Abstract

The case deals with the strategy adopted by Rediff to be a successful dotcom company. In the early 2000, when most of the dotcoms shut shops, Rediff was chalking out a new business model to increase its revenues. Rediff realised that revenues from advertising were going down because of the market slowdown. Therefore, it had to look for alternative sources of revenue. Rediff targeted the lucrative NRI segment in the US. Under the new business model, Rediff hoped to generate 75% of its revenue from the NRIs. The case is aimed at students of MBA/ PGDBA course as part of the Business Strategy curriculum. From the case, students will understand how Rediff became a successful dotcom company. Though Rediff was a dotcom company, it carried out its business like any other brick and mortar company incorporating all the elements required to be successful. Rediff's model was customer centric and that is one of the reasons for its success. Students are also expected to understand the strategy behind Rediff's new revenue model. From the case students can also discuss the areas where Rediff has to focus keeping in mind the competition from other successful dotcoms. At the end of the case discussion, students could analyze the failure of most of the dotcoms and the success of few.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Strategies of dotcoms
• alternative revenue sources.

Keywords

Rediff, dotcom, 2000, shut shops, business model, revenues, advertising, market slowdown, revenue, NRI segment,US,75% ,NRI, Business Strategy