadgets like smartwatches, smartphones, wireless earbuds, and speakers.

The platform features popular smartphone brands like Samsung, Realme, and Redmi, as well as smartwatch brands including Amazfit, Zeblaze, Huawei, and Xiaomi. “In the gadget category, particularly smartwatches, we are performing exceptionally well,” says Prasai. Brother-mart.com holds the No. 2 position in the Nepali online shopping market for smartwatches, just behind Daraz.com.

So, what makes Brother-mart.com stand out? Prasai credits their success to some key factors. “The first one relates to the aesthetically appealing design, cutting-edge technology, and attractively fixed prices of the smartwatches, which range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 8,000. Similarly, our unique services are the second important factor setting us apart. For instance, we offer a pick-up option that allows customers to physically check the products before purchasing. Additionally, the delivery time for purchased products is exceptionally fast, typically within a day of ordering within the Kathmandu Valley. The delivery cost inside the Ring Road is zero. For urgent deliveries outside the valley, Brother-mart.com charges a minimal amount.”

For the last ¾ years, Brother-mart.com has been expanding its services across the country. Its presence now covers around 70 districts. “Such expansion is, of course, paying off. For example, Brother-mart.com is growing at 10 to 15 percent per annum,” divulges Prasai. According to him, the success of affiliate marketing is also acting as a catalyst for the website’s growth. Under this marketing model, third-party publishers like content creators, bloggers, and other online media personalities are mobilized to promote their products. They receive a percentage based on sales or web traffic.

Leveraging modern digital marketing techniques has allowed us to market our products cost-effectively, saving both time and effort. At the same time, it ensures a high Return on Investment (RoI), boosts brand awareness and drives significant business growth,” explains Prasai.

Despite all this, Brother-mart.com has faced several challenges along the way. One such thing is building trust amongst the originally more sceptical consumers in Nepal to shop online. “We had to invest heavily in customer service and timely delivery mechanisms to build some form of credibility,” commented Prasai. Setting up a reliable delivery network across 70 districts was no small feat, but our commitment to service excellence helped us scale these barriers.

While talking about the importance of proper technological infrastructure for an online shopping site, he says,” Its significance is simply enormous. This is why we are using Shopify software, which gives a user-friendly interface along with robust e-commerce capabilities that can help our customers shop better. NIC Asia has allowed us to add their service to our platform, which has given the users multiple options for making payments. However, local payment systems like eSewa and Khalti are yet to offer the opportunity to be integrated into our platform. We are hopeful that in the future, these collaborations will be made possible to offer an even better service.”

According to him, Brother-mart.com has ambitious plans for the future. One of them is to upscale affiliate marketing and adapt to new technical developments and also partner with global brands like Apple to widen their product basket. Other initiatives include expanding their logistics network to ensure faster deliveries across Nepal, investing in advanced AI-driven customer service solutions, enhancing their mobile app to provide a more seamless shopping experience and targeting international buyers through their platform. “These initiatives will not only position us as a prominent market leader but also contribute significantly to the growth and development of Nepal’s entire e-commerce ecosystem,” Prasai concludes confidently.