Companies making their debut on the U.S. stock market are getting a rough welcome, especially if they are losing money, casting a shadow over the calendar for initial public offerings for the rest of the year. The surprise postponement of the WeWork IPO has underscored how confidence is eroding in the market both for companies looking to raise capital and investors.A more discerning market for initial public offerings continued to punish Peloton Interactive Inc PTON.O on Friday, a day after it began trading.

Publication  : Business Standard 

Date : September 28, 2019

The Indian E-commerce industry has been on an upward growth trajectory and is expected to surpass the US to become the second-largest e-commerce market in the world by 2034. The E-commerce market is expected to reach US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion in 2017. This growth is primarily attributed to rising income, the surge in internet penetration, and a rise in smartphone sales. Although on the global e-commerce readiness index, India is at 10%, and ranks behind countries such as Brazil (20%), China (30%) and Russia, with appropriate demand drivers in place

Publication : People Matters

Date : September 27, 2019

Ahead of its proposed initial public offering (IPO) in FY21, Pepperfry, India’s largest online furniture brand, may look at two more rounds of funding.This includes $20-30 million in equity financing in the next six months, said co-founder and CEO Ambreesh Murty. The Mumbai-headquartered firm, which reported FY18 sales of Rs 308 crore, is working towards profitability and hopes to achieve the milestone sometime in the next financial year.“We have established a fairly clear leadership for ourselves in the segment and now is the time for us to start bringing in margin structures more in line with a business that is turning profitable,” Murty told Business Standard.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : September 29, 2019

At long last, the voice of the startup ecosystem was heard by the Finance Minister on 23rd August 2019, when she announced that Angel Tax would not be applicable for startups registered with the DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade). India has a flourishing startup ecosystem and out of the estimated 50,000 startups, 21,651 are currently registered with DPIIT. The process of registering with DPIIT is online and seamless. With the government already taking measures against angel tax abolishment, this piece looks at the impact of this announcement and suggests further measures towards ease of business.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : September 29, 2019

India’s two largest ecommerce companies, Flipkart and Amazon, said that opening day festive sales have surpassed estimates, primarily boosted by new product launches, steep discounts, and loans and bank offers luring customers from smaller towns and cities to buy online. Data shared by both marketplaces indicate that most of these shoppers used financial affordability constructs like EMI or product exchange offers to make purchases, especially on electronics.According to Flipkart, customers opting for affordability options spent 2.5 times more than other customers.

Publication : The Economic Times 

Date : September 30, 2019

The online furniture company, Pepperfry, said that itis on course to become a profitable entity in this calendar year and will look forward to launch its IPO in the next 14-15 months. “Our business is growing like a rocket ship. We are growing today faster than we were growing last year. We are making margins higher than last year. The way things are going we may move very close to profitability during the year,” said Ambareesh Murty, founder, and CEO at Pepperfry.

Publication: ET Retail

Date: September 26, 2019

The e-commerce landscape continues to attract regulatory attention. The latest is the Competition Commission of India (CCI) reportedly keeping a close watch on deep discounts offered by e-commerce marketplaces.“Deep discounts could make some businesses unviable as it erodes the value of products and services in the mind of the consumer if done for extended period”, the Economic Times quoted CCI chairperson Ashok Kumar Gupta in its report. The development comes at a time when e-commerce marketplaces are gearing up for their special discounted sales timed around the festival season.

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date : September 24, 2019

IKEA’s online sales surged 43% in the 12 months to the end of August, helping to drive overall retail sales at the world’s biggest furniture group 6% higher, based on local currencies, brand owner and franchisor Inter IKEA said on Wednesday.Retail sales – or sales of products and services at all 433 IKEA stores and online sites – came in at 41.3 billion euros ($45.4 billion), an increase of 6.5% from the previous fiscal year when accounted for in euros, it said in a statement.IKEA, known for its giant out-of-town budget furniture stores, is investing heavily in adapting to new shopping habits and online competition.

