Over the past two–three years, we have been tracking the rise of Indian consumer brands that have effectively leveraged technology and post-millennial branding to scale quickly. During our stint at ShopClues, we saw savvy merchants create brands with intelligent merchandising and targeted marketing initiatives.

Publication: CNBC TV18

Date: May 30, 2019

Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart and Amazon.com Inc. would unlikely to cooperate in an Indian anti-trust study for the e-commerce sector over worries that the study would unveil their trade secrets, at least two sources with direct knowledge regarding the issue had unveiled on Tuesday, the 28th of May 2019, in terms of anonymity, as they were not authorized to talk about the subject-matter on public.

Publication: Financial World

Date: May 30, 2019

The commerce and industry ministry is gearing up to boost exports through e-commerce at a time when the government is expected to reframe the proposed e-commerce policy, yet again. Discussions on e-commerce exports kicked off on Wednesday during an informal meet among academia, exporters and officials from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Department of Post, sources said.

Publication: Business Standard

Date: May 30, 2019

Designs on India is an exhibition that aims to popularise Scandinavian designs in India and encourage collaborations. Known for their simplicity, minimalism and functionality, Scandinavian design has been celebrated and appreciated the world over. A two-day event hosted by the Swedish Consulate next week aims to attract more patrons and collaborators for its concepts and designs. The arrival of Swedish brand IKEA in India, retailing ready-to-assemble furniture and home products at reasonable rates, has made Swedish designs accessible to Indians.

Publication: The Indian Express

Date: May 31, 2019

Earlier this month, when Ratan Naval Tata (RNT) invested an undisclosed sum in Ola Electric, this was the second time he was backing the fledging electric vehicle (EV) business. He had first invested in Mission: Electric as the experimental programme by Ola was then termed, for deploying EVs and infrastructure, in 2017. Till date, Tata, also chairman-emeritus at Tata Sons) has invested in 43 start-ups. These include high-growth companies such as Ola, Paytm, Lenskart, UrbanClap and Urban Ladder. Nearly half of these have gone on to raise follow-on funding, a key measure of success.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : May 29, 2019

As the e-commerce sector matures in the region, production will become a key area for businesses to get right in order to achieve quality at scale, save on cost, and improve output. Enter the cost-effective consultant. Hire in-house, save money, ramp up productivity, and keep continuity flowing through each project. Once upon a time, I could see how this was the most effective way to run a business; growing talent internally rather than outsourcing to consultants or freelancers, often considered the pricier alternative.

Publication : Entrepreneur

Date : May 29, 2019

Online home design startup Livspace raised an undisclosed amount from Ingka Group, the franchise partner of Swedish furniture giant Ikea, besides picking up a minority stake in the company. We plan to use the funds to develop new home interior solutions and products while expanding our offline presence, Livspace said in a statement. Ingka Group, which operates 367 Ikea stores worldwide, including the Hyderabad store in India, made the investment through Ingka Investments. This is Ikea’s first investment in India. Livspace received around under $15 million, one person privy to the development told BloombergQuint requesting anonymity.

Publication : Bloomberg Quint

Date : May 29, 2019

Building an Amazon Store helps drive shopper engagement with a customized destination to help customers learn more about your brand. This is a free, self-service option that was introduced in 2017, and Amazon has been releasing new features and capabilities since its launch.We often tell our clients that it’s a no-brainer when it comes to having an Amazon Store for their brand. The main benefits of an Amazon Store include: (i) Ease of creation and use, (ii) A multipage experience for shoppers to learn more about your brand and products, (iii) Integrated promotional features.

Publication : Entrepreneur 

Date : May 29, 2019

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has proposed to formulate a national retail policy to support growth of domestic trade, an official said. This proposal is part of the 100-day action plan prepared by the department, under the commerce and industry ministry, for the new government. “A national retail policy will be formulated to support development of the sector that would benefit 65 million small traders,” the official said. In February, the subject of domestic or internal trade was shifted to DPIIT from the consumer affairs ministry, which was earlier the nodal agency for regulating the fast-growing sector.

Publication : The Hindu Business Line

Date : May 29, 2019

The startup bug has bitten India and the country is well on its way to become the next global innovation hub like Silicon Valley. Already the third largest startup ecosystem in the world, India has a thriving pool of 49K startups. Hungry to create the next big thing, thousands more are joining the wave every year. But most startups cannot cope with the frenzy of fund-raising, securing deals and acquiring customers; 90% of Indian startups are failing in the first five years.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : May 29, 2019

This week saw an exciting variety of news in the business and political world weave in the news channels and newspapers. The 17th Lok Sabha elections saw landslide victory of the BJP. Not only have they made a thumbing comeback but have also given India a start to the next five years which seem more hope-filled than ever. BJP’s comeback in India and how the way will be paved for the Indian start-up ecosystem is something that must be left on the mercy of time.However, the future remains full of possibilities. The last five years saw a mega transformation in the way the Indian start-up community is perceived.

