India’s ecommerce space is growing rapidly, but rather than filling up with a plethora of online stores that go by the “we-offer-everything” mantra, there seems to be a trend towards smaller merchants that offer niche products, such as herbal supplements, medicines, or in the case of MrThomas, DIY and home improvement products.
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MrThomas is owned by Chennai-based 3Dots Online Solutions, and offers a range of products from power tools, small/heavy machines, hand tools to hardware tools for the home-improvement aficionado.
The tools are high-end, featuring top brands such as Pilot, Bosch, and Dremel. The idea behind the online store is that the factories that make these tools are located in the remote areas of India, so MrThomas is able to bridge that gap and take tools to people in the main cities. Even though the DIY culture in India is still in its infancy, MrThomas hopes to cement its place in the ecommerce space by providing products that people cannot find easily elsewhere, in India, with an added layer of convenience.
Furthermore, the bootstrapped site hopes to be at the forefront when the country’s DIY culture flourishes. Down the line MrThomas plans to launch a new segment to the site called “You can do” — a DIY concept that will educate people with practical tips on, say, how to paint your wall, or how to build a table, recommending the products to do so, growing the site into a one-stop platform for all DIY needs.
MrThomas only ships within India, and shipping is free for purchases over Rs500 (about US$8), and charges Rs70 (just over US$1), for orders under that mark. MrThomas delivers to the major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai within one to three working days, and to the rest of India between one to six days.