Publication : ET Retail 

Date : September 26, 2019

E-commerce players, including Amazon and Flipkart, can expect to generate sales of over $4.8 billion during this year’s festive month (September 29-October 4), but the growth over last year will be subdued, according to research by Forrester. About 80 per cent of these sales will occur between September 29 and October 4 — the period in which Flipkart and Amazon will hold their ‘Big Billion Days’ and ‘Great Indian Festival’ sales.Year-over-year growth in online retail spending during these five days will take a hit, from 93 per cent in 2018 to 32 per cent in 2019.

Publication : The Hindu Business Line 

Date : September 26, 2019

Despite a slowdown in the economy, start-up and tech businesses continue to see a steady rise in funding and valuations, and emergence of new ventures. According to consultancy firm EY, private equity and venture capital investments in H1 2019 were 27 per cent higher at $23.4 billion compared to the same period last year. At 536 deals, even the volume of deals is 43 per cent higher than last year. “As per EY’s forecast in the beginning of 2019, infrastructure and real estate sectors have taken the lead in attracting PE investments.

Publication: Business Standard

Date: September 24, 2019

Online furniture and home products marketplace, Pepperfry is looking to acquire a Virtual Reality (VR) technology start-up that will elevate customer experience substantially and enable quicker decision making. “With VR technology, customers will be able to enter digitally rendered versions of their own homes in virtual reality and furnish and decorate their homes, by selecting products from Pepperfry’s extensive furniture and home décor catalogue and placing them one by one in each room” Ambareesh Murty, founder and CEO at Pepperfry told BusinessLine on the sidelines of the launch of the company’s second largest warehouse in Bengaluru on Friday.

Publication : The Hindu Business Line

Date : September 23,  2019

The government has recently opened consultations for the draft E-commerce guidelines for consumer protection, as the Department of Consumer Affairs, under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution looks to finalize on the guidelines that will regulate the e-commerce sector in India. The policy once implemented is intended to help build customers trust by putting in place various check and balances across the e-commerce ecosystem, for grievances ranging from payment refunds, fake reviews, product quality, etc.

Publication : The Times of India

Date : September 24, 2019

The IPO market cannot thrive unless policy hurdles to start-ups scaling up are removed India’s primary market, after showing signs of animation for the last couple of years, seems to be sinking back into its habitual stupor. Data from Prime Database suggests that domestic public offers after managing a sharp jump in fund-raising to over ₹98,984 crore in FY18, raised just ₹36,405 crore in FY19, with the amounts further dwindling to ₹13,708 crore in the first eight months of this fiscal. With the number of offers dipping from 81 in FY18 to 20 this fiscal, over two dozen firms that had filed prospectuses with SEBI have shelved their IPO plans.

Publication: Hindu Business Line

Date: September 22,2019

Analysts have upgraded earnings growth estimates of companies after the government slashed corporate tax on Friday. Analysts expect the tax cut to help companies improve profitability. They expect some of the gains made by companies to be reinvested in their businesses, though a part of it may be passed on to consumers to boost demand. Oza expects the index to gain 9-10% from its low of 10,700 as inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) will drive the market from hereon.

Publication: Livemint

Date: September 23, 2019

“When you go higher up the value order chain, people need to feel and see the commodities. Myntra created product returns but in our industry, we can’t do the same. Urban Ladder tired to do it but the unit economics were horrible,” Srivastava says. Anuj Srivastava is revolutionizing something altogether different. The founder of Livspace, an online home design startup that he founded with Ramakant Sharma, had earlier had stints with Myntra as VP of engineering and Livspace was the logical next step.

Publication: Inc42

Date: September 20, 2019

Online furniture retailer Pepperfry expects to report its first annual profit in the next financial year and plans to go public in 12-15 months, said its co-founder Ambareesh Murty. “We plan to file for an initial public offering in the next 12-15 months,” Murty, who is also the chief executive of the company, said in an interview on the sidelines of the opening of one of Pepperfry’s largest warehouse in Bengaluru on 20 September. “The company is on a clear path to full-year profitability by FY21, though we will get very close to being profitable by this October itself,” Murty said.

