E Commerce

Five more firms look for govt approval to set up e-commerce export hubs

As many as five more firms have submitted their applications to the government to set up e-commerce export hubs in the country and a decision on this is expected soon, a senior official said. Logistics aggregator Shiprocket and air cargo handling company Cargo Service Centre (CSC) have already been selected by the government on a pilot basis to set up these hubs in the country. "We have received five more applications, including from DHL and Lexship. Out of the five, we have shortlisted three. We are going to decide on these applications soon," the official said. Two of the hubs will come in and around Delhi airport and begin operations in February next year. It will have facilities for expedited customs and security clearance in-house. Provision for quality and certifying agencies will also happen within the hub. It will also have an easy re-import policy, he added. This policy will enable the return of e-commerce consignments and rejects without payment of import duty. The offi

Zepto Cafe to be launched as separate app next week: CEO Aadit Palicha

Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha on Wednesday said the quick commerce platform's cafe offering, Zepto Cafe, will be launched as a separate app next week. In a post on social networking platform LinkedIn, the young entrepreneur highlighted the rapid scaling of the cafe service which has motivated the separate offering. "We're launching a separate app for Zepto Cafe next week! The team is shipping an MVP (minimum viable product) and iterating quickly, so it may not be perfect on Day 1, but it's worth it to launch fast :D "Zepto Cafe is scaling rapidly; we're launching 100+ cafes a month and already clocking 30K+ orders/day," Palicha wrote on LinkedIn. Zepto Cafe was launched in April 2022 as a division of Zepto, which itself was founded in July 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra. Last month, Zepto announced the expansion of its cafe service to major cities through more than 120 cafes at stores across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, and soon in Hyderabad, Chennai, and Pune. "The ..

Level playing field in the AI age: Promise amid fierce competition

In business, nothing is complete without AI (artificial intelligence) or GenAI

Moglix signs initial pact with DPIIT for manufacturing incubation programme

B2B e-commerce platform Moglix on Wednesday said it has signed an initial pact with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for manufacturing incubation programme. The initiative aims to equip growth phase startups with tools, resources, and opportunities to accelerate their progress and drive innovation in the manufacturing sector, Moglix said. The programme will support over 25 growth phase startups in industries such as chemicals, automotive infrastructure and green energy, Moglix said. These startups will participate in the 12-month manufacturing incubation programme offering access to Moglix's extensive mentor network, supply chain infrastructure, and financial support via its NBFC arm Credlix, it said. "This collaboration is a transformative step for India's manufacturing sector. By combining Moglix's technological expertise with DPIIT's strategic guidance, we aim to build a sustainable, innovation-driven manufacturing economy that empowers ...

Procter & Gamble ramps up presence on TikTok's Douyin to boost sales

Influencers on Douyin like Ni Bi Yi, a young mom, and Chou Dan, known for her jokes, tout Pantene's jasmine fragrance and ability to repair their hair, according to posts on the China-based sister app

Bengaluru woman slams Zepto for push notification calling her 'Cutie'

Zepto does it again: Concerning professionalism and women's safety in marketing communications, a Bengaluru lady lashed at Zepto for calling her "cutie" in a promotional message

E-commerce major Meesho appoints Mohit Rajani as chief product officer

Meesho has distinguished itself from its peers by becoming a prominent choice among the younger generation, with one in every three users under the age of 25.

Amazon gears up for quick commerce entry in India, eyes 2025 rollout

Amazon is set to enter the quick commerce arena in India with a planned rollout in the first quarter of 2025, aiming to capitalise on the booming sector that Flipkart recently tapped into

BigBasket embraces quick commerce, set to rival Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy

BigBasket's strategy involves the deployment of 500-600 dark stores nationwide, which will work alongside its large warehouses

E-vendors created 15.8 mn jobs in India including 3.5 mn for women: Report

Online vendors have generated 15.8 million jobs in India, including 3.5 million for women, with about 1.76 million retail enterprises participating in e-commerce activity, says a report released on Wednesday. The report 'Assessing the Net Impact of e-Commerce on Employment and Consumer Welfare in India' was launched by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. "Plugging in data from our survey, we estimate that online vendors generate 15.8 million jobs, including 3.5 million jobs for women," the report prepared by Pahle India Foundation (PIF), a Delhi-based policy research institute, said. E-commerce, according to the report, has been a key driver of employment generation In India. On an average, online vendors employ 54 per cent more people and almost twice the number of female employees, compared to offline vendors. The report noted that two of the most widely-recognised contributions of e-commerce penetration in the retail sector are --growth in employment and improvements

Regulatory framework to push exports via e-comm likely by Sep: Comm secy

A regulatory framework to push the country's exports through e-commerce medium is expected to be ready by September, a top government official said on Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that at present India's exports through this medium are only about USD 5 billion as compared to China's USD 300 billion, annually. He said there is a huge potential to boost these exports. In this regard, a meeting was held in the ministry on Tuesday with concerned departments such as revenue and industry representatives from areas like logistics and marketplace platforms. "We are working on setting up e-commerce export hubs in the country. We discussed on its framework. It is in our 100-day agenda," Barthwal told reporters here. When asked about the timeline for the framework to be ready, he said by September. There is a potential to take it to USD 50-100 billion in the coming years. Through these hubs, small producers will be facilitated to sell to aggregators and then that aggregat

