The stage is set for the Union budget 2020-21. As the finance ministry gears up for the big day amid a slowing economy, uninspiring consumer demand and falling tax revenues, various industrial sectors and the public at large have voiced their expectations. The government, as always, will have to maintain a fine balance between boosting tax revenue and introducing tax reforms to increase demand, besides reviving the economy. A global consensus is being developed on framing rules to tax the digital economy. India has introduced ‘significant economic presence’ rules, but it is recommended that such rules be deferred till a global consensus is reached.

Publication: Mint

Date: January 31, 2020

After fighting e-commerce biggies Amazon and Flipkart for allegedly flouting FDI norms and resorting to “predatory pricing” to bleed India’s brick-and-mortar retail traders, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has decided to take the plunge into online retailing.CAIT, which has 70 million traders in the country as members, will soon start nationwide registration of traders to bring them on an e-commerce platform.The pilot project has already begun in Madhya Pradesh, where individual e-stores have been created for retail traders, said CAIT General Secretary Praveen Khandelwal.

Publication: The New Indian Express

Date: January 29, 2020

70 years ago, the Constitution of India segregated the powers of the central government and the states, providing a list of subjects on which the centre, the states, and both the centre and states could make laws. Matters of state importance, such as public health, tourism, trade, entertainment, amongst others, were kept within state government’s jurisdiction. Thus, local businesses in the state followed the state laws to carry on their operations.This segregation worked perfectly till the digital medium disrupted the brick and mortar world. In pre-ecommerce times, businesses complied with the laws of the State in which they were physically present, either directly or through their agents or distributors.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 29, 2020

Budget 2020 Expectations for e-commerce: Supported by cashless transaction apps, which are safer and easier than ever before, as well as deeper penetration of inexpensive mobile data plans and better connectivity, the e-commerce industry in smaller cities across India is witnessing an increase in sales. Tier 2 to 5 cities and towns contribute more than 50 per cent to e-commerce and online retail, as an estimated 56 million+ digital shoppers from smaller cities and rural areas have adopted online platforms.

Publication: Financial Express

Date: January 29, 2020

Indian startups received 25 percent of the total $21 billion capital raised from private equity investors in India in 2018. Between January 2014 and November 2019, close to 550 Indian startups in the B2B (business to business) space raised $16.6 billion. These figures highlight the fact that the Indian startup ecosystem is a hotbed of interesting ideas with the entrepreneurial energy of Generation X and Y. The ecosystem is benefiting by India’s improvement on the ease of doing business index. However, access to capital is still an opportunity owing to the NBFC (non-banking financial companies) and NPA (non-performing assets) issues.

Publication: Money Control

Date: January 29, 2020

Govt needs to create a dedicated innovation fund in every sector, demand startups. Some of the policy reforms be it GST, Zero MDR or angel tax removal, need more clarity. Increasing consumer spending remains the top concern for most of the startups. It’s January 28 and we are just days away from the Union Budget 2020, which is said to be the biggest challenge for the Narendra Modi government. In the last one month, we have published a dozen articles discussing segment-wise demands and expectations and as we saw in our Budget 2020 preview series, industry stakeholders want some big reforms “as big as the 1991’s financial reform,” as one investor told us that could address the ongoing economic slowdown.

A comprehensive eCommerce policy would provide future direction and confidence in the industry and help investors/ entrepreneurs take decisions faster. There need to be incentives given out to the smaller businesses as against currently growing multinational monopoly, without jeopardizing the business confidence of foreign investors in India as an investment destination. Also, Govt. needs to come out with a special package for the logistics sector, especially smaller enterprises and start-ups. To start with, Govt. needs to enter a dialogue with logistics eCommerce start-ups and come in govt.-private partnership models for infrastructure/ tech/ skill development and tax sops for strengthening logistics in India.

Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: January 30, 2020

The investment by venture capitalists was quite strong in India in the fourth quarter of 2019, ending the year on a high note with a number of large mega-deals, said a new report from KPMG.These deals included a $1-billion funding round by PayTM and a $500-million round by Bengaluru-based business productivity company Udaan. “Consumer-focused technologies were a critical focus for VC investors in India; in addition to PayTM, online pharmacy company PharmEasy raised $220 million, while home furnishings company Urban Ladder raised $148 million,” said the “Venture Pulse Q4”2019″ report.

Publication: Outlook India

Date: January 30, 2020

The Indian economy faced a tough time last year. The country’s economic growth during the July-September period slipped to 4.5%—the slowest pace since 2013. The economic slowdown has led to a decline in domestic sales, job cuts across sectors, and trust deficit among investors. There’s a lot to fix as finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman readies to present the annual Budget 2020 on February 1. Besides large corporates and industry players, the startup community is eager to see what the government has in store. This will be a crucial Budget for the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, which returned to power in May last year.

Publication: Forbes India

Date: January 30, 2020

Counterfeit and fake products have been a huge concern for Indian ecommerce, and a point of contention for the sellers and traders of genuine products. The minister of commerce and industry, Piyush Goyal, had told Lok Sabha in December 2019 that Indian consumers have filed 13,993 fraud ecommerce cases under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 since August 2016. In a bid to tackle this, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is working to ensure the upcoming ecommerce policy tries to control such counterfeiting.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : January 29, 2020

India is the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world with more than 50,000 startups operating currently. It is growing at an accelerated pace at 30% and holds a promising future. Due to the soaring popularity of the startup system, many young students are exploring entrepreneurship as a career right after completing their graduation or post-graduation instead of seeking employment as salaried professionals. They expect educational institutes and universities to offer entrepreneurship courses that could help them build necessary skills and competencies, introduce them to the nitty-gritty of startup business and provide them with a launchpad for their business ideas, products or processes.

Publication: India Today

Date:  January 30, 2020

The key to entrepreneurial activity and the resultant startup ecosystem in the country is to unlock capital inflow, whether it is from foreign or domestic investors. But Indian startups seem to be dependent on foreign capital, while domestic investors form only a modest pool. In light of the forthcoming Union Budget, iSPIRT has suggested a few measures that can bring about these changes. The think tank, which promotes Indian software product companies, especially startups, believes entrepreneurial activity can be stimulated by removing existing barriers, improving the ease of doing business and investor sentiment.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 30, 2020

Today, when we look around, the technological advances in recent years have been immense. We can see driverless cars, hands-free devices that can turn on the lights, and robots working in factories, which prove that intelligent machines are possible. In the last four years in the Indian startup ecosystem, the terms that were used (overused rather) more than funding, valuation, and exit were artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). We also saw investors readily putting in their money in startups that remotely used or claimed to use these emerging technologies.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 28, 2020

Uncertainties surrounding a comprehensive tax and regulatory framework, introduction of the Personal Data Protection Bill, new FDI norms, and GST compliance might have ruled the better half of 2019, but this year, the emerging players of the Indian ecommerce industry are hopeful for an impetus in the form of tax exemption and online-offline parity ahead of the Union Budget 2020. On February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Union Budget 2020 in the Parliament.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 28, 2020

70 years ago, the Constitution of India segregated the powers of the central government and the states, providing a list of subjects on which the centre, the states, and both the centre and states could make laws. Matters of state importance, such as public health, tourism, trade, entertainment, amongst others, were kept within state government’s jurisdiction. Thus, local businesses in the state followed the state laws to carry on their operations. This segregation worked perfectly till the digital medium disrupted the brick and mortar world. In pre-ecommerce times, businesses complied with the laws of the State in which they were physically present, either directly or through their agents or distributors.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 28, 2020

Feb 1, 2020, is an important date for the startup industry in India. The last quarter has been really bad for startups because of the slump in the economy. The setback to the consumption pattern of Indians coupled with a sentiment wave of the slowdown is the biggest challenge for the startups. We expect our Finance minister Mrs. Sitharaman to bring some schemes to boost up the spending capacity of Indian consumers. Also, as the govt decided to go away with Angel Tax for DPIIT recognized startups like us, we also expect them to bring some policies for the fast deployment of the Startup India fund to the recognized startups.

Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: January 28, 2020

On February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget in the Parliament. This will be a crucial one for the country, amid rising concerns of an economic slowdown, retail inflation, and a consistent dip in demand and consumption. The Indian startup ecosystem, especially the ecommerce sector, in 2019, saw many hurdles surrounding a comprehensive tax and regulatory framework, introduction of the Personal Data Protection Bill, new FDI norms, and GST compliance. But this year, the emerging players of the industry are hopeful for an impetus in the form of tax exemption and online-offline parity ahead of the Union Budget 2020.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 28, 2020

India’s startup ecosystem has come a long way in the last one decade, standing as the world’s third most robust ecosystem, after the US and China. We also rank third on the list of most number of unicorns, close to 25 at present as compared to only 2 in 2010. As India envision to become a USD 5 trillion economy, the startup ecosystem can play a highly instrumental role in helping India reach there by creating innovations, employment generation, and thus economic growth. However, to truly facilitate this, we expect the government’s proactive involvement during this budget.

Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: January 28, 2020

One-fourth of startups reported annual turnover up to Rs 10 lakh while one-fifth reported above Rs 1 crore The startup ecosystem is only concentrated in a few States as of 2019. Start-ups are involved in diverse sectors ranging from agriculture to health. A significant share of the start-ups still rely on friends and family for funds. These conclusions are based on a pilot survey on the Indian startup sector conducted between November 2018 and April 2019 by the Reserve Bank of India. The startup sector is concentrated in a few States. The graph shows the % of start-ups which participated in the survey. It indicates that Karnataka has the highest number of start-ups.

Publication: The Hindu

Date: January 28, 2020

Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday called for structural reforms and fiscal measures to activate growth saying monetary policy has its limits. The Governor identified 5 growth drives that could be priorotised to push growth. These are food processig industries, tourism, E-commerce and Startups to become part of a global value chain.

Publication: The Times of India

Date: January 25, 2020

A traders association has written to the government, seeking a probe into the business models of 16 technology startups and e-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Amazon, Zomato Swiggy and Oyo. In a letter to Commerce minister Piyush Goyal dated January 24, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) alleged that the common phenomenon in these companies of incurring huge yearly losses and earning revenues is not a healthy business practice.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 24, 2020

From the beginning of January 2016, the startup culture has amassed a substantial amount of attention in the country after the government of India launched the ‘Startup India’ initiative. The startups today are getting preferential treatment by the Indian banking sector after recognition of the immense potential in business expansion through investment. Previously the same fund granting giants were reluctant in financing the budding startups because of their conservative policy outlook. But the scenario now is dramatically different and the banking sector is more welcoming of the FinTech culture by readily providing credit lifeline to the rapidly advancing startup ecosystem in India.

Publication: BW Disrupt

Date: January 24, 2o2o

The first thing that pops in our head when we think about a startup is the city of Bengaluru. The Silicon Valley of India has remained at the forefront of tech-driven innovation, with the city possessing all the ingredients in terms of people, infrastructure, and know-how to keep this a pulsating, as well as a vibrant destination for the startup ecosystem today. The Bengaluru Innovation Report 2019, a study done by leading institutional investors – Accel, 3one4 Capital, Ideaspring Capital, and the Government of Karnataka on the state of startups in Karnataka, amplifies the importance of the city as the destination for those who would like to start their tech venture.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 26, 2020

What a decade it has been for Indian entrepreneurship in the technology and internet space. India emerged as the last big frontier for global investors hoping it would become the next China. Big money started to flow in post-2014, with Alibaba’s IPO. Two years later, Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries launched its telecom venture Jio, offering dirt cheap mobile data, which took the internet to the remotest regions. India had the perfect concoction — abundant capital, more than 400 million internet users and a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem buoyed by a tribe of young IITians starting up.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 25, 2020

As the first budget of the new decade, let’s explore some of the expectations that the e-commerce companies and start-ups have from Modi 2.0 government. The segment is helping enable the digital landscape within the Indian economy, paving way for the next frontier. The expectations continue to be for the government to provide necessary stimulus to continue along the path of ease of business, simplifications in filings and registrations, spur digital enablement, support growth of entrepreneurs (both big and small) to help grow a sector that is going to be a clear differentiator in India’s growth story.

Publication: CNBC TV18

Date: January 24, 2020

IKEA has recalled millions of its ‘Made in India’ Troligtvis travel mugs from 400 stores across the world. The company said that it has recalled the product due to excessive levels of chemicals. The Swedish furniture giant asked customers who are using the Troligtvis mugs, marked ‘Made in India’ to stop using it. IKEA also added that there are no medical issues with the product and this recall is purely a “proactive initiative” for the safety of its customers.

Publication: Business Today

Date: January 23, 2020

What a decade it has been for Indian entrepreneurship in the technology and internet space. India emerged as the last big frontier for global investors hoping it would become the next China. Big money started to flow in post-2014, with Alibaba’s IPO. Two years later, Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries launched its telecom venture Jio, offering dirt-cheap mobile data, which took the internet to the remotest regions. India had the perfect concoction — abundant capital, more than 400 million internet users and a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem buoyed by a tribe of young IITians starting up.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 24, 2020

Ikea, the world’s largest furniture retailer that opened its first India store in Hyderabad in 2018, may now foray into developing shopping malls along with flagship outlets, two people familiar with the development said. Ikea is exploring possibilities of building shopping malls and entertainment facilities next to some of its upcoming standalone stores, or developing multi-storey shopping centres with Ikea as an anchor store, depending on land availability, they said. The company will lease out mall space to other brands and retailers.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 24, 2020

The argument is straightforward. Tax revenues of any economy grows in line with its nominal GDP growth. In other words, there is a tight relationship between nominal GDP growth and tax revenues collected, also called “tax buoyancy” by economists. In the past, India’s gross tax revenues have largely grown in line with nominal GDP, except during the years of severe external shocks such as demonetisation and GST.For tax revenues to grow much faster than the nominal GDP in a particular year, either the tax rates have to be hiked or collection targets for tax officials have to increase to collect more from existing taxpayers and/or bring new tax payers, a license for tax harassment.

Publication: Hindustan Times

Date: January ...Tax Revenue Growth

World’s largest furniture seller Ikea aims to reach 100 million people in the coming two years, for which the company plans to invest at least 1.5 billion euros for expansion in India. In cities like Pune, the company has taken the online route to get to customers faster.”Pune is the second market in India after Mumbai to make an online presence without any physical stores. This is in line with the ambition to reach many more customers in India faster,” the company said.

Publication: The Times of India

Date: January 22, 2020

Despite an economic slowdown, various regulatory challenges, and an unfavorable taxation system, the Indian startup ecosystem thrived in 2019, raising close to $11.1 billion in funding. Now, Indian startups are eagerly waiting for Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget on February 1 with the hope that it would bring measures to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country and solve some knotty tax issues around ESOPs, LTCG, and GST.

Publication: YourStory

Date: January 23, 2020

Holding a piece of yarn that she expertly weaves, Sridevi says she is grateful for her job. “Working here has not only ensured a livelihood for me, it also helps me maintain a family of five.” Like Sridevi, there are a few hundred women working at the 10,000sqft hub, engaged in various activities, including weaving, making bowls, baskets, and vases, all using natural and sustainable materials. They are all working to build Hantverk, Swedish furniture brand Ikea’s limited edition product range, comprising cushion covers, throws, baskets, bowls, vases, and more, made using banana fibre, handmade paper, ceramic, and cotton.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 23, 2020

The Indian startup ecosystem is eagerly waiting for Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech on February 1, with the hope that there would be measures that facilitate ease of doing business in the country, while at the same time solve some knotty tax issues around ESOPs, LTCG, and GST. The startups in the country have been on an upward curve, but the larger concern surrounds issues like crunch in the working capital and the easy flow of investor money into the ecosystem.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 22, 2020

The Swedish furniture retailing giant Ikea Group has recently launched its online store in Pune to reach out to more Indian households. The company is reportedly getting ready to set up a brick-and-mortar store in Navi Mumbai, along with small-format stores in Mumbai later this year. The home furnishing and accessories major has a “35-year-old love story” with India and is witnessing “a steady increase in visitation”, its CEO Jesper Brodin told CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan in Davos in an exclusive interview.

Publication: CNBC TV18

Date: January 23, 2020

India Inc witnessed a myriad of changes last year and is now looking forward to a huge opportunity for consumer growth across urban and rural India. Keeping this in mind, the budget is expected to focus on stimulating growth by providing disposable income in the hands of the consumer and augmenting public spending while maintaining fiscal discipline. Here are some of the key points that we could expect that impact the retail segment in particular. To summarise, India Union Budget 2020 is an opportunity to boost consumption through rural investments and expansionary policies aimed to stimulate growth.

Publication: ET Retail

Date: January 21, 2020

Personalization is nothing new in the world of e-commerce. Consumers are now expecting personalized shopping experiences from all online stores. In fact, according to a RedPoint Global survey conducted by The Harris Poll, more than half of consumers (63 percent) expect personalization as a standard. The only difference now is that they want more. While many e-commerce companies offer personalized product recommendations for their website visitors, you can go far beyond that to provide shoppers with a personalized experience from start to finish.

Publication: Entrepreneur India

Date: January 20, 2020

Recent statements by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on online retailer Amazon suggest that the Centre has a mixed view on e-commerce and how it should be regulated. On the one hand, the Centre wants investments from foreign players to pour into the country while on the other hand it refuses to stop micro-managing the sector. Amazon made two significant announcements while its founder Jeff Bezos was in India last week. This included an investment of $1 billion to help small shops connect to its platform.

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Date: January 20, 2020

Technology startups and small businesses are tapping new avenues of funding beyond traditional venture and debt capital, with the emergence of revenue-based and working-capital financing, corporate investment arms, and iSAFE notes that work like warrants. According to startup founders and investors, this signals maturity of the local ecosystem. GetVantage, Spring Marketing, Drip Capital, OfBusiness and 100x.vc, as well as corporate investment arms Next47 and Sony Innovation Fund, among others, offer startups targeted expertise beyond cash to grow their business, with the promise of zero, minimal, or deferred equity dilution.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 22, 2020

Among the many travails being faced by our honourable finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman nowadays is the furore caused by her recent announcement of the zero merchant discount rate (MDR) policy for payments through RuPay debit cards and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) instruments. This policy dictates that when a consumer pays a merchant using RuPay or UPI, the bank may not charge the merchant a commission on the sale value that it usually charges a merchant, say, on a credit card transaction. Critics of this policy lament that it would begin to reverse the progress India has made in recent years to expand the digital payments network.

Publication: Mint

Date: January 16, 2020

The year 2019 witnessed significant developments in India’s competition law regime. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) completed a decade since the enforcement provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) were implemented in 2009. The year 2020 began with the CCI publishing its report on the ‘Market Study on E-commerce in India’, which captures the key market trends and features of e-commerce, core competition issues, observations and findings. This report has far-reaching implications for e-commerce entities in India as it lays down the approach that would be adopted by the CCI in assessing the conduct in this sphere.

Publication: Business Today

Date: January 17, 2020

Harsha Razdan of KPMG India says retailers which put the customer at the centre, have private labels will eventually emerge winners. Excerpts from an interview with ET NOW. You have a wave of disruptions happening in the retail space globally, but in India it is a completely different kettle of fish. Going by the market-cap, going by what a DMart or Trent or Reliance Retail is projecting, India must be the only market where food and grocery and retail businesses are valued as if there is no problem in the world, there is no Amazon in the world, and there is no disruption in the world.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 17, 2020

We saw the e-commerce industry gradually flourish over the years. During FY19, the industry performed well and recorded higher growth on the back of an increase in internet users, and the easy availability of smartphones coupled with attractive data packages. The tightening of digital regulation rules and secured internet servers has ended customer worries regarding online payments fraud and brand authenticity, thus gaining consumer trust over time. As we are in a new decade, e-commerce comprises only 5 percent of India’s retail market which shows that the industry still has a long way to go.

Publication: MoneyControl

Date: January 18, 2020

At least 79 per cent of consumers in the country are willing to shift their online purchases from retailers that mostly operate through websites or apps to the one that has in-store automation facilities, according to a survey conducted by global consulting firm Capgemini. The survey titled, ‘Smart stores: Re-booting the retail store through in store automation’ found that India was the second after China, surpassing a global average of 46 per cent that showed similar interest patterns among the overall surveyed consumers.

Publication: The New Indian Express

Date: January 19, 2020

When shopping malls started sprouting up in India, the general perception was it would wipe out the general trade merchants. Now, with the rise of e-commerce, that discourse has engulfed the entire offline shopping fraternity, with retailers, big and small, trying to make themselves relevant as consumers move online. They are now trying the omnichannel approach where their online and offline stores are integrated seamlessly to be present at all customer touch points.

Publication: Business Today

Date: January 18, 2020

While business-to-business startups in India boomed in five years through 2018, the consumer was back in focus in the year gone by. Business-to-consumer startups, or B2C, took home the major chunk of investor money and also saw more deals than B2B startups. B2C startups received $6.23 billion in funding over 425 deals in 2019—a 23 percent jump, according to Inc42 DataLabs’ Annual Startup Funding. B2B startups, which have seen funding grow 21 percent annually since 2015, noted a 2 percent decline in funding deals. Still, the biggest hit were the startups with a hybrid model that services both businesses and consumers.

Publication: Bloomberg Quint

Date: January 19, 2020

India has one of the world’s largest working-age population, but finding the right talent is a massive struggle. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents in a Twitter survey by Vijay Anand, CEO and founder of The Startup Centre in Chennai and known as “The Startup Guy” on the microblogging site, said they believe India has a shortage of talent to build world-class startups. Much of Anand’s follower list comprises of Indian startup ecosystem players from founders to venture capitalists.

Publication: Scroll

Date: January 19, 2020

A day after the world’s richest person Jeff Bezos announced fresh USD 1 billion investment in India, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said his firm Amazon was not doing a favour to the country by the investments and questioned how the online retailing major could incur such “big” losses but for its predatory pricing. Goyal, who has not yet given Bezos an audience, said e-commerce companies have to follow Indian rules in letter and spirit and not find loopholes to make a back-door entry into multi-brand retail segment.

Publication: ET Retail

Date: January 16, 2020

India has one of the world’s largest working-age population, but finding the right talent is a massive struggle.Nearly two-thirds of the respondents in a Twitter survey by Vijay Anand, CEO and founder of The Startup Centre in Chennai—known as “The Startup Guy” on the microblogging site—said they believe India has a shortage of talent to build world-class startups. Much of Anand’s follower list comprises of Indian startup ecosystem players from founders to venture capitalists.

Publication: Quartz

Date: January 14, 2020

E-commerce major Amazon has pumped over Rs 1,700 crore into its payments and wholesale business units in India, signalling opportunity that the US giant sees in the country. Amazon Pay India has received Rs 1,355 crore from Amazon Corporate Holdings and Amazon.com.incs.Limited, while Amazon Wholesale (India) allotted shares worth about Rs 360 crore to Amazon Corporate Holdings and Amazon.com.incs.Limited, regulatory documents filed with the corporate affairs ministry showed.

Publication: Financial Express

Date: January 14, 2020

The Competition Commission of India has recently released its Market Study On E-Commerce In India report. At the centre of the debate are new-age digital markets. These two-sided platforms may share attributes with traditional businesses, but have altered the interplay of market forces. Multi-sided platforms such as Amazon, Zomato, MakeMyTrip, and Uber have acquired the ability to pass on benefits to consumers as they entice a huge network of suppliers to their platforms.

Publication: Mint

Date: January 14, 2020

Global furniture giant IKEA said Wednesday that it is recalling India-made Troligtvis travel mugs due to health concerns related to chemicals in the products. The decision came amid worries that the mugs that have been sold since last year may migrate levels of dibutyl phthalate exceeding the recommended limits. IKEA’s Korea unit said that all customers who have bought the cups can get full refunds regardless of whether they have receipts. “We took the global recall measure so as to secure the safety of customers, first and foremost,” IKEA Korea said.

Publication: Yonhap News Agency

Date: January 15, 2020

Another brand has followed Nike’s lead and severed its official selling ties with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). Chic, low-cost furniture designer Ikea will no longer directly supply the e-commerce platform with inventory. Although Ikea goods will still be available at the site through third-party vendors that have stock from a wholesale supplier, the move will measurably mute the exposure of the Ikea brand on Amazon. Ikea hasn’t yet explained its reason for the decision, though it’s not a stretch to broadly suggest it just wasn’t worth maintaining the relationship.

Publication: Nasdaq

Date: January 14, 2020

To bring in more investments in data storage infrastructure, the government has asked for suggestions from technology giants and e-commerce companies. The recommendations will be considered for national e-commerce policy. At a meeting with companies and industry associations on Monday (January 13), the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) asked Amazon, Microsoft and Wipro to compile challenges and possible solutions for data storage and submit them in two weeks.

Publication: Inc42

Date: January 15, 2020

The growth of entrepreneurship in India has resulted in a plethora of startups and many large companies in recent years. Yet, the country continues to lag other Asian nations in innovation, according to a new research report. In contrast, the report shows that Asia has driven a boom in recent years in terms of R&D spending, venture capital funding, academic publications, and patents. The report by Lux Research titled: “State of Innovation in Asia: Key Industries and Players Shaping Asia’s Innovative Ecosystem,” showed that in 2018, China, Japan and South Korea spent a combined $613 billion on R&D, bagging three of the top five spots globally.

Publication : CXO Today 

Date : January 11, 2020

Fitch Solutions has said international e-commerce firms in India face the risk of increasingly coming under pressure in the current year due to key policy changes and Reliance Retail venturing into the digital market space. While an e-commerce policy is still in the works, it is likely to take effect in March, Fitch Solutions said in a statement. In addition to the earlier draft guidelines, which ban global online retailers from selling products from companies or affiliates in which they own an equity interest, the government is examining the possibility to set up a regulatory authority to resolve disputes between large online retailers and small enterprises in the country.

Publication : ET Tech 

Date : January 11, 2020

A growing number of brands are deciding they no longer need Amazon. Earlier this week, Ikea became the latest brand to cut ties with Amazon when it said it would not to continue a pilot program that began in 2018. The Swedish retailer joined the likes of Nike, Birkenstock and PopSockets, which decided selling on Amazon wasn’t worth the hassle, and opted to pull out instead. The moves have sparked fears that Amazon will soon see more big brands flee the site. Even if brands end their relationship with Amazon, shoppers can still purchase their products on the site via third-party sellers.

Publication : CNBC

Date : January 10, 2020

Startups have received a lot of appreciation from all quarters about their role in the growing Indian economy, yet these ventures continue to be bogged down by red tape. Entrepreneurs, already hard-pressed for time to raise funds and scale their businesses, have to spend a considerable amount of time and energy sorting out tax issues and coping with frequent regulatory changes. They are now hoping for faster processing of tax refunds and taxing of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) only at the time of sale.

Publication : The Economic Times 

Date : January 11, 2020

Some of the biggest names in India’s startup and technology ecosystem will be part of a committee that the government is forming to advise on reforms to further boost the country’s fast-growing digital economy and remove longstanding roadblocks. Ride-hailing firm Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, ed-tech platform Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran, Infosys co-founders Nandan Nilekani and Kris Gopalakrishnan, and a number of global and home-grown venture capital investors, including Siddarth Pai, the founding partner of 3one4 Capital, are expected to be part of the Startup Advisory Council, people who were briefed on the developments told ET.

Publication: ET Tech

Date: January 08, 2020

India’s competition watchdog has called for clear policies on deep discounts and transparency in seller ratings by large ecommerce companies, in what could have significant implications for etailers such as Amazon and Flipkart. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday unveiled a set of self-regulation guidelines for the ecommerce sector, along with the findings of an ecommerce market study it initiated in April last year. “Bring out clear and transparent policies on discounts including inter alia (among other things) the basis of discount rates funded by platforms for different products/suppliers and the implications of participation/non-participation.”

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 09, 2020

Citing that India’s ecommerce sector is growing at the fastest pace in the world, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), in its new report, estimated that the revenue from this segment will reach $120 Bn in 2020, growing at an annual rate of 51%. In 2017, the revenue from ecommerce segment stood at $39 Bn. ‘The Market Study On Ecommerce In India’ report, which was published on Wednesday (January 8), highlighted that the growth in the ecommerce sector is fueled by the increased penetration of smartphones as well as the internet in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : January 08, 2020

RURAL RETREAT : This was definitely our favourite trend from the Ikea S/S 2020 look book. We love the simple, country-style and tranquil feel of the rooms. There’s lots of white and neutral colour, but it’s kept from becoming bland by all the natural textures and greenery.Rosheen Forbes, Commercial Activity & Events Leader at IKEA UK & Ireland, said that ‘this trend is all about channelling classic chateaux vibes throughout the summer season, by welcoming nature into the home whilst keeping the overall look bold and impactful.

Publication : Real Homes 

Date : January 08, 2020

India’s ecommerce sector which is hardly 5% of the country’s retail sector makes the most noise in the startup ecosystem. And, why not! When two of the biggest global players like Amazon and Walmart are key stakeholders, there’s bound to be a lot of attention on this space. In fact, the duo is also influencing India’s trade relations with the US now. Be it Flipkart’s acquisition by Walmart, or numerous policy initiatives, the last two years have shaped India’s ecommerce in multiple ways AND 2020 will be crucial too as India is set to introduce its comprehensive policy on ecommerce and Reliance enters the game.

Publication : Inc.42

Date : January 08, 2020

Steady funding activity despite several deterrents has displayed the tenacity of startups in 2019, a year fraught with many political and economic events. All through the year, despite the economic slowdown, the startup ecosystem maintained its momentum of raising funds from investors. The current slowdown in India started in the first half of the last financial year when India posted a GDP growth of 7.95 percent in Q1 and seven percent in Q2 of FY19. The following four quarters posted a successive decline in GDP growth rate, at 6.58 percent (Q3 FY19), 5.83 percent (Q4 FY19), five percent (Q1 FY20), and 4.5 percent (Q2 FY20).

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 6, 2020

The year 2020 began with some major announcements in the online retail space. This week, Amazon reportedly signed a long-term business agreement with Kishore Biyani’s Future Group. The move comes only days after Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance e-commerce debuts in grocery with JioMart. Recently, Walmart and Flipkart announced a joint investment in Agri-tech supply chain startup Ninjacart. It is indeed exciting times for the India’s ecommerce sector. There will be many more such announcements across categories from retailers in the coming months.

Publication: CXOtoday.com

Date: January 07, 2020

To be sure, Pepperfry has been quite aggressive in terms of its marketing. The company which started by focusing heavily on television is now seen capitalising big on digital. “In 2020, a prominent trend will be the utilisation of machine learning to filter audiences for targeted campaign outreach. Implementation of machine learning in campaigns will help brands to improve both targeting and messaging by marketing to micro-segments with very well-identified needs or interests. At the acquisition stage, the retailer runs performance marketing campaigns targeting potential consumers through varied mediums

Publication : Exchange4Media 

Date : January 06, 2020

The future of e-Commerce in India 2020 is one of the most talked-about topics as more and more Indians are taking the online route to fulfil their shopping needs. Ecommerce has gained huge popularity over the last decades, and in ways, it’s replacing traditional brick and mortar stores. As people don’t have the time to go out and buy something that they need right away and that’s the reason people are buying a lot of things online mainly due to time and convenience. Here’s is the list of the next big players in India’s e-Commerce industry.

Publication : The Asian Age 

Date : January 07, 2020

As we bid adieu to 2019 and welcomed 2020, let us take a look back at what has been another action-packed year in the start-up ecosystem. While the years 2016 and 2017 were fairly slow for those associated with start-ups in India, 2019 continued the upward trend of the previous year, with the ecosystem experiencing great numbers over the course of the year. One of the most important numbers of the year was that 7 start-ups from India made it to the unicorn stage, taking the number of unicorn start-ups in the country to 33.

Publication: CNBC TV18

Date: January 07, 2020

As we start a new year and a new decade, keeping your surroundings fresh and new is also essential to make you feel motivated.  Wing chairs made it to the popular decor trends of 2019 and are sure to stay in 2020. These chairs are perfect for awkward corners and also room seating. Available in beautiful upholstery and trendy designs, by adding this one chair in your house, you can bring an attractive change in your ambience.

Publication  : The Times of India 

Date : January 03, 2020

The e-commerce industry is a fast-growing sector with demand going through the roof and more people adopting this stress-free method of shopping. In 2015, the e-commerce retail sales amounted to over $340 billion and by 2019 the total sales are projected to be double that amount. This means more people are getting to know about this industry and so much more are also striving to carve a niche for themselves by opening up online retail stores. The e-commerce industry as a newcomer is bound to face certain challenges ranging from economical to technological down to the social sphere.

