Former Barista Executives’ Go5 Incorporation Expands Its Portfolio With Ecommerce Venture Deal99

Go5 Incorporation, a house of electronic brands floated by Barista’s former chief executive officer Puneet Gulati, has expanded its portfolio with the roll out of an ecommerce portal Deal99.

Inspired by the dollar store concept from the West, the ecommerce website Deal99 will offer over 10,000 products for daily use for under INR 99, the company said in a statement.

Deal99 joins Go5’s existing brands, including TecSox (mobile accessories), BLUNT (premium electronics) and TECMARX (personal gadgets). 

Explaining the rationale behind the company’s overarching strategy, Gulati told Inc42, “the concept is about house of brands. We have launched about three brands, and two more are still in the works. Each of them are different segments, different kinds of products and portfolios.”

The launch of Deal99 also marks Go5’s entry into the highly competitive Indian ecommerce space. 

Go5’s approach with Deal99 appears to be inspired by the dollar store concept popular in Western countries. However, Gulati did not provide specific details on pricing strategies or how the platform plans to differentiate itself from established ecommerce players.

“TecSox, launched in 2021, was Go5 Incorporation’s first brand. It offers mid market premium electronics and mobile accessories. TECHMARX was launched a few months later, focuses on personal electronics like massagers, LED lights, projectors etc,” Gulati said. 

BLUNT, another brand in Go5’s portfolio, targets a more premium segment. Gulati said, “Blunt is slightly premium and it is made for purely, upwardly mobile. The quality of products are much more enhanced. Higher acoustics. However, the price range is around INR 1,500.”

Go5’s strategy involves targeting different market segments with each brand. For BLUNT, Gulati said, “We are challenging the big brands in the market, like the boats and the Samsungs and the Jabra’s and the people of the world, and bringing down the price barrier and giving them extremely high acoustics in terms of quality.”

Go5 Incorporation’s manufacturing strategy involves a mix of local production and imports. Gulati said, “We are doing some contract manufacturing, in some parts of India. These are exclusive contracts which we have, and some of them. So, for example, in TecSox, the wires and chargers are manufactured here in Delhi. Some, some earbuds are manufactured in Bombay and a few are currently being imported.”

The company also has plans to expand into other sectors. Gulati mentioned upcoming ventures in astrology (AstroFeeds) and B2B ecommerce (Shoptzy), though details on these projects remain limited.