E-comm Market

Amazon expands cross-border logistics programme; launches export navigator

E-commerce major Amazon on Tuesday said it has expanded its cross-border logistics programme Global Selling Seller Exports and Delivery (SEND), which will help Indian exporters ship goods abroad. The company also announced the launch of Export Navigator -- a one-stop dashboard to assist sellers with all compliance requirements related to overseas shipment. "Amazon has expanded its flagship cross-border logistics programme, Amazon Global Selling SEND, with the addition of three new carriers on air and ocean lanes from India to the US, the UK, and Germany. "Additionally, to enable a cheap and bulk storage facility for Indian exporters, SEND is now integrated with Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD), a low-cost bulk storage solution that helps sellers with more efficient inventory deployment and distribution," a company statement said. Through SEND, Amazon said, Indian exporters will be able to access cross-border logistics from various third-party providers for shipping goods t

Passion over profit drives Zepto's $5 bn success, says founder Palicha

A passion for building a transformative company, rather than a mere pursuit of wealth, is what drove the success for Zepto-- the company with a market valuation of USD 5 billion, co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha said on Monday. Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, the 22-year-old entrepreneur said that despite working 80-100 hours a week, the Zepto team is fuelled by excitement about the platform they are building, not financial gain. "We love what we're building, we work like crazy, we just are genuinely so excited about what we're building. It's not really about money or personal wealth, because candidly, working 80-100 hours a week, we could have probably worked half of that with a lot less stress... "At a certain point, money becomes inconsequential," Palicha, who is a Stanford University dropout, said. He pointed out that while many global internet companies have scaled to valuations in tens of billions, India is yet to see similar outcomes. Highlighting the stark contrast betw

Millennials fuel surge in credit card defaults as e-commerce drives debt

The growth of digital payments, internet services, and e-commerce has boosted the credit card industry, but EMIs for large purchases often lead young users to default

Festive feast: E-com, logistics players load up carts for peak demand

The company had, earlier this year, launched its own logistics service, Valmo, but also relies on 3PL providers such as Delhivery, Ecom Express, Shadowfax, and Xpressbees to fulfil deliveries

India's e-lifestyle market to triple by 2028, reach $45 billion in value

The penetration of e-commerce within the lifestyle sector is expected to rise from the current 13 per cent to 18-22 per cent by 2028, according to a report

Swiggy Instamart appoints Sairam Krishnamurthy as chief operating officer

Krishnamurthy's appointment follows a series of senior hires at the quick commerce platform

Top line can grow to Rs 2.5 trn in 5-10 yrs if executed well: Zepto CEO

Quick commerce unicorn Zepto revenue can grow multifold to Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 5-10 years if the company is able to execute the business well, a top company official said on Saturday. Speaking at 7th JIIF Foundation day, Zepto Co-Founder and CEO Aadit Palicha said grocery and household essentials are the mother of all categories that are sold on leading e-commerce platforms Flipkart and Amazon in India. He said the grocery and household essentials market was around USD 650 billion in India in FY23 and is growing at 9 per cent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) and is expected to get to about USD 850 billion by FY29. "If we execute well, we can realistically take this business from Rs 10,000-plus crores in top line today to potentially to... Rs 2.5 lakh crore of top line over the next 10 years or next five years," Palicha said. "Your grocery is bigger than all the other categories that Amazon and Flipkart serve combined. If you look at electronics, apparel, furniture, you combine .

'Social commerce set for growth, concern of authenticity looms large'

Social commerce is poised for dynamic growth, with some estimating a 10-fold rise by 2030, but building digital trust and inspiring consumer confidence around product authenticity is what will set the cash registers ringing for brands and founders as online shoppers eagerly browse, purchase and checkout directly from social media apps, say experts. The coming together of e-commerce and social media to create a new business channel, social commerce is increasingly gaining traction in the retail space. Consumers discover and purchase goods and services directly through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube among others. "Social commerce is expected to grow 10x by 2030 to a USD 55 Billion market in India. It is particularly strong in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with a focus on affordable products, particularly in the fashion and home improvement space," said Anand Ramanathan, Partner, Consumer Industry Leader, Consulting, Deloitte India. Director of Influencer Conte

Big Basket aims to turn profitable in 8 months, eyes for IPO in 2025

The Tata group-owned online grocer Big Basket is eyeing to come out with an initial public offering in 2025 after turning profitable, a top official said on Tuesday. The Bengaluru-based company, a part of Tata Digital, will turn profitable in another 6-8 months, once the newly launched 'BB Now' vertical starts making money, its co-founder and chief executive Hari Menon told reporters here. When asked about plans for an IPO, he said, "We will probably have it in 2025. But we are leaving it to the Tatas, there cannot be anybody better to guide us and advise us on that." He hinted that the issue will include both primary and secondary share sales, but did not share any more details. The business requires capital for ongoing investments which be raised from the Tata Group in the run-up to the IPO, he said, adding that a bulk of the investments are in technology, marketing and people. The company, which competes with similar offerings from Amazon and Flipkart, is targeting to close FY2

Flipkart to reduce its workforce by 5-7% based on performance by April

The Indian e-commerce giant is also about to close $1 billion in financing from Walmart

Meesho posts 1st profitable quarter in FY24; loss dips to Rs 141 cr in H1

Softbank-backed Meesho on Friday said it became the first e-commerce unicorn to post consolidated profit after tax in the second quarter ended September 2023. The company did not disclose the amount of profit it earned in the July-September period. During the first-half period of the current financial year, the company reported narrowing of losses to Rs 141 crore and an increase in revenue by 37 per cent on a year-over-year basis to Rs 3,521 crore. "Meesho recorded its first-ever full quarter profitability in the second quarter of financial year 2024 and continues to remain so. The positive momentum in the business continued post this period's end and into the festive season as well where we witnessed continued growth across categories. This is an impressive feat as Meesho became the first horizontal e-commerce company to turn profitable in India," a Meesho spokesperson said. The company said it had posted its first-ever profit in July. "Consolidated revenue from operations were Rs

