pune in online shopping where stores remain open 24x7 and buying is at the click of a mouse retailers who have not jumped on to the bandwagon often feel the heat since they are small boutiques stores or selfhelp groups many get hemmed in by big brands and the mall culture not any more as given their vast potential many online sites have begun networking with such segments and are putting up their products on their sites the advantage is that it not only makes the site an exclusive shopping destination but also gives small and medium retailers a chance to sell to a bigger clientele manoj gupta the cofounder of one such site which claims to be indias largest marketplace for authentic indian products said they cover almost 5000 sellers across india before we launched the site we conducted a market survey that told us exactly how we should go about it what the customer wanted was a site where he could browse easily a site that would be simple with no complicated steps and keep in mind what the customer is looking for gupta added the survey made them build a more userfriendly website that clicked with the retailers we get a lot of feedback from them and we are improving the site as per their needs retailers tell us how tying up with us has boosted their sales gupta said the survey also found that customers preferred to discover new things the site owner can look at a larger client base and the retailers can reach out to customers outside their geographical boundaries and as for the customers well they are the biggest winners one click and the world is your marketplace asha mirchandani who owns a boutique on laxmi road said some months ago her son suggested that she tie up with an online site to sell her products i have not regretted the decision i have more orders pouring in now some people from abroad order my clothes to keep up with the pace ive had to hire two extra pairs of hands in the last one month she said when i started out we would get orders for seveneight designer outfits a month which would rise during festival and the wedding season now with the online site supporting us we are hardpressed for time i supply them with 12 outfits every fortnight and most sell before the end of the month she said many other entrepreneurs also see the larger benefit in going online till last year the sales for shoma bhargavas homemade chocolates were few that was before she partnered with an online gift and confectionary site now she has a steady flow of orders the moment my products are posted online they go out of stock the site has suggested that i supply them with themebased chocolates for special occasions i get immense satisfaction in knowing that my effort is being appreciated and enjoyed im thinking of doing it on larger scale