They felt nothing short of heroes about to save the world. They were just about to buy walkie-talkies, Ipads and Tabs for their office and stars for their shoulders, when their wives’ group busted their little lair. Walkie-talkies/ Tabs/ iPad orders were stashed out, code names were stripped off and their Xulu Papa Gold Two Niner became Purplista on 12/12/12.

So, what is Purplista?

It is a website that helps anyone looking for any product and also makes sure that they direct the person to the nearest place where they can get it. Purplista is the one-stop spot for people who want information which they always wished to get from their neighbourhood shopping destination. Instead of consumers having to go from shop to shop to know prices Purplista brings the shops to consumers. They have information regarding where you can find a product that you want somewhere near you to its prices and deals. Local shopping information now seems just a click away.

In their own words- “We aim to bring your store next door much closer to your living room or kitchen. You should never miss a hot deal or the best price going on in your neighbourhood while you still catch up on your favourite TV serial or spend some cherishable moments with your partner on a candle light dinner.”

Team Startoholics met up with team Purplista. Setting up a complete house seemed like a daunting task since they had to run around to buy different things from different shops. To add on to their woes, not every shop had what they would have liked to buy for their houses! That’s when the thought of Purplista struck them. If everything was in one place, and if they could know which shop to go to even before stepping out of the house, they could save a lot of time and not to mention fuel. Thus the idea for Purplista was born.

Story Behind the Christening of Purp‘list’a

On being asked why they zeroed down on the name Purplista, pat came the reply from Siddharth Srivastava- “Oh my wife loved it. That’s a part I dare not even question. Nonetheless, purple is a colour associated with shopping and retail very often. You can also create a list of items on the website, of the items you want to shop.”

Wheels of Motion

They have signed up retailers from all over the city. Whenever a user searches for a product, they get the information from 5 – 10 km radius of that user’s location and present it to that user. They can very well move the pointer on the map to check other places in the city too.  With just a single click one gets the availability of the product and it is sent by SMS too.

On being asked about their USP (Unique Selling Proposition), the team said, “We don’t think we have found anyone else offering offline prices the way we do.”

There certainly is a lot of curiosity about Purplista. Users who have used it find it not only interesting but also very convenient. Imagine getting to know about all the stores around you while you are in the comfort of your home on your couch. Now imagine it again with 41 degrees temperature out there in summer!

Deepening their Roots

As it’s a new service offering in India, they have to give simple basic education about how it all works before signing up retailers. This will have to be done till this concept gains further popularity. They said, “No one has ever refused its value till date so that’s what keeps us going.”

They did commit mistakes along the way. Thankfully, none were serious ones and they left no stones unturned to correct those.

They are sustaining their business with revenue streams such as subscription fees from their retailers.

The ‘Aha’ Moment!

The ear to ear smile they all had on day one when they started receiving their ‘Check Availability’ request remains memorable to them. They were more than happy that consumers were trying out their service sooner than they expected.

If it wasn’t for Purplista, they aren’t really sure of what they would have been doing. But they all were always sure that they wanted to start something ‘new’.   

Next on the Radar

They are planning to move into other segments too apart from consumer electronics.  They want to get into musical instruments, furniture and other products that people like to buy offline.

On requesting for a piece of advice for soon to-be start-up founders, they humbly said, “We ourselves have not yet reached a stage where we can advise others. So we will hold on this one for a few more years.”

This was the story of a team which started a website for ‘man’kind so that the ‘woman’kind doesn’t go any more crazy when they meet up with issues of making a house a home!

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