The filing of Swiggy's DRHP has led to direct comparisons with Zomato, which is a direct competitor in food delivery and the fast-growing quick-commerce segment where Blinkit (owned by Zomato) faces off against Instamart (and Zepto). In Q-commerce, Flipkart, Amazon, Reliance and Big Basket are all entering the space. All of them have deep pockets, hence competitive intensity will rise going forward.
The department for promotion of industry and internal trade has rejected Walmart-backed Flipkart's proposal seeking approval for entry to the food retail sector, citing a regulatory issue, an official said on Monday. The government permits 100 per cent foreign direct investment in food retail for food produced and manufactured in India.
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.
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.
According to sources, the directorate has sent a letter to Flipkart on the basis of complaints received after the Big Billion Day sale on October 6.
'"We want to get the learnings from Flipkart and take it to other parts of the world," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was quoted as saying.' 'That is a very large tuition fee for an MBA in a country that outdoes Brazil and perhaps even China in busting multinationals' knees and sometimes their heads as they try to crack a market of mostly impoverished people run by a government that has never really given up the sadistic pleasures of administering the license raj,' notes Rahul Jacob.
US mutual funds Valic Co 1 and Fidelity Rutland Square Trust II, which have minority stake in Flipkart, have marked down the value of their stocks in the company
Having marked a 20-year milestone in India, global tech giant Google is upbeat about its next innings here with Artificial Intelligence (AI) playing a big role in it, India MD Roma Datta Chobey said on Thursday, adding that the company is aligning its vision and strategy fully to the country's growth and ambitions. In an interview to PTI, Chobey said Google believes that AI should be regulated but in a way that strikes a fine balance between user benefit -- which is "still at a nascent stage" -- and at the same time, fosters innovation.
One of the leading contenders in the Indian e-commerce space, Snapdeal has seen its fortunes falling amid strong competition from Amazon and Flipkart.
Flipkart Supermart is already live in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi
In a filing with the US Security and Exchange Commission on Friday, Walmart said it would allow the initial public offering of Flipkart in four years at a valuation no less than what it invested in the e-commerce firm, if a grouping of minority shareholders asks for it.
These top level changes have come soon after Flipkart co-founder and Group CEO Binny Bansal resigned over allegations of serious personal misconduct in November.
Tax concealment in case of Walmart-owned Flipkart's unit is about Rs 650 crore while the remaining estimation is related to Swiggy.
The new deal will value Flipkart at close to $19 billion on the secondary market, a huge jump from Walmart's initial offer to investors.
Flipkart will need $2 bn annual profit to make Walmart investment viable, which will mean yearly revenue of $100 bn
He said he will be 'cheering from the outside' and urged Flipkart team to continue with the momentum.
Flipkart has seen 33 per cent growth in past 6 months despite slowing e-commerce business and stiff competition from Amazon.
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 Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued notices to five e-commerce entities, including Amazon, Flipkart and PaytmMall, as well as various sellers for offering pressure cookers that are non-compliant with BIS norms. The notices were issued on November 18 to Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Shopclues and PaytmMall, and the sellers. As part of celebrations of 75 years of Independence - 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', CCPA has initiated a country-wide campaign to prevent sale of spurious and counterfeit goods that violate Quality Control Orders published by the Centre, the government said in a statement on Monday.
'If Walmart is a physical retailer, why is it striking a deal with Flipkart for the online space?'
Every competitor is eyeing the top slot that Flipkart holds.
This is the sixth consecutive markdown in the valuation of Flipkart by the US firm.
Flipkart on Wednesday said it has acquired mobile marketing start-up Appiterate.
Quick commerce major Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO). This is Zepto's third big-ticket fundraise within a year. With this, the company has raised more than $1 billion in 12 months.
After making the model work in metro cities, players in the quick commerce sector are rapidly expanding their footprint into smaller tier 2 cities and markets beyond that ahead of the festival season.
Its share among top three e-commerce players grew to 57% in March 2017 from 45% in June 2016
Flipkart's valuation of $15.2 bn arrived at during latest round of $700-mn fund raise.
The company has also issued a ban on all non-essential domestic and international business travel, and is encouraging employees who may have returned from international travel to work from home for 14 days.
Not displaying the mandatory information, including country of origin, on products sold on their platforms in India, draws government's attention.
With this round of funding, Flipkart's valuation has reached USD 11.6 billion, and US IT major Microsoft joins the marketplace as a strategic investor.
Loss of investor confidence in Flipkart last year sparked off a chain reaction in startup sector
Amazon has emerged a competition for posterboy of Indian e-commerce Flipkart.
Flipkart eyes another $500 mn from eBay, which seeks to merge India ops with it and exit business
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.
The aim is to replace nearly 40 per cent of its existing last mile fleet of delivery vans with EVs by March 2020. o start with, the company is looking at deploying nearly 160 e-vans by the end of 2019.
If Sachin Bansal sells his stake at a little over 5 per cent and steps down from Flipkart, as reports have suggested recently, either Binny Bansal or Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart, could be an option for the leadership position.
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According to sector officials and watchers, the funding (among the largest so far in the segment) from its existing investors -- Naspers, Accel Partners, Tiger Global and Iconiq Capital -- might be a sign of confidence they have in the company but it's still unsure if it will be enough for Flipkart to turn a corner and become profitable.
It took Flipkart a little over 24 hours to complete due diligence and come up with a final offer that was $20 million higher than what Snapdeal was ready to forfeit.
Three years and Rs 28,710 crore worth of transactions later, it has more than double the number of sellers than Flipkart.
Leading up to Valentine's Day on February 14, quick-commerce platforms like Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart have witnessed a phenomenal uptick in the sales of products related to the occasion, such as roses and chocolates. Meanwhile, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart have gone live with their respective Valentine's Day sale events, offering generous discounts on products. Sales of chocolates and roses on Zomato-owned Blinkit shattered previous records at the beginning of this year's Valentine's Day week, on February 7, which is celebrated as Rose Day.
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