Publication : Entrepreneur

Date : May 29, 2019

Another wave of consolidation has hit the Indian ecommerce industry as smaller etailers struggle to stay afloat. After collectively racking up around $400 million in investor capital, in the past few months a clutch of smaller online marketplaces such as Shop-Clues, Craftsvilla, Voonik, Wooplr and Elanic are shutting shop, pivoting their business model or opting for outright sale.Most of these web retailers were targeting non-metro shoppers and selling wares from smaller merchants. But with the growth of the Indian ecommerce market slowing and Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart dominating the industry, the second tier of etailers is now faced with an existential crisis.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : May 29, 2019

‘We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10.” When considering the automotive industry, it is certainly heading towards e-commerce, however we are unsure of when this will materialise entirely. We believe that implementing e-commerce in automotive online showrooms is the logical next step in order to stay in line with the changes in customer behaviour. E-commerce should be used as a method to unite the online showroom to the physical dealership, not replace it.

Publication : AM Online

Date : May 28, 2019

Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart are unlikely to fully participate in an Indian antitrust body’s study of the e-commerce sector for fear of revealing trade secrets, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is engaged in what it describes as a “fact-finding exercise” aimed at better understanding the e-commerce sector, showed a document distributed to several e-commerce firms and reviewed by Reuters. The CCI document features 88 questions over 12 pages requesting recipients volunteer pricing strategies, product information and the identities of their biggest-selling vendors.

Publication : ET Retail

Date : May 28, 2019

Seattle : Two months ago, Amazon.com Inc. halted orders from thousands of suppliers with no explanation. Panic ensued — until the orders quietly resumed weeks later, with Amazon suggesting the pause was part of a campaign to weed out counterfeit products. Suppliers breathed a sigh of relief. Now a larger, more permanent purge is coming that will upend the relationship between the world’s largest online retailer and many of its long-time vendors.In the next few months, bulk orders will dry up for thousands of mostly smaller suppliers, according to three people familiar with the plan.

Publication : Livemint

Date : May 28, 2019

For centuries and decades, societal patriarchy has always dictated that men were the household’s sole hard-working breadwinners whereas females were painted as traditional housewives with a penchant for splurging their man’s wealth for vanity. This archaic notion is being slowly being dismissed thanks to several women empowerment movements across the globe. However, stereotypes of women being shopaholics whilst men loathing the same activity has been ingrained in people’s mentality during modern times as well. In an era where information technology has created waves of awareness, gender roles are now being rethunk and demographic norms redefined.

Publication : The Pioneer

Date :  May 28, 2019

A crucial reason why e-retail is so popular among brands, it is the investment to sell online as this is significantly less than as compared to brick-and-mortar stores. Because advertising in the online space can be targeted to a specific segment of consumers, establishing an online brand with nationwide recognition is far easier than doing so offline. It is for these reasons that in 2020 there will be a record number of offline first brands. Rather than opening a brick and mortar store first, online first brands will sell online before selling offline. An increasingly sophisticated logistics network will supply consumers with products sold by offline brands and its usefulness may negate the need for many brands to sell offline ...Trends

“More attention is needed to protect entrepreneurs, and at the same time enable promoters and investors to raise capital through differential voting rights. While the government has made considerable and commendable headway in ease of doing business, further steps linked to easing of norms will fuel the start-up ecosystem,” he said. The NDA-I, industry experts said, had worked to address many fundamentals of the economy and business environment like introducing goods and services tax (GST), rationalising rate structures, ease of doing business and the 59-minute loan schemes amongst other matters.

Publication : DNA

Date : May 27, 2019

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance is looking to lead the ecommerce and fintech space in India by leveraging its Reliance Jio Infocomm’s point of sale (PoS) terminal to step its game via kirana stores. Citing industry sources, an ET report said that the PoS machine, which is used for making payments through card swipe, form the core part of Jio’s plans to build network and ecosystem with the small merchants. Two of the Reliance products, Jio PoS terminal and MyJio app are being distributed to the small kirana stores to expand its digital services in India. According to the sources, the company already has 300 Mn subscribers to its telecom network.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : May 27, 2019

They say change is the only constant in this world. And then there is the saying, “It is not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” With newer technologies, concepts, and business ideas, this stands true in the startup ecosystem. Several startups fail due to a lot of reasons and resisting change is one of them. But then, there are those who ride the wave of change, navigating and surviving against all odds. For example, GoGreenBOV, a startup that went from 12,000 happy customers to nothing, and then bouncing back with 16 patents in EV technology.

Publication : Yourstory

Date : May 27, 2019

In 2011, Pepperfry first began its journey as a horizontal e-commerce platform with a focus on lifestyle. A year later, the company pivoted into selling only furniture online. CEO and founder Ambareesh Murty says that there are no regrets in this decision, and suggests that start-ups that want to diverge into some other field should do it earlier in their business lifespan. Speaking to Moneycontrol’s Special Correspondent Priyanka Sahay, in this edition of the Setting Sail podcast, Murty talks about the company

Publication: Moneycontrol

Date : May 27, 2019

Push digital cash further and give policy clarity to anxious e-commerce and tech companies — this was the brief given to the bureaucracy nearly four months before the Narendra Modi-led government went into the general elections. Today, the plan for the first 100 days of the new government is already in place. And the huge mandate given to the BJP will enable the government to take its agenda forward with all guns firing.

