Every online retailer that associates itself with Bitcoin tries to occupy a niche that is still vacant. However, not every one of them has went so far as to accept payment only in BTC like the HighKart.com – webshop from India.
The entrepreneur behind the enterprise in its current from is Amit Kumar. His ideas and thoughts on the business are reflected in his interview by DNAIndia news portal. Amit has been taking upon challenges in the IT related field for more than 10 years already and during this time he had an opportunity to work with some of the big players like Verizon and Boeing.
Kumar has first came in contact with Bitcoin in the early 2013. It is not stated directly in the interview, but I suppose it was at the time of the first big spike of BTC price in April when the digital currency showed its teeth by jumping to at that time astonishing $200 mark.
As it is usual in similar cases, the adoption of Bitcoin is due to the standard number of reasons. Among these are the low transaction fees (or their absolute absence), the high speed/security ratio of the process and no chargebacks. Well, the latter is not actually the benefit for the customers, but you know, business is business.
On the question of cryptocurrency’s volatility the answer is also a rather obvious one. Kumar’s online shop uses a payment platform, which was not stated in the interview, to turn digital coins into fiat, practically the moment it lands on the firms wallet.
Although some might consider accepting only Bitcoin as payment a restriction of sorts, Kumar sees it as opportunity to show people, that digital currencies are to be turned into real ones. The entrepreneur accepts the fact that at first revenue would be lower because of the crypto, on the other hand it would allow him to make a farer pricing policy, again, due to Bitcoin being cheaper to manage. Actually, the concept for the name “HighKart” comes from the high discounts that would be allowed, using digital currencies as payment.
The HighKart.com is a fresh company that was founded in the December of 2013. Currently is only consists of 15 people, but Kumar hopes to recruit more people in the near future. The retailer sells different kinds of wares from women shoes to Bitcoin mining equipment.
The technology is a passion for the Kumar and he states that he could not simply ignore the rise of the cryptos on the market. Being a skillful entrepreneur and a professional techy he anticipates the support of the cryptocommunity.
Above all, the retailer, accepting only Bitcoin is a brave concept these days when various regulations began to pop up. If this enterprise succeeds, especially in India where government disapproves the distribution of digital coins, the company would become a good role model for the next generation of online shops that are still uncomfortable with breaking the ties to the good old fiat.