The strategy these online marketplace companies follow in the next few months will determine whether Amazon gets to be the leader in 2017.
The show-cause notice dated February 8 by DCGI V G Somani cited a Delhi high court order dated December 12, 2018, which prohibits online sales of medicines without a licence.
Ecommerce firm Amazon has infused ~1,600 crore into its India entity Amazon Seller Services, according to its regulatory filings. The funding comes at a time when the company is seeing opportunities in emerging geographies, including India. The regulatory filings are dated April 15. This is the second time in five months that Amazon invested in its India arm Amazon Seller Services. Before this, Amazon had infused over ~1,000 crore into its Indian entity this year.
Amazon signed up Motorola as an exclusive brand partner for its new devices, which in turn helped it grow
Amazon has committed over $5 billion to grow its business in India so far and says it will pump in more capital as and when needed, a big worry for rival Flipkart which has been struggling to raise funds over the past couple of months.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is looking into complaints of additional charges being levied by ecommerce platforms when customers choose cash-on-delivery (COD) option instead of paying while ordering items. "The Department of Consumer Affairs has received complaints against ecommerce platforms charging extra for cash-on-delivery, a practice classified as a dark pattern that misleads and exploits consumers," Pralhad Joshi, Union minister of consumer affairs, wrote on X on Friday afternoon.
The report, however, did not include sales of Flipkart's subsidiaries Myntra and Jabong.
After raising $2.5 billion from SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and his Vision Fund, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are back in the driving seat at Flipkart, the company they founded over a decade ago.
American online major Amazon seems to be almost doubling its India investment going by the company's recent announcement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US. From the time the Seattle-headquartered company started its India journey in 2013, its investment into the country is pegged at $11 billion or roughly $1.1 billion a year. By committing a fresh round of $15 billion by 2030, the Jeff Bezos-founded company's investment would go up to more than $2 billion a year over the next seven years.
'If price was the driver in 1st year, it was convenience in the 2nd.'
The US-based firm already has two fulfilment centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Oppo has officially introduced its Find X9 range to the Indian market, bringing with it the advanced Dimensity 9500 platform and an exceptionally large battery setup that crosses the 7,000mAh threshold.
As Amazon India, Flipkart are forced to shut down 60 categories and push out 45 mn products, a new lobby group comprising sellers is in the making to take up e-com concerns.
In India, Amazon has taken an open cheque policy by sinking in over $2 bn to grow its business and tried to build local innovations to help it score over local players Flipkart and Snapdeal.
'This is not just a cosmetic refresh,' said Suhas Rajkumar, founder and chief executive officer of Simple Energy. 'We have re-engineered the battery integration, made the scooter lighter, improved performance and expanded the portfolio so customers can choose based on real usage needs.'
The online retailer offers largest assortment of products.
Amazon Fashion flaunts its triple digit month-on-month growth, races ahead of competitors Flipkart, Jabong and Myntra.
The two companies have been negotiating to remain separate entities after a merger.
The People's Choice Survey is an annual report by CashKaro.com, which identifies key trends in online shopping in India.
India has gained one more festival -- the season of Black Friday.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday questioned Amazon's announcement of $1 billion investment in India, saying the US retailer was not doing any great service to the Indian economy but filling up for the losses it had suffered in the country. He said that their huge losses in India "smells of predatory pricing", which is not good for the country as it impacts crores of small retailers.
Flipkart Supermart is already live in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi
Let her know that you are in a happy marriage and you are not comfortable with her behaviour, advises rediffGURU Ravi Mittal.
Apart from air travel, Flipkart would also be able to offer train bookings through Cleartrip.
Traders' body CAIT on Thursday urged the government to impose a ban on Amazon's e-commerce portal and its operations in India, accusing the global e-tailing giant of indulging in predatory pricing, deep discounting and inventory control. Addressing a press conference, CAIT secretary-general Praveen Khandelwal demanded an "immediate ban on Amazon's portal and its operations in India" and an investigation against the company in a time-bound manner. He also urged the government to probe the business practices of Amazon and Flipkart. However, responding to the allegations, both Amazon and Flipkart said they remain compliant with Indian laws.
Not displaying the mandatory information, including country of origin, on products sold on their platforms in India, draws government's attention.
'Women are taking on key roles in warehouses, such as picking and packing, as well as in our last-mile operations across India.'
At a time when Flipkart has entered the quick-commerce race with a service called "Minutes", executives at rival players said they are in a wait-and-watch mode. They said they would be concerned only once the e-commerce firm is able to succeed in this space. The Walmart-owned firm's quick-commerce service has gone live in some parts of Bengaluru, putting it in competition with firms such as Zepto, Swiggy's Instamart, and Zomato's Blinkit.
Initially, private buyers will be able to make bulk purchases on Government e-marketplace, it will subsequently be broadened to small-ticket buying as well.
Amazon India is waiting for clarifications from the government on several aspects of the latest FDI guidelines to be able to carry on with business in the country. Sources said, no new investment is likely till at least the second half of 2019.
Last November, a lawyer for Future Retail Limited (FRL) told Delhi high court that Amazon is interfering with its lawful business and thousands may lose their jobs and FRL may go bankrupt. Senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for FRL, likened Amazon to East India Company. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who represented Amazon, told the Future counsel to keep the "East India Company" rhetoric aside, as Amazon has invested $6.5 billion all over India and created 900,000 jobs. This drama played out in the case in which Amazon has challenged Future's $3.4-billion deal with Reliance, alleging the retailer's deal breached an agreement with the American e-commerce firm.
Flipkart, the e-commerce company owned by Walmart, is intensifying its efforts to achieve profitability as it is eyeing a valuation of approximately $60 billion at the time of its initial public offering (IPO), now planned in 2025-2026, instead of this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm might consider listing in the US or any other geography, including India. The company, which counts the likes of Amazon and Reliance's JioMart among its competitors in India's burgeoning e-commerce market, had also contemplated launching an IPO in 2022-2023.
Flipkart aims to double the total value of goods it sells to $8 billion in the next three years.
'For all of us at Amazon, it is 'Bharat first'.' 'We are keeping the Indian customer at the centre of what we are doing.'
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is in India this week and is expected to meet top government functionaries, business leaders and SMBs.
Flipkart's hyper-value e-commerce platform Shopsy is intensifying efforts to tap over half of the 821 million internet users (about 442 million) in rural India. These efforts are being led by Prathyusha Agarwal, who recently joined as business head at Shopsy. The aim is to become the go-to destination for consumers seeking entry-level products across various categories.
In October 2012, Flipkart entered the menswear segment; later it launched a womenswear range
Flipkart-backed fintech firm super.money is aiming to be among the top five players on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) leaderboard by the end of this year, a senior company executive has said. The company, which rolled out its beta version in June this year, has processed about 10 million transactions till date. "We have a target of 100 million transactions for the end of the year.
'Where rostering systems are automated and duty time software interfaces directly with DGCA, the assertion that they suddenly discovered crew shortages is simply implausible.' 'If adequate crew planning hasn't materialised within 12 to 24 months from inception, how will 45 days -- from December 5 to February 12 -- suddenly resolve matters?'
Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon, has committed to invest $5.5 billion into India and that figure is approaching quickly.
