ECOM PROJECT.pdf

TWENTY19 E-COMMERCE PROJECT SUBMITTED BY : SOUMYA BADONI – 2004 AASTHA SHRESTHA – 2019 JASPREET KAUR – 2043 PRATIBHA JAIN – 2053 JUHI SADIJA – 2064 [B.Com (Hons) Semester V , Section I]

INTRODUCTION The name Twenty19 comes from the age group of the people the company serves. The company wanted to transform the lives of people in the late teens and early twenties and hence the name, Twenty19. Twenty19.com helps college students in India gain practical exposure through internships, learn industry-relevant skills and live their dream career. Twenty19 also helps companies across India reach out to college students & recruit top student talent for Internships.It is a website for students to connect to companies and get real-world experience in order to live out their dreams. With a stated goal of “enabling every student to be in a position to choose and pursue their dream career”, the founders of the company certainly chose a lofty target. With 3000 companies and 2500 colleges having used their services to provide internships to 30,000 students, every second seems to make their goal more achievable.

STORY Initially, Karthik and Co were running a service based technology market research company, but they were willing to shape a product company. During some entrepreneurial sessions in colleges, Karthik saw curiosity in students for internship opportunities at companies. Recalling from his own PS-2 (6-months internship program at BITS-Pilani) where he benefited immensely Karthik thought that at least some students can do wonders if given an opportunity to work. "An internship exposure could help students across all colleges in India to get their dream jobs." So Twenty19 found its roots! Given below is the record of their website for the first 12 months : • 1200+ companies partner with Twenty19 to reach out to students • Rs 3,00,00,000+ Stipend has been offered by companies which posted internships on Twenty19 • Students from 1700+ Colleges benefit from Twenty19.com • Over 100 training institutes partner with twenty19 to offer training to students.

INITIAL INVESTMENT The Market Research firm which Karthik had initially started was running fine. The currency flow was comfortable and henceforth the savings incurred in this company were invested during the transition period of twenty19. The idea of offering internships was validated over a year during which students and companies were allowed to use the twenty19 portal. Then the revenue model was enforced. Karthik and co realized a strong potential market for twenty19 and they were having ample fun working on it as well so they shut down the market research firm and decided to focus completely on twenty19. Exact figures have not been disclosed by the company. MARKET RANK With various competitors eyeing the same goal as the company, the environment is highly competitive. The company has about 0.18 million registered students and more than 40,000 students were provided successful internships. There are over 5,300 companies offering internship through it. The portal has been ranked as follows on various websites Rank #1 on www.freekamaal.com Rank #1 on www.bestwebsites.in Rank #1 on www.knowahead.in Rank #2 on www.durofy.com Hence, Twenty19 can be taken as a leader in its Industry! BUSINESS MODEL The products offered by the company include internships, events and courses which gives its business model a dual aspectB2B- Twenty19 acts as a medium for companies to be able to recruit interns according to the skill sets they require and also test the suitability of the candidates as it allows the companies to integrate an online quiz in the application process. Companies looking to hire interns post the internship profiles being offered along with details like stipend, duration, location and eligibility which helps them reach out to the right candidates. With over 0.18million student users, twenty19 acts as a huge platform for finding the right talent.

B2C- Twenty19 offers over 30 courses which aim at improving the skills of students in various areas. The minimum charge is Rs. 149 and maximum is Rs. 1499. Along with providing services to companies, it also caters to its student base by linking them to the companies that offer the right opportunities for them.

REVENUE MODEL Twenty19.com has two main sources of revenue1) Course Fee (Rs.149 to Rs.1499)

2) Charges paid by Companies Initially, Twenty19 charged companies flat Rs.9000 for an annual subscription or Rs.2000 for a single listing. However, they have now integrated a credit-model which makes the platform even more cost effective for the companies.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES The number of employees in Twenty19 is fairly low, totalling to a mere 50. PRODUCTS OF THE COMPANY I. Internships Twenty19 helps the college students across the country gain practical exposure by providing internships in various sectors. Students from different academic backgrounds apply for internships according to their requirement.. They are free to choose their place of work and the type of work. All that students have to do is to upload their resume and answer the queries given by companies in order to understand students and their talent before giving internships. Students can apply for internships free of cost. There are about 0.18 million registered students and more than 40,000 students were provided successful internships. There are over 5,300 companies offering internship through this internship portal.

