Perpule: Abhinav Pathak on Digitizing Offline Retail for the Modern Era
In 2016, as e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart were scaling at an unprecedented pace, a debate raged: would offline stores survive? Abhinav Pathak, Co-founder and CEO of Perpule, was convinced they would. But he also knew they were at a massive disadvantage. By providing cloud-based billing and self-checkout solutions, Perpule is helping traditional retailers leverage technology to reduce costs, scale efficiently, and reclaim the customer experience.
Abhinav's transition from a software engineer at Goldman Sachs to a tech entrepreneur was fueled by a desire to build a "large business in a large market." Retail, contributing 11% to India's GDP, was the perfect battlefield. "None of us founders were from a retail background," Abhinav admits. "But we were fascinated by the scale. We wanted to see how technology could democratize an industry that employs nearly 10% of India's workforce."
The Pivot to 'UltraPoS'
Perpule initially launched with a self-checkout app that allowed shoppers to scan and pay on their phones. While the tech was solid, the team realized that the real bottleneck lay deeper in the retailer's infrastructure. "We learned that retailers were using legacy systems from 20 years ago," Abhinav explains. This led to the birth of UltraPoS—a cloud-based POS and inventory management system that digitizes the entire store operation before even reaching the customer.
Cracking the Indian Consumer Psyche
The first 12 months were a brutal masterclass in Indian consumer behavior. Abhinav and his team discovered that efficiency alone wasn't enough to drive adoption in India. "Indian customers don't necessarily value efficiency for its own sake. They value benefits," he notes. "If you want them to adopt a new technology, it has to be connected to a tangible value-add or a superior experience that they can feel."
This realization forced Perpule to look at the entire 45-minute journey of a customer in a store. They learned that even a 5-second glitch in a mobile experience is enough for a customer to drop off. This focus on "ironing out every single glitch" became the foundation of their product development philosophy.
The 'Chicken and Egg' Problem
How do you convince a giant like Reliance Retail or Big Bazaar to work with a 23-year-old founder and a tiny startup? Abhinav calls it the classic entrepreneurial dilemma. "If you aren't big, they won't work with you. If they won't work with you, you can't get big." His solution: extraordinary persistence.
Abhinav spoke to over 100 people across 35 different retailers just to land his first customer. "People don't buy products; they buy people and brands," he says. By putting his personal credibility on the line and relentlessly pitching his vision, he eventually broke through. Once the first two customers signed on, the network effect took over, and the business began to scale rapidly across India and eventually into Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Abhinav's Strategy for Young Founders
- Be Extraordinarily Persistent: The first phase is always the hardest. Your conversion rates will be poor, but they compound over time.
- Leverage Your Network: Abhinav found his co-founders and early employees through his college (NIT Surathkal) and former employer (Goldman Sachs).
- Focus on Tertiary Pillars: Young founders are great at product but often overlook HR, legal, and finance. Get advisors or experienced hires for these areas early on.
- Disagree and Commit: Disagreements are good for innovation, but once a decision is made, the entire team must commit 100%.
The $4,000 Milestone
Abhinav is incredibly bullish on the future of the Indian economy. He points to research showing that once a country's GDP per capita crosses $4,000, it sees exponential growth in discretionary spending. "India will cross that mark in the next 6 to 10 years," he predicts. "Building a business today and enduring for the next decade will yield massive returns for those who can sustain the journey."
Perpule at a Glance
- Core Product: UltraPoS (Cloud-based billing and inventory management).
- Global Reach: Expanding across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
- Impact: Enabling legacy retailers to digitize and compete with e-commerce.
About the Guest
Abhinav Pathak is the Co-founder and CEO of Perpule. A graduate of NIT Karnataka (Surathkal), he began his career at Goldman Sachs before launching Perpule in 2016. Abhinav was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2018 and is a recognized leader in the retail technology space. He is also an active angel investor and mentor, dedicated to helping the next generation of young Indian entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of building a business.
Perpule is an e-commerce and retail technology company that provides cloud-based solutions to traditional retailers. Its flagship product, UltraPoS, allows stores to manage billing, inventory, and customer engagement through a unified digital platform, bridging the gap between offline and online retail.