Publication : Entrepreneur

Date : January 03, 2020

In a significant relaxation for the ecommerce sector, the government could allow online platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart to upload e-invoice for vendors under the goods and services tax (GST) framework. As part of ongoing trials of e-invoicing, a detailed set of clarifications in the form of frequently asked questions have been issued.  “Ecommerce operator can request for e-invoice on behalf of supplier,” the clarification said. The matter has been taken up by the government and could be allowed once the trial period is over, a government official told ET.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : January 04, 2020

The world of e-commerce is rapidly changing. It’s simply irresponsible to rest on your laurels if you find yourself in this space. Strategies that worked in the early 2000s probably didn’t work too well in the ’10s. The same could be said for current marketing tactics that might become antiquated in the ’20s. Technological advancements brought down shipping fees, sped up shipping timelines, made the checkout process smoother and helped merchants find consumers where they are most ready to make a purchase, among many other things.

Publication: Forbes

Date: January 03, 2020

India’s retail market is estimated to be worth $600 billion. Today e-commerce comprises only 5% of the total. Compare that to the 15% stake e-commerce has in the US market, and it becomes clear there’s still plenty of room for growth. Despite efforts like ‘Digital India’, affordability of smartphones and data packages, vast sections of India’s population have yet to come online.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 3, 2020

If there is political unrest in the country, international investors will become uncertain about investing in India. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) have already received a lot of international criticism, and it is only a matter of time before it affects business sentiment. Alienation of border areas like Kashmir will continue, which means development will get stunted if the government continues to prioritise issues related to citizenship rather than focusing on economic development.

Publication : Yourstory

Date : January 02, 2019

Aided by proliferation of cheap smartphones and a burgeoning young population which is increasingly taking to convenience, the domestic e-commerce sector is sure making headway — from $16-17 billion in 2014, the market has currently grown close to $30 billion, according to analyst estimates. However, it is nowhere near $100 billion as predicted by analysts five years ago. A 2016 KPMG report had estimated the e-commerce industry to touch $103 billion by 2020. To give perspective — e-tail comprises lion’s share of the total e-commerce sector but a mere 3% Indians shop online, according to a RedSeer Consulting report released last year.

Publication: Financial Express

Date: December 31, 2019

E-commerce and digital payments are fields that have been advancing at a rapid pace over the last few years. And now that we’ve entered into a new decade, it’s vital to keep preparing for what’s to come. Here, Mastercard’s head of digital payments in the UK and Ireland, Mike Cowen, gives his predictions for the top 10 trends that are set to have an impact on the sector this year: 2019 has seen a massive shift to new interfaces enabling consumers to shop, live, and pay without the need to pick up a mobile phone or other device in order to do so.

Publication : Silicon Republic 

Date : January 03, 2020

The government is expected to provide tax incentives to start-ups in the forthcoming budget to support the growth of budding entrepreneurs, sources said. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has suggested several measures to the finance ministry for start-ups in the budget. The recommendations include an extension of tax incentives to incubators supported under Atal Innovation Mission; reduction in GST (Goods and Services Tax) rates on AIF (alternate investment fund) management fees; and tax benefits on ESOPs, they said.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: December 30, 2019

The government has been trying to tame the internet commerce hydra for a while now. On February 23, 2019, it brought in the draft national e-commerce policy, making India one of the few countries in the world to take steps towards such unconventional legislation. However, to ensure a better understanding of the e-commerce sector and its future, you would do well to read the document with the Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules, 2019. The policy was due to be implemented by the end of 2019, but has missed the deadline.

Publication: MoneyControl

Date: January 1,2020

For Indian startups, raising capital in 2020 depends on where they are in their growth cycle. Those raising Series A or B rounds could get a longer rope, but those who have been around for a while will need to demonstrate a clear path to profitability. Investor tolerance for losses has shrunk with a lukewarm Uber IPO and WeWork’s momentous non-IPO. However, they are likely to continue backing market leaders despite red in their books.

Publication: Forbes India

Date: January 2, 2020

The startup draft policy has laid out an ambitious target of creating 1 lakh jobs and facilitated the growth of 2000 startups. While the industry said it will improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state, the government also needs to involve the private sector as they are better placed to know what works and what does not as they have already invested in a lot of startups.

Publication: The Times Of India

Date: January 2, 2019

India’s unicorn club witnessed several highs and lows in 2019, even as investors remained cautious across the tech startup segment. Several new startups entered the unicorn club, and existing unicorns moved closer to their proposed IPOs. Mint takes a closer look at the top technology unicorns in 2019, which includes nine new names in the same year, and the road ahead for these billion-dollar companies in 2020.

Publication: Mint

Date: January 1, 2020