Publication :  Business Standard

Date : May 27, 2019

Last month, Amazon India announced, without much noise, that it would allow Amazon Pay users to transfer money to each other through Unified Payments Interface (UPI), one of the most popular routes for making online transactions in the country. It is the e-commerce giant’s biggest recent decision in the digital payments segment, marking its entry in what promises to be a global battle for this market. Amazon Pay will jostle for a bigger slice of peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions against incumbents Paytm, which is backed by Alibaba and Soft-Bank, Flipkart’s PhonePe, and Google Pay, besides potential entrants such as Facebook owned WhatsApp and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : May 26, 2019

At present, startups comply with a plethora of requirements such as goods and services tax filings, tax returns and other local laws every month, the official said. Compliance to these processes takes a lot of time and cost. “Monthly compliance for startups needs to be reduced to one hour per month so that they can concentrate on their core work,” the official said. MicroGo LLP Founder Rachna Dave said, “Reducing the compliance time to one hour will be an extremely welcoming step giving startups enough time to focus on their core activity. It will also create a stronger startup support ecosystem in the country”.

Publication: Bloomberg Quint 

Date : May 26, 2019

More often than not, startups depend on financial help from the outside to get things moving. The primary reason being is that the journey of a startup is not necessarily as rosy as it has been painted earlier. There is a good chance you might need external help in the form of (mostly) money.But the problem is that the startup ecosystem has glorified raising money, sometimes more than making money itself. To a point where raising money for your startup itself is seen as a success.

Publication : Yourstory

Date : May 25, 2019

Developed market firms are increasingly interested in expanding to India given the growing interest and potential of this market. International marketing alliances are becoming popular as vehicles of growth strategy for developed market firms to enter India. For example, last year Walmart struck a deal with Flipkart and invested $16 billion in the Indian e-commerce firm to tap into the fast growing market in India. Similarly, a couple of months ago, 7 Eleven formed a partnership with Future Group to bring its stores to India.

Publication : Fortune

Date : May 25, 2019

FMCG products growth largely depends on quality, positioning, distribution and confidence. The first two are entirely dependent on the brand, but the latter two are dependent on the environment and policy. This is where the Government comes in. There are three things it can and must do to facilitate distribution and confidence, with one word being central to everything- Balance.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : May 23, 2019

Whether stand-alone software or part of a service, e-commerce applications should have certain common features. The priority of each feature or tool for your specific business will vary, but each feature should be available in some form or fashion from every vendor. A vendor that can’t provide one or more of these features or tools should be considered with a skeptical eye. Perhaps the most basic of e-commerce system features, and probably the one most often associated with the industry, is the automated electronic online shopping cart. An efficient, accurate, and flexible shopping cart must be a standard feature for any software or service under consideration.

Publication : Tech Republic

Date : May 23, 2019

Startups are preparing to restart conversations around multiple issues with the Narendra Modi-led government, as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance gets set to retain power by a huge margin for a second time. The top issues on the agenda include listing norms for startups, dual-class share structure, clarity on revised e-commerce rules and status of the Aadhaar ordinance on data authentication. They are expected to hold consultations with policy makers, ministries and government institutions at the earliest.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : May 23, 2019

An offshoot of the high-street fashion label, H&M Home sells products such as cushion covers, blankets, curtains and accessories. “We are looking at the home segment and it will be decoration products and not furniture. There are not many players in that category and the product range doesn’t change for years. In the organised sector, our strength will be the latest assortment,” said H&M’s India chief executive Janne Einola.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : May 23, 2019

India’s antitrust watchdog is assessing the domestic e-commerce sector, a step that could have consequences for Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart, which dominate online sales in the country. In a questionnaire dated May 17, the Competition Commission of India says it is seeking to understand the evolution of the e-commerce industry, the sector’s methods and strategies, business practices and “implications for competition,” according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Ernst & Young is conducting the study, according to the 14-page document, which is marked confidential.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : May 22, 2019

Airports are the new busy transit points and what better way to experience the product directly by the consumer. They thought of replacing the plain brown curtains at the ladies frisking booth with real Ikea curtains. Now, this is a spot every lady must go through when in the airport and is also visible from the men’s security zone. Hyderabad Airport welcomed the initiative and brought in all necessary approvals after a few rounds of discussion.

Publication : Best Media Info

Date : May 22, 2019

Look around and we find ourselves flooded with success stories of Indian startups. Either they have managed to raise growth or late-stage funding or have managed to successfully debut on the stock market. If startups are not raising funds, we are inundated with stories about the successful rounds of funds being raised by venture capitalists. But with the recent spate of big-ticket acquisitions in the Indian e-commerce sector like Flipkart’s acquisition by Walmart, many have started wondering, who were the early stage investors in these firms and what made them back these startups?

Publication : Inc42

Date : May 22, 2019

Peter Betzel, chief executive officer, Ikea India, said, “We welcome this decision from Ingka Investments to invest further into India. We have ambitious retail expansion plans over the coming years to reach many more people in India. By keeping a holistic approach to the Indian market, we will together make even more impact in the home furnishings market, creating a better everyday life for the many people.”A marketplace offering an end-to-end home design experience/solution, Livspace is promoted by Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, and started operations in 2014.

Publication : DNA

Date : May 21, 2019

“Due to the recent changes in eCommerce policy and the restrictions on an inventory-led model for marketplaces with FDI, Reliance Retail is finding a favourable policy environment to launch operations where it can use its retail infrastructure to deliver goods to customers.” The Forrester report noted. Reliance launched the food and grocery app among its employees in April 2019 to prepare for the commercial launch later in the year.

Publication : Gadgets Now

Date : May 22, 2019

While angel tax has been worked around for startups but section 56 56(2)(viib) of the Income-Tax Act still applies to companies that are not startups and have grown beyond 10 years. “So government should, in fact, abolish Section 56 for small businesses or SMEs as well. It is an unnecessary piece of legislation. If the idea is to curb black money then we already have Section 68 which says that government can ask for your source of money or by General Anti-Avoidance Rule,” Dr Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman Emeritus, TiE Delhi-NCR and Co-founder at Indian Angel Network told Financial Express Online.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : May 20, 2019

The litmus test for new policy in India, including for e-commerce, ought to be whether it helps the economy to grow and create jobs, especially when evidence is showing a decoupling of job growth from GDP growth. The fact is that with more and more young people entering the labour market, and with India looking more and more labour abundant than ever in its history, it is important we do not repeat mistakes of the past. Placing limits on competition for e-commerce platforms, as the new e-commerce policy attempts to, might actually be counterproductive.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : May 20, 2019

Bengaluru-based end-to-end home design and decor service provider Livspace has raised an undisclosed amount from IKEA group franchisee, Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V and its controlled entities) for a minority stake. The partnership is expected to enable the sharing of expertise between the two companies combining IKEA’s massive portfolio of products with Livspace’s technology platform. The funds will be used by the startup to develop new home interior solutions and products, market expansion and expanding offline retail footprint.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : May 20, 2019

Amazon might have finally found a way to crack the vernacular puzzle and add the next 100 million customers in the country. Its plan of action is simple: Introduce new users to the platform in a language of their choice, precisely through short videos, rather than making them read a plethora of information in a foreign language.The e-commerce giant will help the next wave of customers with 60-90 second videos that will have all information about products. The videos will have chat assistance from Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant, in vernacular languages.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : May 20, 2019

A few weeks after my email, Urban Ladder’s co-founder Rajiv Srivatsa texted me to say the company has finally added a warning on memory foam. “Honestly, I don’t know why no one thought of this sooner. Maybe because the memory foam market is slightly more premium, we have seen that a lot of infants sleep in their own cribs,” he says “The intent to do the right thing is always there. But it’s just one of those things that don’t strike you unless someone really thoughtful brings it up.”

Publication : The Economic Times

Date :May 19, 2019

IKEA India, the Swedish home furnishing company, has launched its free ‘IKEA Shuttle Service’ in the city. The objective is to ensure good IKEA store accessibility for the people in Hyderabad. Four shuttles will run from four different locations in Hyderabad to the IKEA store in Hi-Tec City. The service will operate between 9 am and 8:30 pm. It will take four rounds to and from the IKEA store The shuttle service is from the routes across the suburban localities – Erragadda Metro Station, Paradise Metro Station, ESI Metro Station, Ameerpet Metro Station – which will serve as a pick-up and drop-off point. The first shuttle service will operate between 9 am and 8:30 pm and take four rounds to ...

Google is quietly keeping track of every single purchase you have made in years, thanks to purchase receipts sent to your personal Gmail account. According to a report in CNBC on Friday, the information is made available to users via a private web tool which, the company claims, keeps your data private. Google, however, stressed it does not use the information for personalized ad tracking.

Publication : BGR

Date : May 18,  2019

Four shuttles will run from different locations to the IKEA store in Hit-Tec City. The services are from Erragadda, Paradise, ESI and Ameerpet metro rail stations which will serve as pick-up and drop-off points. They will make four rounds to and from the IKEA store from each of the points. Customers can access services on first-come first-serve basis, a release said.Speaking at the launch of the new service, Aurelie Raimon, Store Manager, IKEA Hyderabad said the service was introduced because a survey showed that travelling to Hi-Tec City for shopping was difficult for many.

Publication : The Hindu

Date : May 19, 2019

Last month, startup India saw a crossover that it was delighted with. Rajan Anandan, managing director of Google India, quit to join Sequoia Capital and lead its early stage investment program Surge. Anandan is among India’s most prolific angel investors with over 59 investments. He got a star’s welcome. “Rajan is a true angel,” says Amarpreet Kalkat, co-founder, Frrole, an AI-powered social intelligence startup that offers services to businesses.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : May 19, 2019

As modern India’s capital, Delhi is in a unique place due to its influence on the rest of the country. And we aren’t just talking about the role of the central government’s role in this. Delhi’s culture of innovation can be traced back to the 14th century when Muhammad Bin Tughlaq who was widely known as a “Man of Ideas” introduced token currency and the concept of a central capital for a kingdom. Over the years, Delhi has been home to a number of innovations and improvements in the way of life of Indians. And these days, it’s the heart of India’s startup ecosystem.

Publication : Inc42

Date : May 17, 2019

Karnataka state government’s department, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology (IT, BT and ST), is in talks with German officials to set up Indo-German accelerators in Bengaluru and Berlin that will serve as hubs for startups to grow their businesses, get mentorship as well as seed investment by providing access to venture capitalists and other private investors.

Publication : Indianweb2

Date : May 18, 2019

Travel companies have been waiting for Amazon’s inevitable next try at travel booking after shuttering its nascent hotel business in 2015. It now appears Amazon is making tentative steps to start offering flights. Powered by India online travel agency Cleartrip, Amazon has begun offering domestic flights in India.

Publication: Skift

Date: May 16, 2019

Furniture Market is Poised to touch USD 654.60 Billion by 2025 at an Impressive 2.64% CAGR during the forecast period (2018-2025), reveals the latest report by Market Research Future (MRFR). The market can grow due to rapid urbanization and migration of denizens to cities. Changing consumer tastes in indoor furniture and the boom in the real estate sector are other drivers of the market. The market was highly unorganized until the launch of online furniture stores which gave it the much-needed boost. Online retailers such as IKEA, Urban Ladder, and others have enticed customers with a variety of options and numerous designs.

Publication: Globe Newswire

Date: May 16, 2019

Amazon is opening up its exports business to enable Indian sellers on its platform to sell for the UAE and other Middle East markets, both of which have the highest Indian population outside of the country.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: May 17, 2019

Stubble burning creates a huge environmental problem and farmers of Punjab are aware of it but still resort to this practice, saying their is no viable alternative available. Worldwide Fund for Nature India (WWF India) is working closely with a major Ludhiana manufacturer and supplier of Swedish multinational IKEA to use rice straw as an energy feeder in boilers. The company currently uses pellets made of groundnut shell and wood chips for feeding in boilers. However, supply of groundnut shells is erratic and expensive while wood chips are voluminous and come with high moisture levels. Rice straw, on the other hand, is abundant and plenty but needs to be densified, states Baljeet Gill, Procurement Head of Jawandsons, which supplies textiles ...IKEA

E-commerce is a quick and convenient business process for both sellers and buyers. It allows sellers to sell physical goods online while buyers just need to wait for their orders to be delivered at home. If you’re an e-commerce startup or just planning to launch your online startup venture, you need to know how e-commerce works as well as the factors that will determine your success.

Publication : Spinlab

Date : May 14, 2019

For years, Google and Amazon stuck to their strengths. Google’s search monopoly and universe of online services seemed to present little overlap with Amazon’s web commerce empire.But as the ambitions of each have expanded, it is becoming unavoidably, inescapably clear that the technology giants are heading for a collision. On Tuesday, at its annual Google Marketing Live conference, Google unveiled a list of new products meant to help it become a destination for shoppers and for marketers hoping to reach consumers considering spending decisions.

Publication : The New York Times

Date  : May 14, 2019

Deep discounts offered on India’s two largest ecommerce marketplaces, Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon, have vanished for over three months now, said executives from leading consumer companies.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: May 16, 2019

After Facebook, Snapchat is thinking of integrating e-commerce directly into the app. Reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong is his latest scoop found codes, which suggest that the social media giant seems to be working with Shopify, a SAAS(Software as a Service) based platform that let you build your own online store, to bring e-commerce facility for its users.

Publication: MSPowerUser

Date: May 14, 2019

Amazon label to India in 2015. It launched another brand Solimo, offering home appliances and household items, the same year. The company now sells 10,000 products, including clothing, grocery, cosmetics, computer accessories, luggage and electronics, from 16 private labels. And this summer, the e-commerce firm started selling Amazon split air conditioners. That’s likely to make sellers dependent on the platform sweat. Amazon now accounts for nearly 40 percent of online sales in India, according to Arvind Singhal, managing director at retail consultant Technopak Advisors. By launching its own products at lower prices, it threatens to crowd out the merchants.

Publication: Bloomberg Quint

Date: May 14, 2019

The past decade has seen the emergence of ecommerce unicorns, big-ticket acquisitions, and deep-pocketed global investors. The final draft of the ecommerce policy will determine who holds the edge in the next decade.

Publication: Forbes India

Date: May 14, 2019

Online Household Furnitures Market 2019 Research report contains a qualified and in-depth examination of Online Household Furnitures Market. At first, the report provides an overview of Product Specification, technology, product type and production analysis considering major factors such as Revenue, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin. It also covers detailed competitive outlook including the Online Household Furnitures market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market.

Publication: Industry Herald

Date: May 14, 2019

Bengaluru-based online classifieds marketplace, Quikr, has tied up with Asia’s largest certified refurbished and excess inventory brand Rocking Deals to provide offline services to its customers. With this partnership, Quikr will start selling its products at Rocking Deals’ retail store at Mathura Road in Delhi-NCR. The company will initially offer ‘Quikr Assured’ refurbished products in two categories, including furniture and large appliances.

Publication: YourStory

Date: May 14, 2019

The move by the global retail giant Amazon to allow its employees leave their job and start a complementary delivery business to support the company will go a long way in spawning entrepreneurship. The Seattle-based Amazon, which is striving to ensure faster delivery of packages, is helping its employees start smaller business units delivering goods. The plan is to build an exclusive network of such units to crunch the delivery time for its customers.

Publication: DNA India

Date: May 15, 2019

FICCI Monday said it may be “pre-mature” for India to attempt rule-making in e-commerce and the country must be extremely cautious in its approach as there is less clarity on the impact of such issues, in the backdrop of the WTO mini-ministerial here. Developed countries like the US want WTO members to start discussing new issues like e-commerce. However, India is of the view that formal discussions should begin only after consensus is built on them.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : May 13, 2019

Approximately half of the nation’s business economists believe the U.S. economy will go into recession by the end of 2020 . According to KPMG principal and chief economist Constance Hunter , there’s a 50% chance it will happen in 2019. If the current U.S. economic expansion lasts beyond June, it will be the longest on record. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. So whether you believe the economy will power on or take a turn for the worse, we should all begin to prepare for that inevitable shift.