Plan shared by departments to improve logistics efficiency, global ranking

The commerce and industry ministry on Thursday said a targeted action plan has been shared with various departments and big data is being generated to improve the logistics efficiency of the country. These efforts will improve India's ranking in the World Bank's LPI (logistics performance index), the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) said in a statement. A meeting to showcase ongoing and upcoming initiatives and reforms to improve India's logistics efficiency to the World Bank team was held under the chairpersonship of the Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT, Sumita Dawra here on Wednesday. Nodal officers of the LPI-dedicated team, including those from Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), Civil Aviation, Railways, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC) and members from World Bank participated in the meeting. "The targeted action plan ha

Credit card disputes keep rising at Visa Inc as e-commerce booms: Report

Disputes on Visa's network rose to more than 90 million in 2022, data provided by the payment company showed

Ferns N Petals joins ONDC platform for better customer experience

/ -- In a significant move to elevate the gifting experience for millions of customers, India's largest gifting brand FNP has officially joined the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). This strategic collaboration aims to revolutionize the way individuals and businesses engage in gift-giving by utilizing ONDC's innovative technology to provide seamless and secure, gifting solutions. FNP's D2C catalogue is now accessible to buyers through the ONDC Network. With this integration, the catalog can be seen on all apps that a consumer is shopping from while seamlessly facilitating transactions. The move will also enable the visibility of FNP's 400+retail stores across all buyer applications, thereby democratizing the range of gifting options available. FNP already delivers to over 99% pin codes in India and this will only permit the new-age gifting brand which currently has 1 Cr existing customers to further expand its base and geographic reach. On-boarded to ONDC Network by Seller ...

Regulatory authority in e-comm needed for protecting small players: CAIT

The e-commerce industry needs regulation to provide a level-playing field for small businesses, traders' body CAIT said on Tuesday. Confederation of All India Traders Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that the "same set of 5-6 companies" are top sellers on prominent e-commerce platforms which leaves no scope for small businesses to grow. "There has to be a regulatory authority...like SEBI for share market, and for telecom industry...to regulate and monitor e-commerce and we are going to request the government (for the same)," he said. Speaking at a Meesho event for MSMEs, he also said that the government is likely to roll out a robust e-commerce policy against unethical business practices and foreign direct investment (FDI) violations by the end of the month. The proposed national e-commerce policy of 2019 by the commerce and industry ministry is said to be in the final stages, with the e-commerce policy aiming to prepare strategies for inclusive and harmonious growth of th

Amazon Prime Day invite-only deal targets buyer frustration: Report

Shoppers request an invite for discounted items they see on the site - 32% off an Acer Swift X laptop, for example, - and get an email if the deal is still available

ONDC has completely automated grievance redressal system: CEO T Koshy

The government-promoted Open Network for Digital Commerce has a completely automated grievance redressal system and an online resolution mechanism is also being enabled, ONDC CEO T Koshy said on Tuesday. ONDC is an initiative of the commerce and industry ministry to create a facilitative model to help small retailers take advantage of digital commerce. It is not an application, platform, intermediary or software but a set of specifications designed to foster open, unbundled, and interoperable open networks. "Just like ONDC enables searching for a product and buying for a product... it also enables (filing of) complaints. The complaints seamlessly go through from the buying side to the selling side... In addition to the completely automated grievance redressal... we are also enabling an online dispute redressal system," Koshy said here at industry body CII's MSME Growth Summit. Incorporated on December 31, 2021, ONDC is a Section 8 company. He also said that ONDC has made significa

Any marketplace joining ONDC should come with serious commitment: Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that online retailers who want to join the government-promoted Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) should come with a serious commitment, and not for namesake. ONDC, a non-profit company, formulates a set of standards for voluntary adoption by sellers or logistics providers or payment gateway operators. ONDC will require an undertaking from each participant at the time of onboarding that it will comply with the policy in its entirety. It aims to promote an open platform for all aspects of e-commerce retail. It would help small retailers expand their business through e-commerce medium. The minister said that a significant number of sellers on the network is itself a testimony to ONDC's impact as digital commerce is being reimagined. Any marketplace joining ONDC should come with serious commitment, and not for namesake," Goyal said. He also pointed out that when a platform comes on ONDC, it should be in the spirit of gi

Ashok Leyland takes digital route with 'Re-AL' to tap used vehicle biz

Hinduja Group flagship company Ashok Leyland has rolled out an e-marketplace 'Re-AL' for used commercial vehicles segment, the automajor said on Saturday. The e-marketplace facility would help customers to exchange their existing vehicles and upgrade to a truck or a bus offered by Ashok Leyland. "The used commercial vehicle industry is ripe for disruption. Leveraging our digital platform, there are many opportunities for us to provide customer centric solutions," Ashok Leyland MD and CEO Shenu Agarwal said. The city-based heavy commercial vehicle maker, in a statement, said it hopes to increase transparency in the otherwise disorganised used vehicle ecosystem. The digital service would offer customers with a range of features allowing them to select preferred vehicles of their choice along with validated documents. "This used vehicle e-marketplace solution marks a significant milestone in our digital transformation journey," the CEO said. Ashok Leyland President, Medium and Heavy

Amazon, others revamp 'free' shipping as costs soar, says report

Product inflation and soaring shipping costs are making the service unsustainable as the prospect of recession threatens to wallop already-flagging online spending