as random as Ek Do 3

Being Indian myself, I can proudly say that Indians are generally more frugal than others. We want to make sure that we are getting the best deal on anything we purchase, and will go to certain lengths to ensure that we do. At the end of the day, if we are buying something, it just makes sense to ensure that we are not spending too much or more importantly, more than our neighbors are.

The idea of Price comparison shopping is not a new one. It has been around for over a decade with some of the large players worth half a billion + $US dollars (LINK). Sites such as Pricegrabber, Shopzilla, Nextag, Smarter, Pronto, Bizrate, Shopping have been extremely successful in the US, UK and other countries with a high IPR (internet penetration rate).

Sure with a population of ~ 1B, one would assume that online shopping in India is also booming, however this is not the case. It has to do with a combination of factors, starting with Indians distrust in Credit Cards and their unwillingness to share that information over the net. Sure the wariness factor is trending towards a more positive outlook as we see the younger demographic getting more accustomed to the net and showing positive signs of shopping online.

Combine the above factor with the very low IPR rate that India claims (~ 7%), along with the Indian values of not carrying debt by trying to pay off everything, online shopping in India displays its challenges. Although the IPR rate is pretty low, it still turns out to be a nice chunk of the earths population to market to (~ 81M people). Point to be noted, out of the ~ 81 M Internet Users in India, only ~ 3M (less than 4%) have Broadband connection.

There are a few online companies bringing awareness about the Price comparison shopping concept to the Indian Internet population, some of which are CompareIndia.com, Naaptol, Compare the Bazaar, Shopmania, Bechna.

Some of the more reputable storefronts to buy your goods online in India are CafeGadgets.in, StoreJi.com, SmartShoppers.in, TechShop.in, Letsbuy.com, StoreCoin.com, IndiaVarta.com, India-Haat.com, India Times Shopping, Rediff Shopping

As internet pricing decreases and IPR rates improve in India, its just a matter of time before Indians start using comparison shopping engines as their initial search for purchasing their next item online. Its a huge market that is just begging to roll…

For a list of all Indian Shopping sites and portals visit www.keemat.com - indian advertising network.

The .asia domain extension is available as of October 9 2007. Effective immediately, owners or authorized representatives of trademark rights can reserve “their” .asia domain. In the initial sunrise phase, reservations can be made for trademarks registered before March 16, 2004 and that are currently published and used. Companies do not have to supply supporting documentation with their applications, but must present it upon request. The initial phase lasts until October 30, 2007.

During the next phase(November 13, 2007 to January 15, 2008), domains can be requested for trademarks that were applied for before December 6, 2006. Finally, the landrush phase offers registration of .asia domains to the general public and is scheduled to start in February 2008. If several parties request the same domain during one of the phases, the domain will be auctioned rather than assigned according to the rules of “first come, first served.” After the live phase, which should start in March 2008, the remaining domains will be assigned to parties who submitted their applications first.

Here is a list of registrars along with some typical costs to expect when registering a .asia domain:

GoDaddy - $19.99/year with $100 application fees
AsiaRegistry - $45.00/year with $150 application fees
Net4.in - 800 INR/year with 4000 INR application fees
007names.com - $26/year with $80 application fee

Check out DotAsia.org for the latest updates, news and dot asia related articles. Here is a list of ICANN designated Asia Pacific countries eligible for the .asia domain extension: