IKEA Group will invest €200 million to speed up its journey to become a climate-positive business by 2030. The investment will go into bringing IKEA’s supply chain under renewable energy. The funds will also go into reforestation, restoration (of degraded forests) and better forest management practices, as per a company release. The first portfolio would support the ambition to use 100% renewable energy (electricity, heating, cooling, and other fuels) in production, it said.

Publication: The Hindu

Date: November 28, 2019

Swedish home furnishing retailer IKEA on Tuesday launched two trucks in Mumbai in a bid to offer concepts to customers based on affordability, accessibility and sustainability. Called IKEA On Wheels, it is a mobile truck with functional and furnished rooms to enable customers to see IKEA products and solutions up close. This marks IKEA India’s first physical presence in Mumbai.

Publication: The Hindu BusinessLine

Date: November 27, 2019

Swedish home furnishing retailer IKEA plans to open three stores in Mumbai. This would include a flagship store in Navi Mumbai as well as two smaller outlets. It is also looking at recruiting 1,000 people, mainly for the Navi Mumbai store, which is set to open within a year. Jaxa Gohil, Store Manager, IKEA India, told BusinessLine the company has started its mass recruitment, with a couple of hundred people already hired for its Navi Mumbai store.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line, Livemint

Date: November 26, 2019

Furniture and home products marketplace Pepperfry is upbeat about strengthening its presence in the South. The company on Thursday launched its first experiential centre — Studio Pepperfry — in Coimbatore, making it the 67th studio in the country. It plans to expand the network to 100 experiential centres by June next. In Coimbatore, Pepperfry has partnered with SSVR Enterprises for launch of the studio at Peelamedu.

Publications: The Hindu BusinessLine, Deccan Chronicle

Date: November 22, 2019

SPACE10, an independent research and design lab backed by global home furnishing company Ikea, is launching in Delhi on Friday. Headquartered in Copenhagen, the lab has had popped up in New York, London, Nairobi, Shanghai and Singapore, but this is the first time they have set up office in another country. “We want to be where the future is. India has a young, educated and tech-savvy population, and is one of the most diverse countries on the planet, with the fastest-growing economy,” says Kaave Pour, managing director, SPACE10.

Publication: Forbes

Date: November 22, 2019

E-commerce is a fast-growing industry. In 2017, global retail e-commerce sales reached US$2.3 trillion, and e-retail revenue is expected to grow to US$4.88 trillion in 2021. The world’s continuous digitalization and informationization gives e-commerce a lot of room for development. AI technologies are boosting e-commerce sales, enhancing the service experience for users and expanding production scale to create industrial value and new business opportunities.

Publication: Synced

Date: November 23, 2019

In the next two-three years, it is expected that a spate of IPOs will hit the markets as many high profile Indian startups would opt for IPO listing. This may include unicorn startups like Ola, Oyo, Freshworks, Delhivery and Druva. Even non-unicorn startups like Pepperfry and Smaaash are expected to try their luck in India’s capital market. However, the valuation bubbles backed by unhealthy balance sheets may force most unicorn Indian startups to delay their listing plan.

Publication: Money Control

Date: November 24, 2019

In one of the most important developments this week, the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has proposed to reduce the compliance time for Indian startups in its drafted Startup India Vision 2024 document. Startup India claims threefold growth in registrations of startups. In the next five years, SEBI will be spending INR 500 Cr in IT infrastructure and technological innovation.

Publication: Inc 42

Date: November 23, 2019

When you think about what qualifies as “success” for e-commerce businesses, the metric that probably comes to mind first is sales. While revenue is undoubtedly a key indicator that your business is doing something right, there is a plentitude of additional data points available to help determine exactly what you’re doing right. Tracking these four basic key metrics over time will provide you and your team with an in-depth understanding of consumer behavior, industry trends, and your anticipated ROI.

Publication: Forbes

Date: November 20, 2019

The government wants to introduce penalties on e-commerce portals that violate the rules being framed for regulating online business in the retail sector. These are going to be called the Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules, which are currently awaiting public feedback for which the deadline is December 2. Some more facets like the penalties will also get added, as per a report in the Economic Times.The government did warn Amazon and Flipkart against violating FDI norms. But there are other e-commerce firms engaged in online retail which may be engaged in similar practices like deep discounting and favouring certain sellers on their platforms etc.

Publication: The News Minute

Date: November 20, 2019

There’s a reason they are called unicorns. India is home to over 39K startups (2018 data) but only a handful have managed to reach the billion-dollar valuation mark. If we are speaking percentages, under 1% of the ecosystem has entered the hallowed unicorn club. But as the availability of capital increases in India, the time for the startups to attain unicorn status from the date of incorporation has gone down dramatically. As per DataLabs research of a sample set of 31 Indian unicorns over the year, the contribution of 2019 was 26% (till Q3 2019) — seven startups reached this mark this year.

Publication: Inc 42

Date: November 21, 2019

Pepperfry, a leading furniture e-tailer, will touch 100 outlets across India by June 2020, a top company official said on Thursday. Pepperfry at present has 67 studios (shops) including the one opened in the city on Thursday, in 24 cities across India, the company’s Chief Category Officer Hussaine Kesury told reporters. It has 23 largest studios in South India including in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, he said.The company has 15 franchise model studios in the country, including in Coimbatore throughVR Enterprises, he added.South India is an essential market for the company, which contributes to over 40 per cent of the overall business, as consumers in the region are highly evolved online buyers.

Publication: Indianweb2

Date: November 21, 2019

Brigade Group, Bengaluru-based real estate developer, has partnered with IKEA to offer home furnishing offerings. The company launched Brigade Plus Easy Home packages to its customers. As an initiative within Brigade Plus, customers now have the chance to personalise their homes using IKEA home furnishing products in their Brigade homes. IKEA started its retail operations in August last year and so far has introduced Indian consumers to more than 7500 products. Brigade has set up multiple model apartments showcasing IKEA furnishing options in the home-front including living/dining rooms, bedrooms including children’s rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms.

Publication : The Hindu Business Line

Date : November 19, 2019

While the Indian tech ecosystem is gaining prominence, the number of unicorns—startups valued at over a billion dollars—have risen in tandem. Once rare, and hence named after the mythical creature, these companies are now emerging faster than ever. A report from venture capital fund Iron Pillar, pointed out some interesting trends about these unicorns: — While India has 30 tech unicorns today, 21 of these were created in 2018 and 2019, with Bangalore and Delhi-NCR housing over 75% of these firms. Mumbai and other cities account for 3 and 4 unicorns respectively.

Publication : Mint 

Date : November 16, 2019

IKEA, the multichannel home furnishing retailer, is set to unveil Markerad, a limited-edition collection targeted at young people, on November 19. It comprises affordable yet well-designed home furnishing products that promise not to break the bank! IKEA collaborated with the cross-disciplinary creative, Virgil Abloh, who combines high culture references with street cred to add value to both parties.What is Markerad all about? It is a collection of unique, innovative and inspiring furnishings and decorations, which are all conceptual collector’s pieces, as well as functional and commercial home items for everyone.

Publication : The Hindu Business Line 

Date : November 15, 2019

IKEA’s innovation lab Space10 made its way into India to work on solutions for the country’s problems across sectors. Nestled in the Dhan Mill compound in Chattarpur, Delhi, the Space10 office is spacious enough to host public programmes with an open lab environment for researchers, innovators and experts.  As a research and design lab, Space10 explores the challenges that the human race faces and hunt for solutions. They will also host public programmes where partners can discuss issues under one roof.

