Awareness about CHESS BAZAAR Amongst the Affluent Indian Families is Low: Vikramjit Singh

By Samachar Vishesh News

Chandigarh 08^th June:- A game of chess is a simulated war and at around the same time when the Global Grand Masters of Chess were shifting hands from the likes of Bobby Fischer of USA to the Russian dominance of Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik and to our own undisputed Indian Grandmaster - Vishwanathan Anand, there was another visionary entrepreneur from Chandigarh who was teaming up with artisans of Amritsar and dreaming big to introduce Classy Collector’s Chess Board items and Luxurious Wooden Chess Pieces and on the Global Map.

It was in Year 1998, that a dreamy eyed 22 year old entrepreneur of Chandigarh, Punjab began exploring the World of business and strategies. Inspite of being the Son of a noted Government employee with no entrepreneurial background, Vikramjit’s creative instincts and acumen for business knew no boundaries. Journey began with a friend in year 1998 to supply labour as a partnership firm and by 1999 from running an IT Company in field of medical transcription to becoming a real estate contractor, from planting nurseries to becoming a Taxi operator, Vikramjit’s entrepreneurial mind was continuously looking for new battlefields to conquer. And when a friend introduced him to the world of Online Portal market in around 2007, little did Vikramjit know that his world is going to change forever.

Vikramjit started his research and analysis to understand the world of eBay and online market. Challenges were many. Poor Connectivity issues, Costly internet connections, exploring unknown global technologies without much support. But that did not deter his entrepreneurial spirit. His first product on display was an Aquarium Fish feed and it became an instantaneous success. This success paved the way to Vikramjit exploring the potential of online market and the journey of CHESS BAZAAR.com

Established in year 2007, the journey of Chess Bazaar began by chance from Amritsar flea market, where Vikramjit’s exploring mind was scouting for creative tourist souvenirs and collective items and his eyes fell on a Royal Set. The designs and creativity of the Chess boards and the Chess sets intrigued Vikramjit so much that he invested the meager Rs. 2000 he had to buy some 2-3 handmade sets.  He had to borrow a proper photography camera to upload the photographs on an online portal and then there was no looking back.

Today after almost 13 years, Chess Bazaar has become a global fad with customers all over USA, Europe, Philippines, Singapore and different parts of the world.  Chess Bazaar recently clocked a turnover of Rs. 5 Crores led by the vision of Vikramjit Singh, Founder and Managing Director of ArtSmart (Chess Bazaar’s Parent Company).

Like many other successful global brands, Vikramjit’s dreams also took shape in his Garage and from there he started tapping the keys of his Old Outdated Computer to reach out to global markets. However his knowledge in IT background to help communicate in crisp and faster fashion on online portals , his negotiation skills from real estate business to help in dealing with Punjabi laborers in Amritsar, his customer service orientation skills to help understand the requirements of his exquisite customers and his MA degree in English language, all started to come together like a zigsaw puzzle. Like the 32 warriors on the CHESS BOARD, all of Vikramjit’s skills, passion, and vision joined hands and finally the Dream had began to take shape. It was on 18^th December, 2007 that the first sale of CHESS BAZAAR.com happened and since then Chess Bazaar has not looked back.

Challenges were many but it’s only through continuous hit and trial methods, does one master the art of online business.  After identifying global markets, suddenly packing and Shipping these delicate pieces across the globe became an Achilles’ heel. There were no professional services like DHL or FedEx in those times and even the Tax structures of global business were not clear but entering Online business always meant business commitments with newer continents and unexplored territories Pieces had to be shipped meticulously ensuring minimum damage and refund complaints but Chess Bazaar was always innovating, thinking of indigenous ways and was up for the challenge. 

By 2008, as the “Game” became more challenging yet satisfying, Vikramjit started winding up all other business and started forming a team of friends, experts and vendors to give more focus on the business. Vikramjit’s better half too joined in as a strong support and it was her motivation and encouragement that helped Vikramjit to enhance his vision.

Today Chess bazaar is a pioneer in reviving old and ancient designs and deals with rare/ fragile/ expensive and royal designs. Huge amount of research and analysis is being dome to explore collector’s choice and luxurious pieces. Chess Bazaar wishes to provide the rarest and most luxurious Chess Sets, Chess boards and Chess accessories for every home.

Vikramjit Singh shared that in last 3-4 years, we are growing at almost 50% CAGR and as the online craze has now begun, we are exploring newer markets continuously for our more than 3000 products and designs. Most of our markets are currently from USA and Europe but now we are eyeing Indian market as well. After all, India is the country where the game of Chess was invented, and he feels that Luxurious Chess Sets should be a part of every Indian home.

He further added that we are continuously exploring newer exotic stuff. From Brazilian Wood to African Wood, we are trying to find the best combination of raw material which can offer the most royal and elegant looks to our Chess Pieces but at better affordable prices too. Most of our pieces are beautifully hand crafted too and we are not using any dyes to mass manufacture Chess sets or boards. From the dusty lanes of Amritsar we have started exploring new avenues in Rajasthan, Kolkata, Mysore and understand lost forms of cultures and dynasties. Chess was a game of the royals and our each piece is a collector’s item in itself. A Chess board becomes an intriguing passion as you explore more and more.

Vikramjit Singh said that still awareness about CHESS BAZAAR amongst the affluent Indian families is low and we are now conceptualizing some premium strategies in terms of Online offerings and Offline stores to ensure that our luxurious collector’s items reach out to Art Lovers, Sports Lovers, Interior decorators and to every Niche, Premium and Classy Indian homes.