Following in the footsteps of other e-commerce companies in India, HomeShop18 has launched mobile apps for iPhones and Android 4.0 phones.
The mobile app is called HS18 and can be found on the App Store as well as the Google Play Store.
Last month, Homeshop18 had launched a ‘Virtual shopping wall’ at the domestic terminal of Delhi International Airport. The ‘Scan N Shop’ wall displayed premium goods to customers. Order can be placed by either scanning the QR code of an item shown on the wall or by calling company’s call centers.
Claiming to empower shoppers to ‘Shop Unwired’, the app also come with live TV streaming of the HomeShop18 television channel as well as an inbuilt QR code scanner.
Sundeep Malhotra, CEO and Founder Homeshop18.com and Homeshop18 TV said, “Online shopping in India is going through a transformative phase driven by technology and changing lifestyles. With 30 million (and growing) smartphone users and the increasing usage of smart phones, we believe ‘shopping on mobile’ is here to stay. It’s inevitable to bring shopping on the mobile screens of this smartphone generation. Internationally, popular e-commerce brands are already generating around 10% of their transactions through mobile phones; we can expect a similar trend in India in the coming years.”
One can browse 12 million+ products of HomeShop18, and get them delivered at their doorstep by using the mobile app.
Quick Review
We tried out both the iPhone app as well as the Android app on our Galaxy Nexus. The interface is the pretty much the same in both the apps. We found the sign in process very easy and also noticed that our shopping carts on the app and the website was synchronized without difficulty. The order status feature is a nice addition to keep track of orders on the go.
The user interface is simple and displays the products effectively. One can swipe through the screens to see featured products across categories. Once a user finds a product he wants he can easily add to the cart with one click. In case one is not confident of ordering it through the app, one can easily call the customer call and order it by a call, using the product code with just a click. We found this feature really useful, since 2G and 3G data connections in India are pretty unreliable.
A product can then be paid for by the usual means of payments like net banking, debit card, credit card and even cash on delivery.
We did notice a bug in the Android app. We could not search for a product but could view all the categories. The iPhone app does not have this issue.
Even though HomeShop18 is late to the app game, we see this product being used extensively by its existing using base and also serves as a way to get new customers.
You can download the iPhone app here and the Android app here. The Android app is compatible only with devices running 4.0 and up.