Publication : Business Insider India 

Date : November 16, 2019

The traders’ association is pleased with the draft e-commerce rules, The Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules, 2019, issued by the Department of Consumers Affairs earlier this week. They reckon such rules will curb the so-called malpractices of e-commerce companies that are intended to destroy the domestic trade and mislead consumers. There is no denying that the proposed rules seek to bring transparency in the delivered price of products bought on an e-commerce platform, set out refund rules, and require sellers to be responsible for warranty and guarantee of the goods and services sold and also provide upfront information on the exchange, returns and refund process.

Publication : The Hindu Business Line

Date : November 15, 2019

Consumer spending fell for the first time in more than four decades in 2017-18, primarily driven by slackening rural demand, according to the latest consumption expenditure survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO). The survey — Key Indicators: Household Consumer Expenditure in India — shows the average amount of money spent by a person in a month fell by 3.7 per cent to Rs 1,446 in 2017-18 from Rs 1,501 in 2011-12. The figures for monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) are in real terms, meaning these have been adjusted for inflation, keeping 2009-10 as the base year.

Publication : Business Standard

Date : November 15, 2019

A day before meeting his US counterpart to close the gaps for the proposed bilateral trade package, India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday used the BRICS platform once again to raise concern over predatory pricing techniques used by some e-commerce companies in India.“I would like to highlight the adverse impact of predatory pricing indulged by some e-commerce players which adversely impact millions of small retailers. It is important for e-commerce to follow the letter and spirit of the law,” Goyal said at a session titled “Advancing BRICS Trade and Investment Cooperation—the road ahead” at the BRICS trade ministers meet in Brazil.

Publication: Mint, Business Standard, The Economic Times,  Financial Express, The Indian Express

Date: November 13, ...E-commercepiyush goyalPredatory pricing

Could the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a portal launched in August 2016 by India’s commerce ministry to ensure transparency in the procurement of goods and services by government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs), compete with e-commerce majors such as Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart in the retail arena? It’s an intriguing prospect.

Publication: Mint

Date: November 11, 2019

Despite India’s digital boom, about one-third of cash-on-delivery (COD) orders from the e-commerce websites in India are not delivered, which ends up adding to cost for the e-tailers, according to the data from Narvar, a San Francisco-headquartered company. It partners with major global retailers to automate the deliveries, as per the news report in the national publication.Currently, COD accounts for 65 per cent of all orders from online marketplaces in India. “Depending on the size of the parcel, a single return could cost the e-tailer Rs 50-150,”

Publication : ET Now News 

Date : November 11, 2019

Flipkart and Amazon have told the government they incur losses in Indian operations due to investments into building the business and technology, and not because they fund predatory pricing as alleged by offline trade lobbies, two senior industry executives said. India’s two largest ecommerce marketplaces have communicated to Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) that they are investing big on creating warehouses and logistics network, technology and other such areas, while reiterating they are fully compliant with all laws and FDI norms for online marketplaces, the executives said.

Publication : ET Retail

Date :  November 08, 2019

India is examining the feasibility of setting up a regulatory authority to settle disputes related to e-commerce, a top government official said, amid a raging battle between big online retailers and mom-and-pop stores. The proposal being considered comes after small traders approached the government with allegations of predatory pricing and deep discounting by Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. They allege that the U.S. giants are pricing them out of the market.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : November 06, 2019

The model framework for the guidelines on e-commerce consumer protection will cause unnecessary compliance burden on e-commerce entities, and hence will negatively impact the ease of doing business in India, according to The Internet and Mobile Association of India ( IAMAI). The definition of e-commerce entity appears to be extending the scope of “e-commerce” beyond online marketplaces for goods and services by including ‘digital content providers’, which are otherwise not construed as being engaged in e-commerce, IMAI said.

Publication : The Hindu Business Line 

Date : November 05, 2019

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday assured that start-ups will never be harassed and that the government is taking steps to promote them. “I assure you that start-ups will never be harassed. They have to do the limited activity of registering themselves so that good law is not misused by a few people,” he said here at a function. The minister said the government has come out with clarifications that startups would not be asked any questions if they are registered with and recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Publication  :ET Retail

Date : October 31, 2019