Publication : Forbes

Date : May 13, 2019

Amazon.com Inc is rolling out machines to automate a job held by thousands of its workers: boxing up customer orders. The company started adding technology to a handful of warehouses in recent years, which scans goods coming down a conveyor belt and envelopes them seconds later in boxes custom-built for each item, two people who worked on the project told Reuters.Amazon has considered installing two machines at dozens more warehouses, removing at least 24 roles at each one, these people said. These facilities typically employ more than 2,000 people.

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date : May 13, 2019

According to Small Business Trends, angel investors and Venture Capitals each invested in only 3% of startups in 2018. While a report published in Medium says that in 2017, Venture Capitals invested in 6% of the startups. A good business plan for an angel investor might not be good for a Venture Capital. But, there are some common factors which every investor looks for before funding a startup.

Publication: Born2invest

Date : May 11, 2019

India’s IT hub and startup capital Bengaluru has moved up two ranks to 18 among the world’s top 30 startups, according to the Startup Genome Report 2019. It’s the only Indian city to feature in the list. While the city is known for its Edtech and Fintech startups, it lacks a strong framework for recognising, developing and commercialisation of intellectual property in “deep tech”, like robotics, smart cities, clean tech, autonomous systems, the report said.

Publication : Bloomberg Quint

Date : May 12, 2019

Online classifieds marketplace Quikr on Sunday announced a partnership with Rocking Deals for offering offline services to its customers. As per the tie-up, Quikr will sell its products at the Rocking Deals’ retail store at Mathura Road in Delhi-NCR. Rocking Deals plans to open two to three more such stores in the country.

Publication: Business Standard

Date: May 12, 2019

The Chinese e-commerce behemoth is Alibaba is tweaking the business model of its e-commerce business AliExpress, which enables Chinese merchants to sell their products in over 150 countries, to enable small and medium-sized sellers initially from Russia, Turkey, Italy, and Japan to sell their products globally through AliExpress network. The move will enable Alibaba to step up competition with Amazon globally even as the home growth slows down.

Publication: Financial Express

Date: May 12, 2019

Living in a metro has many benefits—better work opportunities, more exposure and the ability to live the high life. However, there is one thing it lacks—bigger living spaces. The one area in the house that takes the brunt for it is the bathrooms. Newer constructions usually have small bathroom designs which means lesser space to store things. If you are looking to fix these space issues then help is at hand. Here easy ideas that will not break the bank or your walls.

Publication: Architectural Digest

Date: May 12, 2019

The new policies could potentially limit the ability of a marketplace to incentivize vendors, especially small vendors, to utilize e-commerce as a means to access new markets. This could mean losing the momentum that India has gained in promoting benefits from digitisation to small businesses or SMEs.

Publication: Financial Express

Date: May 12, 2019

Homevista Decor and Furnishing Pvt Ltd, which runs online interior design and furniture company HomeLane, is expanding in two new cities, including Kolkata and Pune, and will invest around ₹15 crore for expansion, according to a top company executive.

Publication: Mint

Date: May 11, 2019

Several real-estate agents said getting rid of clutter is the easiest way to spruce up your home. Several agents recommended putting away your family photo away when you are trying to sell your house.

Publication: Business Insider India

Date: May 11, 2019

Most of us spend money on interiors and furniture while renovating our homes, but very few give enough thought to adorning the windows. And even that thought ends with a pair of normal curtains.

Publication: Telangana Today

Date: May 11, 2019

An artist’s home is many things—an extension of his/her personality, a place to escape and a space where inspiration thrives. In the case of classical folk singer, sitar player and ethnic wear fashion designer, Prapti Mehta, her home had to have one more element—it needed to be a warm and hospitable oasis for friends and family. Each room, signature décor pieces and colours were to synthesise to reflect her personality. To design her 30,000 square feet home in the serene town of Anand, Gujarat, she approached Jiten Tosar and Yatin Kavaiya of Usine Studio.

Publication: Architectural Digest

Date: May 11, 2019

Throughout the fair, you could see mosaic tiles with floral motifs, reinterpreted in a contemporary way by Carlo Dal Bianco for Bisazza. In a limited-edition collaboration for the Tuscany brand Bitossi Home and the Milanese shop Funky Table, Italian-Brazilian fashion accessory designer Paula Cademartori presented a Bloom Collection of vases, containers and cup covers inspired by South American tropical motifs.

Publication:  Mint

Date: May 10, 2019

Small to midsize businesses (SMBs) have a wealth of solutions from which to choose when creating a profitable e-commerce website and accepting payments. The key advantages of e-commerce websites include the ability to provide 24/7 access to international buyers and enabling quick and secure online sales. For National Small Business Week (NSBW), we take a look some ways in which you can quickly and effectively secure your e-commerce website as well as protect your customers’ data. All it takes is five easy steps.

Publication: PCMag

Date: May 11, 2019

India’s e-commerce regulations need more consultation with American companies that have invested in India, according to a senior US official. Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the US Foreign Commercial Service for the Department of Commerce, Ian Steff on Friday said some of the e-commerce regulations have not received the type of consultation that is needed with some of the large investors.

