Amazon Seller Services, the online marketplace arm of the e-commerce giant in India, has narrowed its loss to Rs 5,685 crore for 2018-19. This is a 9.5 per cent decrease from the last financial year, when the company had posted a loss of Rs 6,287.9 crore, as per documents sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler. Amazon Seller Services saw revenues growing 55 per cent to Rs 7,778 crore in 2018-19 over the previous fiscal, it added. Coupled with its other entities in India, Amazon’s losses in India in FY2018-19 were over Rs 7,000 crore.

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date : October 29, 2019

 After a series of reports that brought multiple bad news for India on the economic front, now Ease of Doing Business Report by the World Bank has brought a huge relief for India. In this report India is at rank 63rd among 190 nations across the world, climbing up by 14 ranks in comparison to the last year. India is the only country this year to have achieved such a significant shift. In the ease of doing business report of 2019, India was at rank 77th among 190 countries. So, this year, India witnessed an improvement by 23 places compared to its position in the previous year’s list.

Publication: Outlook Money

Date: October 24, 2019

Online furniture and home products marketplace Pepperfry, which aims to turn profitable in the next financial year, is looking at one more round of funding ahead of its proposed initial public offering (IPO). “We don’t need much money as we are earning about Rs 200 crore a month. Ideally, we need to earn Rs 1,000 crore every month. We will raise about $20 million in our Series F round ahead of the IPO. It could be our last round of funding before we go public, said co-Founder and CEO Ambareesh Murty. The seven-year-old furniture brand has raised a little over $200 million (Rs 1,300 crore).

Publication : Deccan Herald

Date : October 20, 2019

The economic slowdown in India and global macroeconomic uncertainty seem to have prompted venture capital (VC) investors to take a cautious approach after pumping in record amounts of capital so far this year, investors, entrepreneurs and lawyers said. While capital is still flowing into startups, the number of such companies getting funded is little changed, if not falling, indicating investors have become more guarded in their approach. For the few deals that are being closed, venture investors are now taking longer to scrutinize investments, a partner at a venture capital fund said, requesting anonymity.

Publication : Livemint 

Date : October 20, 2019

Beneath the surface of our daily life, in the personal history of many of us, there runs a continuous controversy between an ego that affirms and an ego that denies. On the course of this controversy depends the attainment of inner harmony and consistent conduct in private and public affairs. These words of Beatrice Webb perhaps best explain the conflict between the outer world and one’s inner world, now being seen almost on a daily basis in the fast-paced world of startups.

Publication : Livemint 

Date : October 20, 2019

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is planning a policy advisory for the e-commerce industry to address the all-round concern over deep discounting and predatory pricing across online platforms, a top official has said. Confirming that the CCI would issue a ‘“soft policy advisory’’, Chairperson Ashok Gupta told Business Standard, “nobody can deny that online is here to stay…Many sellers have benefitted from the platform and there are efficiency factors as well.’’ However, Gupta added that e-commerce firms should not distort the market.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : October 19, 2019

The draft data protection bill, set to be discussed in a matter of months, is giving Big Tech sleepless nights because of its data localisation proposals Meanwhile, in e-commerce, usual worries about FDI and inventory control have been usurped by a larger threat—mandated sharing of anonymised and aggregated data In 5G, telcos and equipment makers have gotten a raw deal as the Department of Space refuses to budge on its spectrum demands And NBFC Account Aggregators finally have hope as payments maven Nandan Nilekani looks to pull a repeat of his UPI evangelisation,

Publication : The Ken 

Date : October 18, 2019

6-seat dining table is ideal for a joint family and anyone who hosts and entertains guests on the regular. A large dining table does not necessarily have to be a clunky table that is obstructive and boring to look at. Based on the style of your home, a dining space can be something to marvel at and even act as a luxury space in itself. All you need to set up a beautiful set of a table and complementing chairs along with a few cabinets that display crockery and other essentials.

