If there is one thing that has caught the Indian nerves and has kept them glued up for the past few years is entrepreneurship and start ups . Lately we have have seen start -up culture rise at an unprecedented rate & major share of the entrepreneurial & start-up ventures has been in the form of E-commerce . From selling of doormats, to groceries, from pins to cars, from policies to insurances there are names and numbers dedicated in each form which are uncountable . We at FreeKaaMaal.com is dedicated to keep you updated with all the latest happening and developments from The Great Indian E-commerce Game and bring to you the required dose of information every week . Here are the top stories from Indian E-commerce from the week by- gone .
1. Amazon eyeing to tap the kids fashion segment for their expansion
Riding high on the previous years fashion category sales , in-spite of Flipkart taking the lead in world of Indian online fashion , Indian E-commerce giant Amazon is planning to take a lead on major business rivals in Kids and toddlers categories . The hunt for brand partnerships has already began for exclusive launch from particular brand partners so as to increase traffic from existing shoppers and bring in new shoppers.
2. Uber to launch services for 12 hours car rental
Following the lines of Ola, Uber is all set to launch cab services where one book cabs for up-to 12 hours . The maximum distance covered would be 30Km and pricing would vary from Rs.449- Rs.649 depending upon the city . Normal fares would be applicable beyond 12 hours and above 30 Kms.
3. FSSAI made license mandatory for E-commerce food business operators
Food Safety and Standards authority of India has made obtaining of license compulsory for E-commerce companies dealing in food delivery business . Year 2016 was majorly dominated by start ups into food ordering and delivery. Sites like Yumist , FoodPanda, Zomato, Swiggy, Fresh Menu, even grocery websites like Bis Basket and Grofers needs to follow guidelines issued by FSSAI in order to maintain safety and stardards and delivery will by done only by the trained professionals . The new guidelines has been set in the wake of increasing consumer complaints regarding poor quality and standards .
4. Master Card all set to tap Indian E-commerce market with increased investments :
The credit card giant Master Card is all set to capture ever growing Indian E-commerce industry and will increase it’s investments . It has already grown the investments in India by 30% in the last two years . This will help Indian consumers with more increased digital payment options .
5. Snapdeal shuts down incentive programme for it’s affiliate partners
Snapdeal suspended it’s incentive & commission program for the affiliates through them it used to acquire more customers and traffic. The decision has been taken in the wake of amid cash crunch. Coupon sites, cashback sites, blogs etc all comprises Snapdeal’s affiliate networks. it pays commission to it’s affiliates who have directed traffic and ended up making transactions from Snapdeal .
6. Flipkart to cut down it’s monthly expenses by half
Rising cash crunch and dry funding streets have proved very heavy for the e-commerce players in India. Either they shut down or go for major cash cuts . Flipkart recently announced to cut down it’s monthly expenses by halve and keep it to 2o Million dollars . It has recently gone through a major management shifts and is now eyeing to raise another round of capital funding of Rs. 3500- 4000 crores .
7. Online goes Offline
The major Indian online stores have started shifting their focus to Indian streets than simply relying online . It seems like the sellers have finally felt the nerves of the Indian shoppers . Though online shopping offers a great experience but nothing can beat the ‘touch,feel and then buy’ mentality of Indian shoppers. Lately a lot number of sellers have started the experiment of going offline and surprisingly that results have worked in favours . Lenskart, Chumbak , Pepperfry , Urban Ladder, Zivame , First Cry, Carat lane are some of the successful names in the race to capture Indian offline streets .
8. Ola Share and Uber Pool likely to shut down
15 days extension has been granted to mobile-based cab aggregators , Ola and Uber to comply with rules regarding ride – sharing services by Karnataka government . The aggregators are expected to withdraw their UberPool and OlaShare options within 15 days . During these 15 days cab aggregators can continue their services and are also free to appeal against the govt orders .
We pretty much covered the the news that have kept e-commerce enthusiasts hooked up in the first week of February . Do follow blog.freekaamaal for the latest updates .
