'We have reached 70 million monthly active users during this festival season, which is another great milestone for us.'
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) is advocating for the termination of the moratorium on customs duties for electronically transmitted digital products, arguing that it hinders self-reliance, causes revenue losses, and restricts India's ability to tax emerging technologies like AI.
Strong performance in the beauty and personal care (BPC) segment, margin gains, and expectations of a breakeven in the fashion business lifted sentiment for FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa). The consumer technology platform's stock rose 7.5 per cent on Friday, extending gains over the past week to more than 17 per cent. Most brokerages have upgraded the stock following its third-quarter (October-December/Q3) performance and higher profit expectations ahead.
As many as 26 top e-commerce companies, including Zepto, BigBasket and Zomato, have given an undertaking that their platforms are free from misleading claims and unfair trade practices which constitute 'dark patterns', the government said on Thursday.
India is unlikely to join the ongoing negotiations for a plurilateral deal on e-commerce at the World Trade Organization (WTO), notwithstanding a change in stance on data localisation and cross-border flow of data. Under the new draft digital personal data protection (DPDP) Bill, put out on Friday for public consultation, the government has proposed free cross-border flow of data with 'friendly' nations, significantly easing its earlier stance on data localisation. India has so far stayed out of a group of 87 countries, including the US, European Union, China, and Japan that are negotiating trade-related aspects on e-commerce since December 2017.
Many industry executives have said the draft e-commerce policy is being perceived as nationalistic but not overly protectionist and it is providing preference to Indian players against foreign companies. This might have an impact on investment by large players such as Walmart and Amazon in the country, said the executives. They said e-commerce was a very small portion of the retail industry and at a nascent stage and did not require heavy hammer regulations. Though the policy talks about being equally applicable to foreign and domestic players, it mentions that foreign direct investment (FDI) takes precedence over the e-commerce policy in any area of overlap.
Google has unveiled the Pixel 10a in India and worldwide, expanding its Pixel series. The device can be pre-ordered through the brand's online store and an e-commerce platform, with sales starting next month.
India has launched its first integrated phygital service centre in Umri village, Madhya Pradesh, aiming to provide online services and boost rural development through digital connectivity and various essential services.
The upcoming smartphone from Nothing gets a design refresh that is more subtle, more refined. Here's tje first look at the Nothing Phone (4a), including expected features and design changes.
The upcoming smartphone from Nothing gets a design refresh with a more subtle, and refined look. Here's a first look at the Nothing Phone (4a), including expected features, design changes, and launch buzz.
Hyderabad police have dismantled a multi-crore illegal money circulation racket allegedly promoted by QNet, arresting 32 individuals across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.
India's largest traders' association CAIT on Tuesday said few multinational e-commerce giants with a heavy arsenal of funding are attempting to flout foreign investment guidelines for the sector and demanded strict enforcement action. Releasing a whitepaper on the e-commerce policy, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said e-commerce entities have "structured their relationship as marketplace with sellers in a such a way that they are in a position to control either seller on their platform or the inventory and also escape the scrutiny of the enforcement agencies." "Under the guise of such control or ownership over sellers, the issue also permeates from being a mere FDI policy violation to also being an anti-competitive conduct," it said.
Live commerce, quick commerce, group buying, WhatsApp commerce, dukaantech have made their mark.
Sunil Gavaskar approached the high court, seeking to prevent the unauthorised use of his name, images, persona and likeness by social media platforms and e-commerce websites, and to protect his personality rights.
The Income Tax Department has clarified that income from the transfer of investments made before April 1, 2017, is excluded from the scope of the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR), addressing industry concerns about retrospective application.
Several prominent Indian celebrities have interests beyond the silver screen or cricket pitch.
'More than becoming a unicorn, what truly satisfies us is seeing small businesses grow from Rs 10,000 a month to Rs 20 lakh after joining our platform.'
Delhi Police have registered a case against Blinkit for allegedly selling knives that violate government specifications, after discovering that criminals had purchased them online.
'If movement remains stalled for three to four months, more than 300,000 recruitments from India could be affected.'
'Despite a challenging FMCG environment, ITC Foods has grown at or above the industry rate.'
Tata Sons' unlisted ventures, including Air India, Tata Digital, and Tata Electronics, reported combined net losses of approximately 25,568.8 crore in FY25, a 58.3 per cent increase from the previous year, despite Tata Sons itself remaining profitable for over a decade.
