Alibaba, the world's biggest e-commerce firm by transaction value, supports small businesses on its platforms.
Startup founders need to sit up and think about how not to take stardom for granted and how not to disappoint their fans who have stood in long queues for those precious selfies with popular entrepreneurs, notes Nivedita Mookerji.
Kerala's tax authorities are also reviewing other e-commerce companies for similar discrepancies, and might fine more defaulters.
India's e-commerce sector is a prize, but one that may end up being spread thinly.
Across the country, companies have stepped up their act to contain the crisis. IT and other new economy firms seem to have taken a lead.
The overall e-commerce opportunity in India and China is comparable, yet it's hard to see any single player in India emerging with Alibaba-like market share.
What seems to have changed over the last two-three years is that earlier the CCI considered online as another channel for retail sales, while it now seems dividing the retail market into two -- online and offline, and looking at them separately, say competition law experts.
In its new avatar as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), it will directly be responsible for 'the welfare of traders and their employees'.
In a short span of time, with the help of Amazon, Cloudtail was able to devise a model that could protect it from the vagaries of online retail business.
The chief executive of the e-commerce giant is making his second visit to India -- the first since Amazon entered this market.
Flipkart, Amazon & Paytm have raised commissions from sellers.
All of the 56 impacted associates, eight in the senior management and 48 in the middle as well as lower management, have been offered enhanced severance benefits and out placement services to support their transition, the company said.
RIL is setting up infrastructure for a full-fledged horizontal e-commerce offering - internally called the New Commerce - to simultaneously launch pan-India by October-November.
'The digital trust level has drastically gone up due to Covid, not only in tier-I and II cities, but also in tier-III, IV and V geographies,'
That's because India does not have a serious venture capital industry with an appetite for risk, observes T N Ninan.
Prominent e-commerce marketplace players include Amazon.in, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm, Shopclues and Jabong
Most Indian start-ups and e-commerce are largely funded by foreign investors
According to CAIT, e-commerce policy should take within its ambit not only foreign players but also domestic ones.
Unlike many peers in the VC space, LSE grad Juneja doesn't have an entrepreneurial background but is said to be strong in finance skills
In spite of the mega IPO of Alibaba, Flipkart-Myntra is not thinking of a public offering at this point
Tata Group chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Thursday said the group's recently launched super app Neu is on an open architecture and it will host non-group brands as well. The Tatas finally launched its super app Tata Neu on April 7, after piloting it for months, but the group chairman claimed there was no delay in the commercial launch. Stating that the app has received an overwhelming response in the past seven days of going live, Chandrasekaran said the app is on an open architecture and will host products and services from non-Tata group companies.
Everyday consumerables, such as grocery and order-in food items are the key buyout sector, analysts say, and a major reason for kirana stores' digitisation push.
Experts believe adoption of AI in developing countries will be much faster than in developed nations, as the magnitude of change it will bring will be far larger.
The e-commerce industry is expected to return to high growth next year as large players such as Amazon, Flipkart and Paytm Mall begin to look beyond the 20 million customers who shop online on a monthly basis.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance group has struck acquisition deals worth $4.2 billion with a dozen companies in just two years to expand its retail business. The latest purchase was of a majority stake in Justdial for Rs 3,497 crore. Elaborating on his acquisition strategy a few weeks ago during the AGM, Ambani stated that one of the key planks would be to acquire businesses that enhanced Reliance's offerings and experiences to customers and that they would be both physical and digital.
'We went from zero to about 10 million users in three months. Paytm came out with the wallet play and we came out with the UPI play.'
Tax collection at source would lock in Rs 400 crore of seller money, say Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal.
Apart from making your purchases on these platforms expensive, it will also mean sellers will have to face the brunt of reduced cash flows amid already low margins for some. Experts said the proposal, which will take effect on April 1, 2020, and will be inserted as a new section in the Income Tax Act, is expected to affect the working capital of e-commerce companies and reduce cash flows for e-sellers.
The management institute also clocked 100% placement, says Virendra Singh Rawat.
The expansion into smaller towns is coming at a time when the online retail space has not only seen consolidation but is actually looking to collaborate with physical stores. Abhineet Kumar reports.
The Chinese billionaire and founder of Alibaba is said to be planning a significant investment in business to business e-tailing as well as payment services and logistics companies.
'It's pretty likely that Kissinger, Rice et al came bearing gifts (read Trojan Horses) from McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, Grumman, Northrop, and all the other Military Industrial Complex stalwarts,' argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
'For how long can investors fund loss-making companies?'
Amphibious drones for maritime inspection... devices that extract pure oxygen from water for patients in need... self-balancing electric bikes...
The Centre has slapped as many as 148 notices on e-commerce players in the past three months for not complying with the mandatory display of the 'country of origin' tag on products sold. "Of the 148 notices, 56 have compounded it (the offence) and paid up around Rs 34 lakh," a senior official told Business Standard. "Every product has to display the country of origin, along with other basic information," the official added. In the case of e-commerce companies, these details have to be clearly displayed on their portals.
Riding on e-commerce wave is the youngest state, which faces competition from neighbours.
However, many of these firms were facing an uphill task of convincing the people on the ground to return to work, as many are apprehensive of their safety.
The big boys of India's traditional retail have finally come together to fight the onslaught of their online counterparts.
It is hard enough to make a profit in e-commerce without having to deal with excessive paperwork, legal fees and the constant threat of harassment by revenue officials.
Jack Ma who had five years ago said he was inspired and excited by "Make in India" possibly understood the essence of the signature campaign better than some others and decided to stay away from India other than as an investor, says Nivedita Mookerji.