Amazon India announces annual Prime Day sales event on July 20-21

New products by more than 450 brands will be launched, says e-commerce company

Evaluation of infra needs for $1 tn exports by Aug-Sep: Official

A study to assess required infrastructure and identify main industry clusters for achieving the USD 1 trillion merchandise exports target by 2030 may be submitted by August-September to the commerce ministry, an official said. The official said that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is doing that study for the ministry. In 2023-24, India's merchandise exports dipped by over 3 per cent to USD 437 billion. Imports during the last fiscal dipped by 5.7 per cent to USD 675.4 billion. By 2030, the ministry is aiming to more than double the country's outbound shipments of goods. Explaining the rationale behind the exercise, the official said that to take the exports to USD 1 trillion, there will be an import of about USD 1.5 trillion, so to handle USD 2.5 trillion worth of trade "we need" additional infrastructure and logistics capacity at roads, ports, airports and railways. "If exports will increase, imports will also increase. There is a correlation between higher exports and imports.

Emerging from seclusion, Jack Ma voices support for overhaul at Alibaba

Ma, who's still revered by many of the company's 200,000-plus employees, struck a markedly more upbeat tone than just four months ago

Amazon's 'just walk out' checkout tech was powered by 1,000 Indian workers

As many as 1,000 workers in India were required to review what the customers picked up, and ultimately walked out with from Amazon's Just Walk Out-enabled stores

Meesho initiates largest ESOP buyback programme totalling Rs 200 cr

Eligible current and ex-employees across the spectrum, from junior-level executives to senior leadership can voluntarily participate in this program, the company said in a statement

Meesho reduces logistics cost by 5% through software infra platform Valmo

E-commerce firm Meesho on Wednesday said it has reduced its logistics cost by 5 per cent by using its software logistics infrastructure platform Valmo. Valmo currently handles 20-22 per cent of orders of Meesho, which it plans to double in the next 12-18 months. The homegrown company announced that it has created a technology-enabled SaaS (Software as a service) platform Valmo to get micro-entrepreneurs in the logistics segment onboard to create a larger ecosystem and supply chain. The platform will incorporate local logistics suppliers to provide shipment services to the company, making the logistics seamless, and helping sellers on Meesho to save on operating costs. "Valmo aims to create a national logistics solution by eliminating entry barriers for local players and helping them grow their businesses," Meesho said in a statement. Meesho CXO, Fulfilment & Experience, Sourabh Pandey said the company has been able to reduce overhead costs by 5 per cent by incorporating Valmo for

Flipkart leads e-comm mkt with 48% share, Meesho fastest growing platform

Walmart group firm Flipkart continues to dominate the e-commerce segment with 48 per cent market share while Softbank-backed Meesho has emerged as the fastest growing e-commerce platform in terms of user base in India, a latest report by AllianceBernstein said. According to the report, Flipkart's user base grew 21 per cent year-on-year (YoY), Meesho accelerated at 32 per cent while Amazon lagged at 13 per cent user growth primarily due to relative premium offerings as compared to peers. " As of FY23, Flipkart was the market leader, with a 48 per cent share in India eCommerce. Flipkart continues to grow faster than the industry... Mobile and apparel to be the largest categories for Flipkart with around 50 per cent and 30 per cent mix. Flipkart is estimated to hold 48 per cent and 60 per cent market share in online smartphone and online fashion market respectively," the report said. The report attributed growth in Meesho's market share primarily to its strategic focus Tier 2 and small

Nearly 75,000 sellers on Meesho record double digit growth in sales

Around 75,000 sellers achieved double-digit growth while over 20,000 sellers witnessed a 10-times jump in their business on Softbank-backed e-commerce firm Meesho, the company said on Sunday. Meesho is the first unicorn e-commerce firm to have reported profit this year and it claims to have maintained the profitability since it first reported the performance in July. The company claimed that nearly 10,000 Meesho sellers crossed the Rs 1 crore sales mark and 130,000 registered sales of over Rs 1 lakh during 2023. Around "60 per cent of these sellers come from small towns like Avinashi, Bharuch, Fiazabad and Silchar", Meesho said. Meesho said that it added around 7 lakh new sellers this year taking the total number to 15 lakh this year. The company recorded transactions for 14 crore customers and claimed that nearly 80 per cent of the orders came from tier 2 and smaller markets. Meesho said that it recorded a unique pattern of customers placing maximum orders on Sunday. "Indian sho

RBI directs Bajaj Finance to stop lending under eCOM, Insta EMI Card

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday directed Bajaj Finance to stop sanction and disbursal of loans under its two lending products eCOM and Insta EMI Card, with immediate effect. "This action is necessitated due to non-adherence of the company to the extant provisions of Digital lending guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India, particularly non-issuance of Key Fact Statements to the borrowers under these two lending products and the deficiencies in the Key Fact Statements issued in respect of other digital loans sanctioned by the company," the central bank said in a statement. These supervisory restrictions will be reviewed after the rectification of the said deficiencies to the satisfaction of the RBI, it added.