Publication : The Times of India

Date : October 18, 2019

Even as India’s startup ecosystem expands, both domestic and foreign companies have identified Asia’s third-largest economy as one of the most attractive consumer markets globally. However, as is the norm worldwide, policy continues to trail innovation and market demands. The organisations profiled are looking to protect and promote domestic startups against their global counterparts, and in the process, influence policy making. While it is early days for most, their voices are loud and have become almost impossible to ignore.

Publication : ET Tech 

Date : October 15, 2019

Even as the Narendra Modi-government envisions India to become a $5 trillion economy, India’s e-commerce sector, which is likely to grow from $24 billion in 2017 to $84 billion in 2021 — as per a report by Deloitte India and Retail Association of India earlier this year, there is a need for the industry to stress about their contribution and goals aligned with those of the government in achieving the target GDP, according to Raghava Rao, Co-Chair, FICCI E-Commerce Committee; and VP, Finance & India CFO, Amazon Seller Services.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : October 16, 2019

The Indian government is reportedly looking into heavy discounts offered by e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart during their special festive sales. The authorities will investigate if the foreign-owned online marketplaces have violated foreign direct investment rules. It does not come as a surprise. Last month, the Competition Commission of India reportedly said that the regulator will keep a close watch on these deep discounts following written complaints by the brick-and-mortar retailers lobby, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), to commerce and industries minister Piyush Goyal.

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date : October 17, 2019

One major reason for the dim listing prospects of Indian startups is the trend of staying private through backing from mega funds like Softbank or Naspers, which have deep pockets and long investment horizons. The wisdom of their invest-at-any-valuation approach, though, must be questioned. Lot of good Indian companies can turn profitable without becoming overvalued unicorns and launch an IPO sooner. This is a better alternative to perpetually seeking private growth capital, where there is little compulsion to generate profits. To be sure, there have been a handful of successful startup IPOs in India over the years: Info Edge, Just Dial, Matrimony.com, Quick Heal, and more recently IndiaMART.

Publication : Quartz

Date : October 17, 2019

As the government bets on the growing innovation and scale of Indian startups, it is now looking to increase the investments in the ecosystem. For this, the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) is reaching out to the finance ministry to increase the corpus of the Fund of Funds for Startups. An ET report, citing government officials aware of the plan, said that DPIIT officials recently met executives of the Small Industrial Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Publication : Inc.42

Date : October 15, 2019

After its successful launch in Hyderabad and Mumbai, Swedish furniture giant Ikea is now looking at expanding in tier-II cities as a part of its phase 2 expansion plan. The company is currently developing a large format store in Bengaluru and later develop one in Delhi as a part of its first phase expansion plans. “We want to bring our offering through multi-channel approach. We want to be present through large format stores, small stores and even on the online platform,” Ikea India CEO Peter Betzel told reporters on the sidelines of the Bloomberg equality summit.

Publication : The Economic Times 

Date : October 15, 2019

It was Jesper Brodin, the CEO of IKEA, who apparently met with Roth at IKEA’s new store in Manhattan. He took the time to explain IKEA’s biggest challenges, and the big changes he’s planning to make. It’s a good interview. The top three areas of change Brodin talked about: 1. Accessibility : “Wherever you are, whenever you want, you should be able to shop online much easier,” he said. “But also even more important, you should be able to get our knowledge on storage, on good sleeping or living with kids, through digital.”

Publication : Inc.com 

Date : October 13, 2019

The commerce and industry ministry has advised e-commerce companies to gradually slash single-use plastic in packaging of products being sold through their platforms, in line with the government’s commitment to reduce use of such material, an official said. The companies have also been advised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to develop sustainable packaging material which will contribute to reducing India’s plastic footprint globally. E-commerce companies have been asked for discarding plastic used in packaging, which accounts for more than 40 per cent of non-fibre plastic, according to the official.