Publication: Livemint

Date: September 22, 2019

The spotlight on the controversial Angel Tax isn’t showing signs of fading anytime soon. While the government has been announcing measures from time to time to provide relief to startups, industry experts feel that the changes – on ground – are still largely incremental. Speaking at industry body Assocham’s 16th International Tax Conference on Thursday, Prerna Mehndiratta, Partner – M&A Tax, PwC India said that while the steps are in the right direction, angel tax has to be applied as an exception and not the other way.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: September 20, 2019

E-commerce major Amazon India on Thursday opened its largest fulfilment centre (warehouse) at Ranihati near here to meet the growing demands of the region, a company official said. This is the fifth fulfilment centre (FC) in the state. It will double the storage capacity and also lead to creation of substantial job opportunities in the state. “Today we are launching the largest FC in West Bengal. FCs are similar to warehouses which keep the inventory of the sellers and uses technology and automation to process the orders,” Akhil Saxena, VP (Customer Fulfilment) of Amazon India, said.

Publication: Moneycontrol

Date: September 19, 2019

The Kotak Panel Report on Corporate Governance has made a sincere attempt to revamp the role and responsibility of IDs. At best, the Report skims the surface, and avoids dealing with ground-level problems and issues. Corporate India embraced the forced presence of IDs in board rooms with considerable discomfort and uneasiness, but have now reconciled to live with this forever. The Kotak Panel’s recommendations have suggested that half of the boards of listed companies should be IDs, as against the present norm of one-third. The demand for IDs will therefore increase substantially; but, supply is woefully inadequate.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date : September 20, 2019

An official statement from the corporate affairs ministry said the move was also aimed at fostering compliance as well as to address the emerging issues affecting businesses. The panel led, by corporate affairs secretary Injeti Srinivas, will examine if offences under the statutes dealing with companies and LLPs could be reclassified as ‘civil wrongs’. The panel will also explore the feasibility of bringing new schemes such as settlement mechanism and deferred prosecution agreement—a kind of amnesty subject to the defendant meeting certain conditions, within the ambit of the company law. It will also try to address any shortcomings in the LLP Act, as per the mandate given to the panel.

Publication : Mint 

Date : September 18, 2019

With many stores expanding their online retail presence and e-commerce giants like Amazon dominating share in the overall retail market, it can seem difficult for brick-and-mortar stores to thrive. Despite this, in-store shopping is far from “dead,” as there are benefits to physical storefronts that e-commerce simply can’t provide. If you want your store to succeed in today’s digital landscape, you’ll need to follow today’s best practices and strategies. Based on their expertise and experience, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council explain what strategies brick-and-mortar stores can use to continue to flourish.

Publication : Forbes

Date : September 18, 2019

Even as an umbrella ecommerce policy is on the anvil, several ministries are working in silos to frame their own set of rules, pushing to the margins the industry’s ask for a consolidated set of guidelines for the sector. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal had said in June that a national ecommerce policy would be ready within 12 months. However, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) and the consumer affairs ministry have started parallel consultations to frame their own rules to regulate ecommerce companies. While MeitY has set up a panel to regulate non-personal data, the consumer affairs ministry has floated draft guidelines for consumer protection.

Publication : The Economic Times 

Date : September 18, 2019

Online shopping giant Amazon is betting that some customers would rather use cash. The e-commerce company announced “Amazon PayCode” on Wednesday, which lets shoppers buy something online, then show up at one of 15,000 Western Union locations in person to pay in cash. That option was already available in 19 countries, but is rolling out in the U.S. in coming weeks, the company said. It also unveiled “Amazon Cash” — way for users to load cash into their Amazon balance in person, so they can make online purchases later. That is now available in over 100,000 cash-loading locations nationwide.

Publication : CNBC 

Date : September 19, 2019

Despite rising concerns across sectors over a slowing economy and tightening of discretionary spends, consumers are likely to loosen the purse strings during the upcoming festival season. According to its annual mood survey conducted by LocalCircles, nearly 43 per cent consumers surveyed said they would spend up to ₹10,000 on festive basics, while 31 per cent said they plan to spend reasonably between ₹10,000-₹50,000 during the festival season. About 4 per cent of respondents said they plan to spend luxuriously over ₹50,000 during the festive season.