Publication: Business Standard

Date: May 11, 2019

Ecommerce major Amazon.com Inc is reported to be have witnessed an extensive fraud in 2018, when hackers were able to access online sellers transactions for over six months. According to a media report, the hackers broke into about 100 seller accounts and stole cash from their bank accounts which included sellers’ loans and earnings. This breach took place between May 2018 and October 2018.

Publication: INC42

Date: May 9, 2018

For city dwellers, two things are priority while choosing furniture—it should be decorative and also functional. In city apartments where space is at a premium, every item and piece of furniture needs to do double duty to truly earn its place in the house. In cases like these, buying multipurpose furniture becomes a smart, clever idea to survive space crunch.

Publication: Architectural Digest

Date: May 9, 2019

Walmart-based e-commerce giant Flipkart is back with its Big Shopping Days. The e-tailer has announced that it will be holding a five-day sale starting May 15 and will end on May 19. As part of this sale, Flipkart will offer discounts on products including electronic gadgets, mobiles, TVs, ACs, clothing, footwear, make-up, home decor and more.

Publication: The Times of India

Date: May 9, 2019

You’re not alone if a city-wide search for the perfect gift for a loved one leaves you more confused than you were before you started. And then there’s the pressure of buying a wedding gift for someone. It should be thoughtful, ideally something you’d buy for yourself, and something the receiver would be excited to get. A good way to improve this process is to demarcate the gift under ‘his’ and ‘hers’ bassinets for ease of purchasing.

Publication: Vogue India

Date: May 9, 2019

The technology marvel is evolving at a great speed and dominates a large aspect of our lives today. As far as e-commerce is concerned, the core focus is on how we use technology to help us deliver on our strategy. The choices that we make on technology are not driven by explicit simplification intent. We believe technology is the tool that helps one manage business and operational complexity. In our experience many of the more mature technologies have also evolved substantially over the years.

Publication:  Express Computer

Date: May 8, 2019

The chief marketing officer of Pepperfry, Kashyap Vadapalli, shares more with FE’s Srinath Srinivasan on the fast-growing branded furniture business, why building a brand will be important to stay in the market and why competition is good for this space.

Publication: Financial Express

Date: May 8, 2019

Many foreign companies find it tough to succeed in India. One reason, according to Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, is their inability to deal with India’s unique environment, as well as the frequent policy changes by the government.

Publication: CNBC

Date: May 7, 2019

Last year in August, Swedish home solutions retailer Ikea made its India store debut in Hyderabad. Offering a completely new shopping experience the store has witnessed over 2.5 million customers already with sales meeting company expectations. Peter Betzel, chief executive officer, Ikea India, in an email interaction with Ashish K Tiwari, shares the company’s retailing experience with Indian customers, new learnings, India specific strategies, current and future plans.

Publication: DNA India

Date: May 6, 2019

In India, e-commerce business has developed substantially in the last decade. A robust supply chain management helps enterprises purchase or manufacture products and deliver them to the customer on time. It also perks up the efficiency of material flow, reduce allocation costs, and can be credited for the meteoric rise of the e-commerce industry. Here are four critical roles logistics element plays in the ecommerce industry.

Publication: CNBC TV18

Date: May 6, 2019

Customer service plays a very vital role in any kind of industry. Be it a product or service offering brand, good customer service is highly essential in every sector. If a customer places an order online and receives an email or text, informing him/her about the confirmation of the order, it is also considered as customer service. However, the more important part is when the brand also offers after-sale services to its customer. This not only retains the existing customer but also helps in attracting new and potential ones.

Publication: Entrepreneur India 

Date: May 05, 2019

Modern consumers want to be informed, they like to be on the cutting edge and know opinions before taking the step to acquire a product. One of the best ways for companies to attack this new consumer need is to use social media. This is where the importance of social selling lies. So, what is the importance of social selling within a company? It’s a more direct strategy of connecting with your target audience. In other words, the immediacy of social networks makes both the company and the client have a much more direct contact in conversations and possible doubts are resolved in a much more personalized way.

Publication: E-Commerce Nation

Date: May 05, 2019

The quest to acquire the broadest possible user data is driving e-commerce and technology firms into strange waters. Early last month, one of the world’s largest technology companies — Apple — announced that it was launching a credit card in association with Goldman Sachs. A few months earlier, e-commerce giant Amazon had entered into a similar partnership with ICICI Bank in India to launch a co-branded credit. Now, reports say that Indian e-commerce players like Flipkart and Ola are likely to follow suit.

Publication: The New Indian Express

Date: May 04, 2019

E-commerce negotiations at the multilateral level will be a key area of talks at the informal World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting which will take place in Delhi later this month. At the informal ministerial, at least 20 developing countries and least developed countries will discuss how realistic it is to assume that they can “effectively and meaningfully influence” the outcome of negotiations on free flow of data across borders, server localisation and source code disclosure.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: May 04, 2019

All the e-commerce websites invest significantly in their business to turn visitors into customers and boost sales.Per Statista research, e-commerce sales around the world are rapidly increasing. The revenue of e-commerce sites accounted for $2.3 trillion in 2017, which is expected to reach $3.45 trillion in 2019 and then to $4.88 trillion in 2021. This shows that opportunities exist in this business, driven by the demand of customers to purchase everything online. Landing pages help businesses to attract more traffic, drive conversions, generate leads, which eventually deliver a high return on investment (ROI).

