For manufacturers to also rent, it calls for a very different risk appetite that few have. “There is nothing common in the way manufacturers run their business versus rental companies,” says Ashish Goel, co-founder and CEO of furniture maker Urban Ladder. “The type of product, financial model and operating model—nothing is common. You need very sharp financial engineering for this more than anything else,” he says. Goel estimates that to generate the same Rs 100 crore ($14.5 million), a rental company would need 3X more inventory than a manufacturer. Urban Ladder has decided to avoid the rental space altogether.

Publication: The Ken

Date: July 10, 2019

Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart are seeking to quell price distortions, making steep discounts less of a possibility, to ensure strict compliance with e-commerce rules for foreign marketplace companies. They are asking brands to give in writing negotiated, pre-determined prices — also called market operating prices — for products to sellers and certify that any discounts beyond this will be borne by them – marketplaces and sellers will have nothing to do with it, said executives with knowledge of the matter.

Publication: Economic Times

Date: July 10, 2019

By 2023, $10.4 billion or 28% of sales for durables will be online. Digitally influenced shoppers researching, shopping, and reviewing large appliances online are set to spur the demand for such goods using the internet as a medium over the next five years. Cheaper data rates and access to online shopping has pushed the digital influence on the sale of large appliances to 28% of the overall consumer durables market. Such “digitally influenced” sales measured by the report as the use of internet by shoppers during the entire purchase cycle will impact 63% of total consumer durables sold in India by 2023.

Publication: LiveMint

Date: July 9, 2019