Publication : The Hindu Business Line

Date : September 17, 2019

The love affair of big entrepreneurs with debt that began in the 1970s was rational. The licence raj ensured that businesses did not have clients but hostages, and prices almost never went down. The lack of fiscal discipline and formal inflation targeting ensured that nominal prices always rose and the replacement cost argument with appreciating rather than depreciating assets became a viable argument. Finally, the nationalization of banks and legal system choke ensured that debt defaults had weak consequences because of slothful or unwilling lenders (amenable to “phone banking” and political influence). Consequently, many Indian entrepreneurs treated debt like equity—payable when able.

Publication : Mint

Date : September 17,  2019

Ecommerce platforms, such as Amazon and Flipkart, are getting ready to launch big sales in the upcoming festival period, and traders’ bodies have opposed the move to offer consumers significant discounts on products during the sale period. The CCI has initiated a study into the practices of the e-commerce sector. A report on the interim findings has also taken into account the grievances of small businesses.  “Thus, their businesses can become unviable if this (deep discounting) continues for a long time as there is a permanent erosion in the value of the product in the mind of the customer,” Gupta said.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : September 18, 2019

For startup founders whose holdings in their companies typically range between the high single digits or in the low-to-mid-teens, the Sebi stricture to maintain a 20% stake in order to list on Indian bourses is proving restrictive. For example, the founders of Lenskart, Ola and PolicyBazaar have stakes ranging between 4% and 15% in their respective ventures, following dilution in their holdings after multiple rounds of funding. Executives argue that Sebi’s suggestion that promoters make up for the shortfall from their respective investors when their own stakes fall short of the 20% requirement, is also not a viable option.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : September 18, 2019

For most of human history, people have been good at predicting future technologies. Today however, predicting things even just 5 years ahead seems to end up futile. India is at the cusp of an e-commerce revolution. Although e-commerce has been making the rounds in the country for over a decade, it is in recent years that an appropriate ecosystem has begun to fall in place. Factors such as internet access, staggering penetration of mobile phones and robust investment have driven the growth of this industry and if current projections are anything to go by, India is en route to becoming the world’s fastest growing e-commerce market.

Publication : Entrepreneur 

Date : September 16, 2019

The Department of Consumer Affairs, which had issued draft ‘consumer protection’ guidelines for e-commerce last month seeking feedback from e-commerce companies and other stakeholders by September 16, 2019, has now extended the deadline for the same to October 31, 2019. “The Department of Consumer Affairs now extends the receipt of comments from the stakeholders on the draft guidelines on e-commerce, available in the website of the department,” it said in a note on Monday. The government had issued the draft more than five months after the department for the promotion of industry and internal (DPIIT) issued the draft e-commerce policy for regulating flow and storage of user data along

Publication : Financial Express

Date : September 17, 2019

WeWork, a fast-growing startup that has smartly dressed up the business of subleasing office space, is expected to list its shares in the following months. Earlier this month, various publications reported that WeWork may seek less than half of the $47-billion valuation it fetched in January in a private fundraising round. On Friday, Reuters reported that WeWork may consider a valuation as low as $10 billion, nearly a fifth of its present worth. Doubts are increasing whether the initial public offering (IPO) will happen on schedule.

Publication : Livemint

Date : September 15, 2019

Whether your home aesthetic is mid-century modern, rustic or just plain cosy, a loveseat makes for a great option. It can be paired with statement chairs to give your home a more urban and youthful feel, or included as part of a more traditional couch set. A loveseat in a bold colour or pattern can work as a statement piece for your space and you would need to accessorise it less, allowing your space to stay minimal yet interesting. Get your hands on this grey loveseat from Urban Ladder, priced at Rs 34,699.

