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.
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.
Growth in demand for diesel, India's most consumed petroleum product, fell to its lowest since the pandemic in the financial year ended March 31 as the economy expands at a slower pace and consumption shifts to cleaner fuels. Diesel consumption rose 2 per cent to 91.4 million tonnes in 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025) fiscal, according to provisional data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Oil Ministry.
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.
The strategy these online marketplace companies follow in the next few months will determine whether Amazon gets to be the leader in 2017.
Its share among top three e-commerce players grew to 57% in March 2017 from 45% in June 2016
Amazon has increased the commission on non-core segments by 2-9 per cent.
Later in the day, Flipkart condemned the attack and said it has blacklisted the seller from its platform and is extending all support to the probe agencies.
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.
Hiring demand is strongest for high-impact technology and product roles, particularly DevOps engineers, product managers, and full-stack developers.
'Indian players in the digital market should not be dominated by global players, and they should not dominate the smaller players -- these discussions are on.'
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'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.
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.
Amazon signed up Motorola as an exclusive brand partner for its new devices, which in turn helped it grow
Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal are currently locked in a battle for market leadership in the burgeoning Indian e-commerce sector.
It has also filled a key gap in its payment systems team by hiring Ravi Byakod, a senior Google engineer.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on e-commerce major Amazon for selling pressure cookers that did not meet quality standards. The CCPA also directed Amazon to notify the consumers of all these 2,265 pressure cookers sold through its platform, recall the products and reimburse the prices to buyers, the Department of Consumer Affairs said in a statement.
Amazon India has caught up with Flipkart and overtaken Snapdeal in terms of monthly unique visitors.
The gig economy market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 per cent to reach a gross volume of $455 billion by the end of 2024, according to a white paper by The Forum for Progressive Gig Workers. Estimates suggest the gig economy has the potential to create 90 million jobs and add 1.25 per cent to India's GDP (gross domestic product) over time.
Udaan, India's largest business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce company, has received approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for its internal corporate restructuring plan, according to sources. By consolidating into a single entity, the restructuring will enhance Udaan's agility and pave the way for various financing options, including the ability to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) in India by 2026, according to people familiar with the matter.
Flipkart has seen 33 per cent growth in past 6 months despite slowing e-commerce business and stiff competition from Amazon.
Employees can take 'unlimited bereavement leave' in case of loss of a family member. All employees are encouraged to take breaks on a daily basis. This includes a mandatory 1-hour lunch break where no other meetings can be scheduled.
Lacking basic safeguards and regulations, India is fast emerging as a hub for illegal online betting and gambling market, with the top 15 such unauthorised platforms logging an alarming over 5.4 billion visits in FY25, according to a report by public policy think-tank on consumer sovereignty.
Flipkart, founded by two former Amazon executives, Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, has been a talking point vis-a-vis Amazon's strategy in India.
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
The People's Choice Survey is an annual report by CashKaro.com, which identifies key trends in online shopping in India.
'Women are taking on key roles in warehouses, such as picking and packing, as well as in our last-mile operations across India.'
The Bansals losing out operational control of Flipkart comes at a time when global rival Amazon, in which Tiger Global holds a minority stake, is stepping up investment in India in an attempt to overtake the Bengaluru-based e-commerce firm.
With an existing consumer base of 400 million across airports, electricity and gas distribution businesses, the Adani group is revving up its retail play. It is planning to use the 2.4 billion consumer interactions a year with group companies to push various products and services. The group has already launched the 'Adani One' super app that will eventually sell products across the spectrum, top executives said.
'Illegal gambling operators are systematically exploiting India's advertising and payment infrastructure, siphoning off crores of rupees from outside the country.'
At present, other large players in the grocery and food retail space include Flipkart Supermart, Bigbasket, and Grofers.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal's recent comments on large e-commerce players have reignited the debate about their impact on smaller offline retailers. On Wednesday, Goyal said that the rapid growth of e-commerce in India is a "cause for concern" and is diminishing the market share of small, mom-and-pop stores by offering high-margin products such as consumer electronics and apparel at discounted rates.
Google will be able to co-relate data from the first click to the final delivery of product. This kind of knowledge is invaluable, something which even Amazon does not have.
Readying its game plan, the Bengaluru-based e-commerce giant plans to renew talks of investments in various companies such as Swiggy, BookMyShow, Pepperfry, UrbanClap
Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon, has committed to invest $5.5 billion into India and that figure is approaching quickly.
Amazon's fulfilment centres, which store products of hundreds of vendors selling on the American online major's platform, are being cited by Karnataka state government authorities as a primary concern in an ongoing tax dispute.
India's internet economy is estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2030, primarily due to e-commerce, which is expected to be worth $325 billion and rank third globally, according to industry experts. Last year marked a crucial turning point for India's e-commerce sector, with notable changes in consumer trends, technology, and regulations. InGovern Research Services, a leading corporate governance advisory firm, hosted a virtual roundtable to deliberate on the notable developments in India's e-commerce sector in 2023, with a particular focus on the essential role of customer trust in fueling its ongoing expansion.
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.
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