As usual, I'll start by asking a question to our viewers. Do you all invest in the stock market? Don’t worry I am not going to enquire about your portfolio or returns. Jokes apart, my question is related to the platform you use for investment into stocks because today we are going to talk about one such platform which is gaining traction in the investor space. Would you believe me if I tell you that this platform was started by an individual who was working in a call center & today owns a company valued at over US$ 2 Bn (~₹15,612 Cr.)?
Many of you might have guessed it by now, I am talking about Zerodha. Now that you have guessed about it, I am sure a lot of you would be eager to know what’s Zerodha share price. Another question that may arise is whether the Zerodha IPO will be launched anytime soon. After all, if Zerodha is doing so well, as an investor it makes ample sense to purchase its shares right now & gain exponential returns once it gets listed. We’ll answer all these questions over the course of this article.
Let’s start by giving a brief introduction to Zerodha's journey. Zerodha was born out of their shared passion for stock trading and a vision to revolutionize the brokerage industry in India. Zerodha is one of India's leading discount brokerage firms and gained popularity for its innovative and user-friendly online trading platform. Zerodha, founded by Nithin Kamath & Nikhil Kamath, began its journey 12 years ago by offering equity trade for both traders as well as investors at just Rs.20 becoming India’s first discount broker. They later made delivery trades free & for F&O trades at just Rs. 20.
The result of this move started showing very quickly as Zerodha gained immense popularity for its innovative & cost-effective approach. This resulted in them adding over 1 Lakh investors in just 1 year between FY11 & FY12.
Although, in its early days, Zerodha faced numerous challenges, including stiff competition from established players and the need to build a robust technology infrastructure. However, the founders remained undeterred and focused on refining their platform to provide the best possible experience for their customers.
The addition of 1 Lakh investors in 1 year proved to be just the tip of the iceberg.The real boom came in 2016 when the combo of Jio’s aggressive data plans & Adhaar enabled verification making the entire process seamless & easy to register. Infact if we look at some data, Smartphone penetration played a major role in facilitating the rise of the stock broking market in India. Let’s take a look at some stats:
By offering a transparent and technology-driven platform at competitive prices, Zerodha redefined the brokerage industry and set a new standard for customer service. The results became visible the next year when Zerodha added over 1,70,000, more than what it had added cumulatively since its establishment. After that, there was no looking back. In September 2022, Zerodha became the first company to have registered over 10.2 Million brokers.
It’s crucial to mention another product they introduced which helped them get a massive influx of investors. Zerodha's breakthrough came when they launched their innovative online trading platform, "Kite." The platform was designed with a user-friendly interface, real-time market data, and advanced charting tools, making it stand out from other offerings in the market. The introduction of "Kite" attracted a massive influx of retail investors who appreciated the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of Zerodha services. Its rapidly rising profitability in recent years is a testimony to the fact that Kite duly introduced a turnaround in the growth story of Zerodha.
While we can see from the table that Zerodha has continuously added a number of accounts, we also need to check how much cost it has paid to acquire every user & then compare it with its industry peers to ascertain how well is Zerodha performing.
So as we can safely conclude from the above table & chart that Zerodha has spent the lowest amount in acquiring customers & yet has done a tremendous job in getting new customers onboard. Now let’s take a look at who has captured more market share (in terms of DMAT accounts) to understand who all are more dominant in the industry.
Now, let’s take a look at the key offering of Zerodha which are the primary reason behind it acquiring new customers rapidly:
Key Features and Offerings:
Discount Brokerage Model: Zerodha is known for its discount brokerage model, offering low brokerage fees compared to traditional full-service brokers. This has attracted a large number of retail investors and traders to its platform.
Technology-Driven Platform: Zerodha is renowned for its user-friendly and technologically advanced trading platform. The company has developed "Kite," a robust and intuitive trading application that allows customers to trade across various financial instruments, including equities, commodities, currencies, and derivatives.
No Brokerage on Equity Delivery: One of the standout features of the Zerodha model is that it charges zero brokerage on equity delivery trades, encouraging long-term investment by retail investors.
Flat Fee Structure: For intraday and derivative trades, Zerodha charges a flat brokerage fee, making it cost-effective for active traders.
Education and Knowledge Sharing: Zerodha is committed to empowering its customers with financial literacy. The company provides various educational resources, webinars, and a dedicated platform called "Varsity" that offers comprehensive learning materials about investing and trading.
Zerodha success has been a significant driver in popularizing online trading and investing in India. The company's emphasis on technology, transparency, and cost-effectiveness has disrupted the traditional brokerage landscape and made investing more accessible to retail Zerodha share priceinvestors across the country.
Now I am sure by now all of you would be eager to know what is Zerodha share price. We would like to tell you Zerodha private equity shares are available exclusively on the Planify platform for just ₹1,990/- & hope to earn exponential returns. So what are you waiting for? Place orders fast & give your portfolio a mega boost.
The next question in chronological order would likely be when is Zerodha IPO getting launched. We would like to inform everyone that Zerodha IPO is not planning to launch its IPO as of now. For further updates on Zerodha, Investors can stay connected with Planify.