Competition and Industry News
For the consumeredit
New guidelines on e-commerce and data protection are largely positive. India’s e-commerce sector, poised to grow four times to $150 billion by 2022, is still a work in progress when it comes to safeguarding customer interest. Consumers are still compelled to take wild chances in online transactions. There is little they can do if calls go wrong. Returns and reimbursement are risky and cumbersome. There is no authentic way to figure out if product reviews, ratings or even discounts are genuine. So, it is heartening to see the government coming up with a set of guideline to protect the interests of consumers.
Publication: Hindu Business Line
Date: August 10, 2019
E-commerceIndia’s corporate profits one of the lowest among major economiesedit
India’s corporate profit to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is one of the lowest among major emerging and developed economies. The combined net profit of BSE500 companies at $63 billion is equivalent to 2.3% of the country’s GDP against 6.1% in the US, 4.24% in Brazil, 3.63% in China, 2.35% in Indonesia, 3.54% in Vietnam, 5.29% in South Korea and 15.9% in South Africa. only Mexico has a lower ratio than India at 1.71%, according to data from Bloomberg and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Publication: Business Standard
Date: August 9, 2019
Corporate profitProfitsStartup India vs angel tax: Union Budget 2019-20 has offered some sops to startups, but will bureaucracy play spoilsport?edit
It’s a Battle Royale out there. We have one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most brilliant projects, Startup India, which promises to increase both employment as well as self-employment in the country. Just look at the over 30,000 employees of Flipkart, or the over 5, 50,000 drivers used by Ola Cabs, and you begin to see the impact of startups on employment. However, pitted against Startup India is a formidable opponent, popularly known as Angel Tax. But let’s start at the very beginning.
Publication : Firstpost
Date : August 10, 2019
Angel taxNew guidelines on e-commerce and data protection are largely positiveedit
India’s e-commerce sector, poised to grow four times to $150 billion by 2022, is still a work in progress when it comes to safeguarding customer interest. Consumers are still compelled to take wild chances in online transactions. There is little they can do if their calls go wrong. Returns and reimbursements are risky and cumbersome. There are no authentic ways to figure out if product reviews, ratings or even discounts are genuine.So, it is heartening to see the government coming up with a set of guidelines to protect interests of consumers.
Publication : The Hindu Business Line
Date : August 10, 2019
E-commerce policyIkea v Pepperfy: India the venue for a David and Goliath furniture fightedit
Ikea is celebrating its first anniversary of operating in India. Even though the company secured regulatory approval to enter the country in 2013, it took five years of effort and significant investment before the first Ikea megastore opened its doors to Indian consumers in Hyderabad in 2018. The response was overwhelming – 40,000 shoppers turned up on day one, resulting in two-hour long queues just to get inside, while traffic built up outside the store. Ikea has since purchased land parcels in Mumbai, Bangalore and Gurugram (near Delhi), announced a ten-fold increase in its employee strength to 15,000 and set a target to reach 200m customers in three years.
Publication : The Conversation
Date: August 10, 2019
IKEAPepperfryIKEA readying for smaller format, e-commerceedit
On August 9, 2018, images of jam-packed roads leading to the IKEA store in Hyderabad had gone viral on social media. Now, the Swedish home furnishing giant, which is celebrating its first ‘birthday’ of the store in India, aims to become more accessible to customers, a top official said here on Friday. To do this, the company, which is known for large-format stores worldwide, will not only turn its focus to e-commerce but also towards small-format stores across the country. “If you look at the big cities in India… then we know time and value of time plays a big a role. We would like to be close to the customer.
Publication : Financial Chronicle
Date : August 10, 2019
IKEA