Publication : Mint 

Date : October 13, 2019

The Indian government is one of the most progressive in the world when it comes to framing policy, granting loans and funding schemes for startups in the country. First-time entrepreneurs usually need funding for their ideas in order to develop their business or scale up the enterprise. In order to help them in this battle of fundraising, the government of India stepped in with the scheme Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana in April 2015, which provides finance and loans to small businesses through Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency or Mudra, a non-banking financial company (NBFC).

Publication : Inc.42 

Date : October 10, 2019

E-tailers achieved a record $3 billion (Rs 19,000 crore) gross merchandise value (GMV) for six days of the festive sales event conducted between September 29 and October 4, 2019. This surge came despite challenging macro conditions, said RedSeer, a consulting firm focused on internet businesses in India and Asia. The year-on-year growth during the sale event was 30 per cent, with a significant chunk coming from tier-2 cities.The biggest theme for the festive season was ‘value shopping’ as indicated by a large portion of customers hailing from smaller cities and towns who shopped online, owing to wide selection supported by affordability initiatives.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : October 09, 2019

Equity funding, venture capital or VC funding come in to a business against company shares and don’t require repayment, loans or debt funds are provided against company bonds and need to be repaid along with interest. The major difference here is that equity fund investors look for returns from investment and company equities entitle them with the power of interfering in business decisions to secure returns; loans, on the other hand, require repayment and interest payment only and the entrepreneur retains autonomy over his own business.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : October 08, 2019

Amid the economic slowdown across sectors in India, venture capital (VC) funding has remained a stable source of money to nurture startups. Entrepreneurs tend to rely on VC funding as they come with the funds necessary to grow and succeed, even if it means parting with a chunk of the company equity. Moreover, the guidance, mentorship, expertise and sometimes infrastructural support that comes along with a VC deal help greatly the growth, scale-up and expansion in the desired space within a short time. Moreover, the guidance, mentorship, expertise and sometimes infrastructural support that comes along with a VC.

Publication: Inc.42

Date : October 07, 2019

In discussing startups with successful businessmen of the old economy, I faced the unenviable task of defending ‘Burn’ vs ‘Profits’, which is a good working definition of a start-up. Can there be any structural advantage of burning money? It’s obvious that too many start-ups burn money to reach critical mass in a network or to educate consumers . For example, Ola needs to put a few thousand cabs from day one in a city and hence it will burn till they all get utilized. For this, a start-up will need to raise money very frequently. Herein lies the structural advantage.

Publication : The Times of India

Date : October 06, 2019

At the heart of Ikea’s success is value: You know what you’re going to get when you shop at Ikea, and it’s going to be affordable. In fact, price is so important to Ikea’s strategy that the company first decides on the price of a piece of furniture and then reverse engineers the construction, the company says.Ikea has a “democratic design approach,” according to Antonella Pucarelli, the chief commercial officer of Ikea retail U.S., which means that it “deliver[s] form, function and quality products at a low price.

Publication : CNBC

Date : October 05, 2019

Since 2017, overall investments into Indian startups have increased in value. Since the start of 2018, the number of unicorns, or startups valued at more than $1 billion, have nearly tripled. Mega-funding rounds have again become the norm at fast-growing startups. But there is strong evidence to show that these numbers do not give an entirely accurate picture of the startup ecosystem. According to Tracxn Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a data analytics firm, the number of startup deals, in fact, decreased in 2017 and 2018, from the respective year-ago periods.Deal volume has again dropped sharply this year.

Publication : Mint

Date : October 06, 2019

In the high-risk, chaotic world of startups where employees often end up as collateral damage due to failed funding, cost-cutting, business rationalisation or simply a struggle for survival, the ecosystem tries to take care of its own. Even as they undergo layoffs – as in the case of Zomato, Treebo, ShopClues and Urban Ladder among others this year – companies are reaching out to influential alumni, investor and human resource networks that are rallying to support exiting employees, to ensure that as many of them find new employment as possible.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : October 05, 2019

E-commerce major Amazon and its arch rival, Walmart-owned Flipkart, have independently claimed that their sales for this season — Great India Festival and The Big Billion Days, respectively — were the highest-ever in India’s e-commerce history. Flipkart on Friday said it had clocked 70 billion views in six days of The Big Billion Days (TBBDs). It also said there was almost 50% growth in the number of new customers, as compared to last year. Also, more than 50% of Flipkart Plus shoppers were from tier 2 cities while units from tier 3 cities grew by 100% over last year, it said.Interestingly, September 30, 2019, was the single largest day for e-commerce in the country.

