interview2019 
Usually, we tend to shop for our favorite products only when there are lucrative discounts available on them. As price cuts are great, e-retailers are trying to woo customers these days by offering mouth-watering cashbacks.
But what if you could also get cashbacks off-line? That’s pretty cool, right?
With IAMO Bazaar Bhubaneswar, one of the best cashback companies, customers enjoy great cashbacks on purchases made through their platform.
Since being founded by Manas Kumar Sahoo in the year 2017, IAMO Bazaar brings together offline merchants, buyers and cashbacks in one place and is currently used by over 4 million users across the nation as well as over 10,000 retailers. Through Sahoo’s dynamic leadership, the company’s sole objective is to generate sales for retailers and income opportunities for people of all ages.
A low-middle-class boy from the Janla district of Khurda, Sahoo completed his graduation in 2000. He always dreamt of starting his own business and giving others jobs. After receiving his education, Sahoo joined an online networking company in Bhubaneswar, which he found learning-provoking. After a few years, he started his own real estate firm in Bhubaneswar. But unfortunately, he incurred heavy losses to the tune of some crores and had to shut down the business immediately. Reminiscing those days, he says, “The loss was frustrating. All my savings had exhausted. I went into a financial crisis. My family supported me to learn from the incident and take wise decisions in the future.”
As a result of years of intensive research and brainstorming, he came up with a unique business opportunity for consumers and offline merchants. He realized that online merchants were unable to reach the target audience despite spending a lot of money on advertising and publicity. Sahoo saw that as a profitable niche and started IAMO Bazaar in 2017.
“Offline merchants usually spend a lot on marketing strategies to target customers. But, cashback offers are a loyalty program smartly built using analytics and algorithms and a lot more intelligent way to target your consumers. Here at IAMO Bazaar, we are creating a wow experience for customers by presenting lucrative cashbacks when they are least expecting it. It took us several months to develop the tech backend for this product,” he says adding that IAMO Bazaar has a whopping traffic of over 3.5 million active users today thereby making it one of the most downloaded apps on Google Play Store from Odisha.
Getting started is simple: First, download the IAMO Bazaar app from Google Playstore. Register by providing your name, mobile number, and the MLA constituency. You can request your cashback by visiting any registered offline merchants. Download the app and tap the barcode. Pay by any payment platform – mobile or offline. You can enter the product amount into the app. A notification is then sent to the merchant’s IAMO Merchant Account. Once the executives approve the bill, you are eligible for the assured amount of cashback. Additionally, IAMO Bazaar offers a lifetime referral bonus if you successfully refer someone. The cashback amount is automatically transferred to your bank account without any additional charges or tax deductions, once the cashback amount reaches Rs 200 in your IAMO account. IAMO BAZAAR receives its commission only on the customers who purchase from the listed stores. Thus, a systematic cash back plan is offered to distribute 96% of the commission to consumers.
Consumers registered with a participating store can also get a lot more offers. Each customer is supposed to spend Rs 5000 from the same store in the month to get a scratch card. Through the scratch card, consumers get more cashbacks. In addition, they each get 5% spot cashback on their direct referred Stores.
It won’t be just offline consumers who carry out great shopping in the near future. Sahoo’s team is currently in the process of developing a model to provide exciting cashbacks to online buyers through the IAMO app, who purchase from Amazon, Flipkart, etc. Bollywood star Govinda and Odia film actor Sabyasachi Mishra were roped in as brand ambassadors of IAMO Bazaar, which will let better communication with the target audience.
Sahoo’s IAMO Bazaar app will soon feature a unique feature on indigenous handicrafts and handwoven products made by the local artisans from across the country, making the name ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ a reality.
Though there is a significant opportunity in the online retail market – ecommerce is growing rapidly, the much larger offline market is still there – and IAMO Bazaar aims to tap it and create opportunity for tens of thousands of people struggling to earn their livelihoods.
Moreover, Manas and his team have created several IAMO digital products this year which have crossed 30,000+ subscribers in just four months. The IAMO digital products include a digital visiting card, a greeting card, a finance passbook, etc.
With over 800 billion in market value by 2024, Sahoo’s biggest ambition is to help the company be valued at 800 billion. Through its payment ecosystem, the company hopes to distribute over Rs 10 billion every month among its registered customers and enable a minimum of 1 lac customers to earn at least Rs 10,000 through its network effect.
Ask him about his success mantra and he says, “I was not born with a golden spoon. I struggled each day to fulfill my commitments. My goal was to always stay calm and composed as I faced any challenge. I wanted to help and encourage people to become nation builders.”
Written by Subhojit Panda