Publication : Vogue

Date : September 13, 2019

With an expanding economy opening different avenues and technology revolutionizing the way people conduct businesses, there has also taken place greater democratization of entrepreneurial space. Putting a new business idea into action is no longer the preserve of a select few business families. Be it Flipkart, Snapdeal, Zomato, Paytm, Ola or OYO rooms, the common underlining factor behind them is that they have been started by the first generation of businessmen in their families. With the early startups having proved their mettle, the fading away of the initial scepticism and the maturing of the investor landscape.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : September 15, 2019

Trader Amar Parwani, head of the Chhattisgarh chapter of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), is concerned about the growing popularity of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart as they have regular deep discounting sales. He alleged that the e-commerce portals are trying to capture the markets by becoming popular among consumers by offering them deep discounts. He said the deep discounts being offered by the e-commerce players are also spoiling their goodwill among customers. The CAIT has alleged that e-commerce marketplaces such as Flipkart and Amazon have been continuously violating FDI norms applicable to e-commerce platforms by indulging in below-cost, predatory pricing while operating on loss.

Publication : The Week

Date : September 14, 2019

Amazon India has expanded its range in the furniture category to over 160,000 products, especially from small and medium businesses, ahead of the festive season. Amazon, which has pumped in billions of dollars into its Indian operations over the last few years, said it has seen its furniture business in the country grow by over 120 per cent over the last year. “Customers typically look to upgrade their homes in the festive season. We have added more than 60,000 products this year to offer the largest selection of furniture,” Amazon India Director Large Appliances and Furniture Suchit Subhas told PTI.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : September 15, 2019

Indian unicorns, or startups with a valuation of at least $1 billion, are defying the conventional logic of valuations being based on future earnings. As their losses widen, private investors are rewarding them with even higher valuations. In fiscal 2016, for instance, when Paytm parent One97 Communications Ltd posted a loss of ₹1,497 crore, it was valued at ₹30,747 crore or about $5 billion. Three years later, its losses have nearly tripled, with a consolidated loss of ₹4,217.20 crore for the year ended 31 March. In the same period, the Noida-based firm’s valuation tripled to $15 billion.

Publication : Livemint

Date : September 11, 2019

Homegrown e-commerce platform Flipkart sells most of the furniture bought from online platforms and dominates the market in India with a whopping 41% share. With this, Flipkart has left behind major players such as Amazon, Pepperfry, Urban Ladder and Godrej Interio, a recent report said. While the sale of furniture by the online medium is gaining momentum, Flipkart has performed better than the competition as it is the “first retailer to offer durability certification and warranty commitment for online customers,” consultancy firm RedSeer said in the latest report.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : September 12, 2019

Online furniture market place Pepperfry is betting big on the kids’ furniture segment and is eyeing gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs 500 crore from this segment by 2021, according to Hussaine Kesury, Chief Category Officer. In a candid chat with Moneycontrol, Kesury said that overall the company is aiming to touch gross merchandise value of $1 billion (Rs 7,100 crore) by 2021, of which Rs 3500 crore will be contributed by house brands and Rs 500 crore by the kids furniture segment alone. Pepperfry kids’ furniture category currently contributes around Rs 65 crore.

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date : September 11, 2019

Walmart-backed Flipkart, one of the largest players in the Indian e-commerce market, is currently on a mission—to solve unique Indian problems through innovation. The company is investing heavily in technology with a focus on democratising e-commerce in India. The company has realised that though close to 500 million people in India have access to the internet, only a fraction of them do anything more than just browse or watch videos. The top management of the company realised that 90 per cent of the new internet users in the country are native language speakers coming from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and typing and searching in English is complex for them.