Publication : Born2invest (Online)

Date: May 02, 2019

Our 2019 retail trends focused heavily on the rise of omnichannel shopping, and mobile commerce plays a large part in that. With the rise of social media, and the ability to access it on a phone, brands have put a lot of effort into advertising on those platforms. In 2018, brands increased their social media spending by 60 percent, and received a 67 percent increase in revenue as a result. With so much effort being put into mobile advertising, it makes sense that the next step is to funnel a company’s targeted audiences into a purchase.

Publication : G2 Learning Hub (Online)

Date: May 03, 2019

An entity is considered a start-up if its turnover for any of the financial years since its incorporation/registration hasn’t exceeded Rs 100 crore in any of the previous financial years. It may be noted that under the Startup India Action Plan, startups that meet the definition as prescribed under the G.S.R. notification 501(E), are eligible to apply for recognition under the program.

Publication : ET Retail (Online)

Date: May 03, 2019

Pepperfry, the furniture and home products marketplace, has tied up with BankBazaar, a personal finance marketplace, to offer its customers personal loan facility to refurbish their homes. Consumers seeking personal loans to renovate their homes can of avail of this benefit in five simple steps, with the assistance of an executive at any Studio Pepperfry across the nation. The customer has to provide basic personal details on the website, leading to mobile number verification through OTP. Once validated, the customer can choose from the bank offers specially curated for him/her by different banks in real time. The customer can then proceed with an online application for the loan or request a BankBazaar executive to assist offline.

Publication : Hindu Business ...Pepperfry

Amazon claims it is also working with the government in formulating policy changes, leveraging on the ‘Make in India’ campaign the government is promoting. Amazon confirms that the government too is putting its best foot forward by bringing down the documentation and other infrastructure creation where needed and so on. Now that Amazon’s US rival Walmart has entered the Indian e-commerce scene, the exporters in the product lines identified above are getting orders from the US company.

Publication : The News Minute (Online)

Date : May 02, 2019

As the famous saying goes, “Change is the only constant in the universe,” and changes in e-Commerce is no exception. E-commerce makes up over 10% of all retail sales in the world with predictions that it will reach over 20% in the coming years. The conversion with mobile technology is steadily on the rise – Forrester reported an over 50% increase in mobile e-commerce sales. As online sales are steadily increasing, the expectations of customers are growing as well. For an e-commerce development company to reach its target consumers, and convert sales, they have to have creative and effective development strategies set in place.

Publication: Customer Think (Online)

Date: May 02, 2019

Pepperfry has been on the block since 2011, but at some point around 2014, it’s popularity exploded as they launched their television campaigns. Some of their famous campaigns such as “For those who like this and those who like that” grabbed a lot of attention and eyeballs. The TVC was about a couple innocently wandering in to buy new furniture for their house. While the boy was drawn to dark sheesham furniture, the girl preferred light and subtle furniture. The TVC showed the two different choices of two individuals and there comes the tagline of the campaign where Pepperfry claims to get each individual’s choices covered.

Publication : Exchange4media (Online)

Date : May 02, 2019

Amazon.com Inc’s India unit saw a 56 percent rise in the number of local merchants selling to international markets, hitting export sales of over $1 billion, the company said on Tuesday.Indian merchants were exporting more than 140 million products on Amazon’s app and website, with cumulative sales expected to top $5 billion in the next four years, country head Amit Agarwal told reporters in Bengaluru. Amazon launched its Global Selling Program in 2015, as part of its efforts to get more small-and-medium sized vendors on board. Vendor consolidation is key in India, which is among the Seattle-based company’s top growth markets.

Publication: Mint (Online)

Date : April 30, 2019

Fashion is one of the top three categories for Amazon in terms of number of customers as well as business done, a top executive said on April 30. Overall fashion is one of the top three largest categories. It also contributes the largest in customers (acquisition), Mayank Shivam, Director, category management, Amazon Fashion, told Moneycontrol in an interaction.He declined to talk about market share captured by the fashion category at a time when Flipkart Group that constituents of three fashion brands — Flipkart Fashion, Myntra and Jabong claims to be having 80 percent market share of the online fashion segment.

Publication: Moneycontrol  (Online)

Date : April 30, 2019

Through this partnership, Studio Pepperfry customers can avail the home renovation or upgradation loan from a range of curated offers in a quick and hassle-free manner.  Customers seeking personal loans to renovate their homes can avail this benefit with the assistance of an executive at any Studio Pepperfry across the country. The customer has to provide basic personal details on the website, leading to mobile number verification through OTP. Once validated, they can pick from the bank offers that are specially curated from different banks in real time and then proceed with online application of the loan or request for a BankBazaar executive to assist offline.

Publication : The News Minute (Online)

Date : April 30, 2019

In a brick-and-mortar retail store, you have the opportunity to really get to know your customers. You can ask each shopper who walks through your doors what they’re looking for and provide them with a personalized shopping experience. Giving your customers a personalized experience is important, though. According to research from Accenture and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), 63 % of consumers surveyed are interested in personalized recommendations. So, how can you accomplish this in the virtual world of e-commerce? The answer might be machine learning.

Publication: Forbes (Online)

Date : May 01, 2019