PNN
Kozhikode (Kerala) [India], July 21: For long, India’s booming e-commerce industry has largely catered to what venture capital firm Blume Ventures calls “India 1” – the top 140 million digitally savvy, urban consumers. But the vast middle, “India 2” – nearly 300 million aspirational Indians – has remained largely underserved.
That’s now changing with the arrival of DealBuddy, India’s first gamified e-commerce app, designed not just to sell – but to let users win products, sometimes for as low as 1 paise.
India 2.1: Ready to Play, Ready to Shop
While India 2 has been slow to embrace traditional online shopping, there’s one digital space where they’re already deeply engaged – gaming. India is home to 650 million gamers, and remarkably, 150 millions of them are pay-to-play users, spending money not on goods, but on the thrill of competition in apps like Dream11, Ludo King, and Teen Patti.
This behaviour signals a powerful insight: India 2.1 doesn’t just want to shop. They want to “win” deals through interactive and gamified experiences, elements traditional e-commerce has largely ignored. India 2.1 needs a new model of ecommerce.
DealBuddy, founded by Basil Nalakath, Adhnan Rasheed and Basim Nalakath, taps directly into this mindset – merging the engagement of gaming with the value of e-commerce. Every day, brands run multiple deals on DealBuddy. Users compete with each other to win the deal- but with a twist. Instead of the highest offer winning, in DealBuddy, the user who places the lowest unique offer walks away with the product at the end of the deal period- be it a smartphone, trimmer, smartwatch, or branded perfume – sometimes at less than ₹1.
A New Model for a New Bharat
“Traditional e-commerce isn’t broken – but it’s boring and not relevant for the India2.1 consumers who seek excitement in all their digital interactions” says Basil Nalakath, Founder & CEO at DealBuddy. “The current platforms are built for India 1. But India 2.1 needs a different model – one that feels like entertainment, not just transactions.”
Since its launch, DealBuddy has attracted over 25,000 users in just a month, with near-zero customer acquisition cost – a rare feat in India’s hypercompetitive online retail space. The app’s built-in Yard Sale allows winners to resell their products within the community, creating a vibrant, self-sustaining marketplace.
Adhnan Rasheed, Co-founder & COO at DealBuddy, adds, “Today, brands are struggling with high CAC and are looking to expand beyond saturated markets to a new category of users from India 2. However, they’re finding it hard to reach India 2.1 in a way that’s both profitable and engaging. DealBuddy aspires to be the go-to platform for brands targeting these users- through a model that they are already familiar with. We’ve already partnered with several D2C brands and are actively engaging with many more to help them unlock this high-potential, under-tapped market.”
The Future of Bharat Commerce
In a country where shopping festivals are still the only time many buy online, DealBuddy is creating daily mini-festivals – bite-sized events that combine affordability, excitement, and digital participation. It’s a model that fits the lifestyle, mindset, and behavior of India’s next 300 million digital consumers.
As gaming, social media, and commerce continue to converge, DealBuddy’s approach may well be a blueprint for the next evolution of e-commerce in India – where deals aren’t just discovered, but won.
Link: https://www.dealbuddy.live/theapp
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