Publication : The Hindu 

Date ...E-commerce

Indian government national e-commerce policy that was due to be released by the end of this year is set to miss its deadline again. The policy, which is supposed to clear regulatory concerns, related to the video stream, ride-hailing and e-commerce services, is still stuck at discussion level and needs clearance from multiple ministries before finally being released. It looks like the e-commerce policy might come out only next year, said a Business Standard report quoting govt sources privy to the development. Only after discussions with multiple ministries, the final document will be out, it added.

Publication : Entrackr

Date : October 03, 2019

In the ongoing festive sales, e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart have achieved over $1.8 billion (Rs 11,500 crore) of gross merchandise value (GMV) in the first three days of the festive sale period, according to a report by consulting firm RedSeer. The sales, which began on September 29, will end on October 4. The Redseer report also said mobiles have once again turned out to be the category leader with more than 55% of GMV coming from mobiles. Other categories such as electronics, fashion and furniture has also witnessed growth in sales.

Publication : The Economic Times 

Date : October 03, 2019

E-commerce retailer Snapdeal said it has witnessed a surge in sales of digital gift cards during this year’s festive season sale. When compared with last year, there has been a 300% jump in sales of these gift cards. The cards are more popular in the big cities, with 3 of 4 cards sold being purchased by people in metros. To make the most of ongoing sales, Snapdeal has an 8% discount card offer for Urban Ladder, which can be used both online and in the physical stores. Homecentre and Lifestyle offer a flat 6% discount.

Publication : Mint

Date : October 02, 2019

Furniture and home products marketplace, Pepperfry has launched its first ever built-to-suit home and furniture warehouse in Bangalore, the company said on Monday. This highly automated and tech-led warehouse, located in Hoskote area, is spread across 3,60,000 sq. ft. – making it the largest built-to-suit facility in the segment, in India, the company said. The launch is in line with Pepperfry’s aim to build the largest big-box logistics network in India and particularly strengthen its services in South India, which contributes to 40% of the marketplace’s overall business.

Publication : ET Brand Equity 

Date : September 30, 2019

In recent years, a lot has been made about whether or not the standard marketing funnel has changed for e-commerce retailers. Traditionally, shoppers went through the following three stages: Awareness: “I have a problem.”,  Consideration: “What are my options for solving this problem?”, Acquisition: “I’m ready to buy a product to solve this problem.” The truth is that these three stages are still relevant to e-commerce retailers. To make the most of each stage, online retail marketers should consider taking advantage of the following three channels. For years, Pinterest was a hit with users but wasn’t a go-to channel for pay-per-click (PPC) marketers.

Publication: Forbes

Date : October 1, 2019

Capital flow to startups continued at an increased pace in the latest quarter as global investors continue to sign big cheques for entrepreneurs building out next big companies from financial technology to software services bucking the slow growth in the economy. But the rush of capital, which has led to the valuation of some startups to multiply overnight without any significant change in business metrics ,  is also causing concerns among investors of a ‘bubble’ even as the global sentiment turns against highly values private technology companies with the failure of WeWork’s public offering in the US.

Publication : The Times of India

Date : October 03, 2019

India on Thursday said foreign firms in the e-commerce sector should not use the platform for indulging in predatory pricing and getting into deep discounting to force small retailers out of business. Speaking at the India Economic Forum here, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the e-commerce platform “is not expected to become a platform either for predatory pricing or to use muscle power of large capital at low volumes available which allows companies to source cheap, get economies of scale in sourcing and maybe offer discounts which in some sense throw out small retail out of business. We are very clear about it”.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : October 04, 2019