TRADERS ARE COMING TOGETHER TO LAUNCH E-LALA

which traders from different cities will be registered under their respective category of items. The consumer will have the option to either buy a product online or from a seller’s physical store,” he said.

Since e-Lala will be a location-based portal, it will weed out traders and firms based in other cities and thus make choosing an object easy for consumers. The idea of launching such a portal is also to ensure the elimination of the commission component, which is usually charged by e-commerce websites. Through e-Lala, a consumer should get a product at a reduced cost. Also, since the products will be delivered locally, the prices will be further reduced, making it a win-win situation for both the consumers and the traders.

A team, headed by B.C. Bhartia, has been set up to design the portal and make it fully ready by the end of August. Traders will have to pay a certain amount of money to get enrolled onto the portal. The Nagpur section of the portal will be launched by July. Elaborating further on the idea, Khandelwal said that each seller at the portal will have his own website and it will be up to him whether he wants to operate the website himself or gets it operated by the portal. “We will ensure the transparency of every transaction. There will be a technical team in each city to provide technical support. We will also link the various trade associations across the country to the project,” he added. The decision to launch the portal was taken in the backdrop of the growing popularity of e-commerce. The portal will provide an additional marketplace to traders besides their shops, at a low cost. The thrust will be on city specific trade.