Publication : The Week

Date : September 12, 2019

While the young in India struggle to find jobs, the country’s middle-aged elite professionals are hitting dead ends in their careers. Automation and slow economic growth have led to fundamental changes in businesses worldwide, and that has had an unkind effect on senior executives. From unexpected job losses and fewer opportunities to scale the ladder, to redundancy and boredom, they are facing career threats their parents never had to grapple with. Unfortunately, most top colleges do not groom for leadership. “IIT-IIM types know how to crack the system and get a great start to their careers because, in the beginning, companies recruit for Six Sigma IQs”

Publication : Quartz

Date : September 12, 2019

In a bid to enhance customer experience and boost its delivery network, Amazon has launched an initiative that will allow deliveries from pickup points across four railway stations in Mumbai. As part of this, customers can select these four pickup locations on the checkout page of their order on Amazon.in and collect their packages on their way in or out. Started in partnership with the Indian Railways, this initiative will be launched as a pilot across Mumbai’s local stations, including CSTM, Thane, Dadar, and Kalyan. To make deliveries easier, the US-based e-commerce giant will be setting up kiosks at the foot traffic locations within the stations.

Publication : Yourstory

Date : September 10, 2019

Within four years of launch of Start-up India scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian start-ups and entrepreneurs are on a fundraising spree to execute their ideas. In 2018, Indian startups raised a record amount of over $38 billion, including Flipkart’s $16 billion deal with Walmart. Other top start-ups like Byju’s, Ola, Oyo and Paytm also received funding from some of the world’s most renowned investment firms and investors including Warren Buffet. However, these stories will be incomplete without the stories of their founders like Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, or Byju Ravindran who founded the E-learning company Byju’s or other top founders like Oyo’s Ritesh Agarwal or Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : September 09, 2019

Amazon is reportedly testing a new feature aimed at helping shoppers discover newly released products. According to CNBC, the e-commerce giant is testing a “New” badge to highlight recently launched products. It is unclear how Amazon is using these badges but the test is currently live in select markets for certain customers. The new feature is aimed at improving the shopping experience on Amazon. The company already displays a number of badges such as “Top Brand”, “Bestsellers”, and “Amazon’s Choice” which are based on factors including customer reviews and pricing.

Publication : ET Retail

Date : September 07, 2019

A Deloitte report released this year expects India’s e-commerce to grow smartly from $24 billion in 2017 to $84 billion in 2021. But even that will be only 7% of the projected $1.2 trillion overall retail market in India. This should, in theory, give the biggies Amazon and Walmart-acquired Flipkart room to expand, while leaving enough space for niche players to thrive. But the ground realities are not as simple. The logistics of supplies, deliveries, returns, and cash payments are a drain on the purse in this evolving market. Add to that the spend on advertising and customer acquisition—read discounting—as a number of players, big and small, vie for market share.

Publication : Mint

Date : September 08, 2019

In the online furniture business, horizontal e-commerce players are grabbing market share faster than the category-focused verticals. Though horizontal e-commerce biggies, including Flipkart and Amazon, started furniture e-tailing at least three to four years after verticals like Pepperfry and Urban ladder started operations, they have a higher market share. Between 2017 and 2019 horizontals have retained 54-55 per cent share of the online furniture market, which has almost tripled in these three years from $104 million to $310 million. According to RedSeer, the horizontals are poised to grab 60 per cent of the market, which is estimated to more than double to $700 million in 2020.

Publication : Asian Age

Date :  September 07, 2019

For small spaces, loveseats or the two-seater sofa is a perfect options. Snug, neat and compact, traditionally the loveseat came as a set of two opposite facing chairs intended for having a face-to-face conversation among people. the contemporary versions bear more semblance to a conventional couch but their compact size still allows proximity between people sitting together. A number of loveseat designs are available online and with their small size, they can be accommodated in any space be-it the empty space under the stairway, or even in a large bathroom.

Publication : The Times of India 

Date : September 04, 2019

With the government planning to secure all data related to finance and e-commerce in India, many start-ups fear that the Centre may also bring them into the e-commerce fold. This, in turn, would make it impossible for them to process data abroad, according to LocalCircles, a social media and citizen engagement platform.Under the much-awaited e-commerce policy, a number of proposals are around data protection and storing data onshore. The proposals are aimed at online e-commerce players, foreign banks and fintech firms for storing and processing all data in India.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : September 06, 2019