II. Courses About 40 percent of the students get internship by answering queries. Still, there are more students who needed attention. Thus, this made the company to come up with different types of courses to guide the students before applying for an internship with registered corporate clients. These courses are meant to help them get internship and ultimately employment. They offer courses such as professional email writing, resume building, how to prepare for Group discussions and Personal interview, Java for beginners, Android app development for beginners, smart graphic design with Adobe Photoshop, introduction to capital market, internet marketing, and mastering Microsoft Excel etc. These courses are offered for a minimum charge of Rs 149 and maximum of Rs1499 which is affordable and low. III. Events Twenty19.com also provides various events where students can take part and gain experience. Students can choose the date, location and type of event they want to participate in. The events are categorised into Conferences, College events, Workshops, Contest and Competitions etc. COMPETITORS The main internship portals that are competing with Twenty19 are Internshala, letsintern, hellointern, letmeknow and indianinternship. They also provide internship to college students but not all of them provides various courses and events like Twenty19. Twenty19 is the pioneers in this field but the lack of software patent protection allows others to copy their programs and offer similar services. But they constantly keeps on improving their services and thus stay ahead of others.

PAYMENT OPTIONS SUPPORTED Twenty19.com supports both online and offline modes of payment. One can make online payment for the courses through debit cards, credit cards, net banking, cash cards and mobile payments. Also, offline payment can be done through DD or cheques. Thus, it is easy for students to make payments. MARKETING STRATEGIES Twenty19 follows a comprehensive strategy for marketing which includes promotion through various modes such as follows Blog – The website maintains a blog completely dedicated for self-promotion. It features the stories of the students who have been benefitted through the website. It helps to motivate and attract other students. Indian Campus League – Indian Campus League or the Campus Ambassador Program conducted by Twenty19 is an annual program wherein it recruits Campus Ambassadors from various colleges. The Ambassadors are the Organisation’s direct link with the students. They act as a channel between the website and the potential users and promotes it on individual basis. It adds a personal touch and if we can say, it is marketing at its best. Webinars and Discounts – The website portal often conducts webinars on topics like Resume Writing, Personal Interview Basics etc for free. On occasions it often offers discount to students on some of their courses mainly for the purpose of involving them. Both these forms a part of their promotion campaign.

Social Media – Social Media forms an important part of promoting the portal. The team actively interacts with students through various modes of Social Media. Statistics of the same can be referred –

There has been no major acquisitions and mergers by the Company.

RECENT NEWS AND UPDATES ABOUT THE COMPANY Twenty19 is now organizing the India Learning Movement'14 - where College students across India can learn skills in the Summer Holidays through Twenty19 Online Courses. Over 5500 companies use Twenty19 to recruit interns- These courses were created with insights from these companies on what skills are needed for the students to start a career in the industry. Students get practical knowledge about the field. Every course requires students to do projects. "Quiz Challenge Tool" is another splendid feature introduced by twenty19 which has helped companies, identify the relevant and adept candidates for internships. Statistically it has helped companies reduce their recruitment time by over 70%. The Company has also revamped its logo and website design recently.

[Left: Old Logo , Right: New Logo]

CHALLENGES The first and foremost challenge faced by any company operating online is that a large section of people in India still do not have access to the internet. Further as with any other start-up / company, the biggest challenge was in recruiting the right people to work on the Twenty19 idea. The initial months were hard, since the company was pioneering this concept and few people believed in the idea. In fact, many found this work too trivial, initially. Companies didn’t take to the internship concept easily. They weren’t convinced that student interns could be beneficial to them. Few companies who showed interest were not willing to pay stipend. Lack of incentives further discouraged the students.

FUTURE PROSPECTS The Market Potential of the website is huge.

There is a big pool of students in India and in the next ten years it is hoping to add 100 Million more people in it. This means necessity of more jobs and more experience and therefore, more Internships! Also, the website currently enjoys its traffic as 42% from North, 38% from South and 20% from West. So, in terms of regions also the company has a vast area to explore.

REFERENCES AND LINKS: www.twenty19.com http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2013/06/04/twenty19-com-providing-internshipsonline-courses/ http://www.webutations.info/go/review/twenty19.com http://www.durofy.com/the-4-best-websites-to-find-internships-in-india/ http://www.twenty19.com/internships http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/online-portals-helping-college-students-paidinternships/1/206331.html