Among key guidelines, the e-commerce companies will also be required to ensure that personally identifiable information of customers are protected.
'Given that the population is almost evenly split, the Indian economy cannot grow without women participating in the workforce.' 'While women's participation has increased, it is still well below 40 per cent,' says Kartik Narayan, CEO of the professional networking and jobs platform, Apna.
The government is at a "fairly advanced stage" of finalising a well-coordinated e-commerce policy and consumer protection rules, which will incorporate provisions of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on Thursday. "E-commerce rules and e-commerce policy will be congruent with each other... That exercise is at a fairly advanced stage," Singh told reporters. The remarks come on a day the number of daily transactions on the platform has gone up 500 times since the beginning of this year with the number of retail merchants added to its roster growing 40-fold.
'The Indian consumer is moving so quickly and they have so many options.'
While the new norms are part of the draft policy's guidelines to fight counterfeit and fake products on platforms, they might end up helping brands and e-commerce firms sign exclusive sale deals.
When Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was conceived last December, the idea was to reduce the dominance of e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart. It was also to bring in a level-playing field for small merchants in India's fragmented but fast-growing $1-trillion retail market. However, those goals have changed now as large e-commerce players such as Flipkart, Amazon and Ecom Express are in various levels of talks with the ONDC team. They want to form partnerships like integrating with the network as well as providing their expertise to build it, according to the industry sources.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will engage stakeholders in the e-commerce space to establish standards with the objective of self-regulation, said its deputy director Parul Gupta at the Internet Commerce Summit 2022 in Bengaluru. "Standardisation will allow parties to transact qualified commodities and services at any location and time," said Gupta. BIS recently released standards for e-commerce players, travel portals, and food delivery platforms that publish consumer reviews online, as part of the government's efforts to crack down on fake reviews, said Gupta.
Non-metro cities drove this year's online Diwali shopping boom, accounting for nearly three-quarters of total e-commerce volume, with tier 3 cities contributing over 50 per cent, according to industry data. As per the industry data analysis of over 4.25 crore shipments by logistics intelligence platform ClickPost, these regions now represent the fastest and largest drivers of festive e-commerce, solidifying non-metro India's role as the epicentre of order volumes and growth.
Shares of e-commerce firm Meesho on Wednesday made a remarkable market debut by listing with a premium of more than 46 per cent against the issue price of Rs 111.
Ecommerce (ecom) and quick commerce (qcom) platforms are expected to lead gig worker hiring in calendar year 2026 (CY26), adding nearly 1 million workers on the back of sustained demand for last-mile deliveries, higher order volumes, and continued expansion of dark stores into non-metropolitan cities, industry experts have said.
According to analyst firm RedSeer, the absence of cash on delivery has hit daily e-commerce sales by 30% over the past few days.
FPIs net sold equities worth Rs 1.7 trillion in 2025 -- the highest annual net sale on record.
The writing has been on the wall for some time and it showed up prominently during the festival-season sales last year, when Meesho toppled Amazon to become the second-largest player in order share. During the sales season, 60 per cent of the orders Meesho received were from tier-4 cities and beyond. According to a report by consulting firm Redseer, festival-season sales last year were driven primarily by tier-2 and tier-3 cities, with 64 per cent of the shoppers coming from those.
Prada's Kolhapuri chappals will debut globally in February across 40 Prada stores and on the brand's e-commerce platform.
With the festival sales in full swing, e-commerce firms are ramping up hiring to meet the increasing consumer demand. Close to 300,000 new jobs have been created in the sector so far and over 500,000 more jobs are expected to be added till Diwali, according to a report by TeamLease. The demand for gig workers is, however, not restricted to tier-1 cities. Tier-2 and tier-3 cities have seen an increase of 40 per cent, with a higher demand for delivery workers, according to a TeamLease report.
Eighteen new-age technology firms went public during the year, a near triple increase from the five firms that debuted in 2023 and 38 per cent more than 2024's tally of 13.
'We frequently discuss AI, but we're waiting for other countries to develop solutions rather than creating intellectual property ourselves.' 'We haven't yet produced comprehensive AI solutions developed in India for global markets.'
The size or turnover of a company, or even the salary package offered, no longer prevents employees from quitting, notices rediffGURU Pradeep Pramanik.
From a location perspective, the last quarter saw Kolkata and Gurgaon as top regions for employment in these sectors and among roles, sales and office services stood out.