The Competition Commission of India (CCI), on August 30, released its interim findings on the ongoing study of the e-commerce sector. This study was initiated by the CCI on account of rapid growth of the sector and the rising importance of online trade. The findings are: (a) preferential terms and visibility to certain ‘preferential’ sellers, higher search rankings, etc, although the same have been vehemently denied by the platforms as they claimed all sellers are independent third-party sellers; (b) platforms playing a dual role raising issues of neutrality; and (c) strict on-board reseller norms to reduce the nuisance of counterfeiting.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : September 06, 2019

A major security flaw was detected on online furniture store Pepperfry’s website, which could have allowed users to sign in to another registered user’s account. Pepperfry has claimed that the bug was fixed within an hour of being detected. Security researcher Ehraz Ahmed found the bug on Pepperfry’s website, which could have led to the security flaw. Speaking exclusively to Moneycontrol, Ahmed said that the bug could allow a user to log into another user’s account and/or create a new account of any user, which does not exist. The flaw was with the website’s ‘Internal Authentication’ Application Program Interface (API), which allowed users to auto-login.

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date: September 06, 2019

India’s government has recently announced relaxations on single-brand retail’s FDI investments. The new FDI rules reflect the government’s effort to encourage investments and create employment opportunities over the next five years, says GlobalData, a data and analytics company. According to GlobalData, the Indian retail sector is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.4 per cent between last year and 2022. During the same period, the physical as well as online channels are expected to grow at CAGRs of 9.7 per cent and 29.4 per cent, respectively.

Publication : Inside Retail 

Date : September 06, 2019

Personalization is arguably the hottest trend in digital marketing, and it seems to be a topic in nearly every marketing-related conversation. Everyone recommends that marketers look for ways to personalize their websites, content, advertisements, and interactions. Marketers need to understand the importance of customization with today’s consumers. Consider the following: According to 59 percent of consumers, personalized experiences were reported to be an influential factor in purchasing decisions. Ninety-one percent of consumers agreed that they would be more likely to buy from a brand that offered personalized details in the shopping experience.

Publication  : Total Retail 

Date : September 04, 2019

Even as the Modi government has been engaging with the startup community from quite some time to work upon ways to boost ease of doing business and curb taxes imposed on startups, there have been a number of measures announced this year by the government, particularly in this year’s budget focusing on solving the controversial angel tax aka section 56(2)(viib) of the income tax act, reducing tax scrutiny on funds raised by startups, e-verification of investors and source of funds, extending exemption period of capital gains from the sale of house for investing in startups etc. To implement these announcements, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had issued multiple clarifications.

Publication : Financial Express

Date: September 02, 2019

Within 18 months of its foray into China, Oyo established its presence in 337 cities, through 10,000 Oyo-branded hotels with a staggering 5,00,000 rooms. Oyo has done what very few have been able to accomplish—taking on the Chinese in their den. What makes their story even more remarkable is the success they have had penetrating successfully into China, reaching tier 3, tier 4 cities and beyond. India’s Ola Cabs just bagged a private hire vehicle (PHV) operator licence for Greater London, expanding its U.K. footprint to seven cities and counting.

Publication : Fortune India 

Date : September 03, 2019

Startups and investors have lauded the government’s initiatives to exempt startups from the so-called ‘angel tax’, but some people in the community fear the dreaded tax may continue to haunt many of them because a few key issues remain unresolved. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had on August 30 issued a consolidated notification giving a comprehensive summary of the mechanism under which startups would receive exemption from Section 56(2) (viib) of the Income Tax Act. But it did not provide a fix for some outstanding issues, industry insiders said.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : September 04, 2019

From biscuits to cars, India’s economic slowdown has already hit many sectors. Is the slowdown spreading to the lone bright spot: the internet economy? Rising smartphone penetration and the growth of Reliance Jio, which slashed data prices and disrupted the sector over the past few years, led to a phenomenal surge in India’s internet economy over the past few years. According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), between 2014 and 2018, the number of wireless subscribers doubled to 568 million even as data usage rose a whopping 56-times to 46.4 billion GB over the same period.

Publication : Mint

Date : September 03, 2019

The electronics ministry may come up with a report on non-personal data such as community data, anonymised data and ecommerce data held by companies including Uber, Google and Amazon— which will be used to chalk out a policy on non-personal data regulation. A senior official told ET that the government may also consider leaving it to the ministries or regulators concerned to define which kind of data should come under the purview of such a policy. This comes after the latest round of select stakeholder consultation over the draft Personal Data Protection (PDP)

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : August 31, 2019

It’s August 2019, and the Indian startup ecosystem has already seen 25 unicorns flourish. Startups in India have become mainstream today, and have in their innovative leaps, changed the way consumers eat, shop, and travel. However, while we are celebrating startups and their growth curve, it is important to remember that up to 25 to 30 percent of all startups fail. A majority shut down within two years of starting up. Kunal Shah, Founder of Cred, who is a second-time entrepreneur and was an investment advisor for Sequoia Capital and Y-Combinator says

Publication : Yourstory

Date : August 30, 2019

Among the slew of policy measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on August 23 to boost the slowing economy, exemption from ‘angel tax’ for startups registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) was a much welcome one. Under the Startup India initiative launched by the Modi government in January 2016, eligible companies can avail this and a host of other tax benefits. All they need to do is be recognised as startups under the initiative by the DPIIT. As per a Forbes report, around 24,000 of the 50,000 startups in India are registered with the DPIIT.

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date : August 30, 2019

Domestic retailers may get a boost with new foreign direct investment rules allowing contractors to the status of “manufacturer”, giving them access to 100 percent FDI, reports the Economic Times. The rules may come as a relief for brands such as Fabindia and Urban Ladder, which depend on third-party sourcing for their products. They would be able to raise foreign funds to expand the business, the report said. Fabindia Vice Chairman William Bissel praised the move as positive for all Indian brands. “With yesterday’s (August 28) announcement, the government has scored a hat trick, which will be good for ‘Make in India’, employ in India, and invest in India,” Bissel told ET.

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date : August 30, 2019

E- commerce companies such as Flipkart, Amazon and Bigbasket will have to find alternatives to single-use plastic, as the government is likely to restrict its use for packaging from October 2. The government is also thinking of ways to make ecommerce companies recycle the waste that they generate. This will, in turn, push these companies to come up with alternative packaging materials quickly. “They (ecommerce companies) are the ones creating all this waste, so the onus of recycling it has to be put on them as well,” said environment secretary CK Mishra, without confirming whether the government was indeed proposing to ban single-use plastics.

Publication : ET Tech

Date : September 02, 2019

Among the many ways Amazon has changed the rules of the game for retail is the way it’s shifted consumer expectations about returns. For the nation’s 100 million Prime members (and remember, the U.S. has only 128 million households) returns are free unless otherwise noted.  Retailers that want to compete with the Everything Store feel pressured to offer something similarly enticing — but doing it wrong can wreck a company’s bottom line.Consider the stats: while brick-and-mortar returns hover at between 8% and 10% of purchases, returns from e-Commerce purchases range from 20% to 40%. The number is closer to 50% for high-end goods.

Publication : Retail Touchpoints

Date : September 02, 2019

In August, Ikea launched online shopping in Mumbai even before it opened an offline store in the city — a first for the Swedish MNC in the Indian market. The move by the world’s largest furniture retailer should have sent its competitors into a tizzy. But Ambareesh Murty, cofounder and CEO of Pepperfry, the largest online marketplace for furniture in India, tells Suman Layak that any hype around Ikea in Mumbai will only help Pepperfy sell more. For us, dominance in the online furniture retail market has already been achieved.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : August 31, 2019

The Indian economy is large enough for both e commerce and small retailers to coexist said Niti Ayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar on Friday. Kumar also said that while it was important to ensure e-commerce player do not get unprecedented market power, India could not have a situation where data was controlled by a central authority. Kumar also said that if e-commerce companies were to also bring large brick and mortar stores, it could create an anti-competitive landscape. “The market in our country would be large enough. Our economy as it improve as it grows”

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : August 30, 2019