Flipkart eyes doubling revenue from exclusive brands during BBD sale

As it gears up for the Big Billion Days (BBD) sale next month, Flipkart Fashion is lining up over 25 exclusive brands and collections.

The firm expects exclusive brands to account for around 20 per cent of its total fashion sales during the BBD against 11 per cent now, said Rishi Vasudev, head of Flipkart Fashion.

Flipkart Fashion holds 35 per cent of the total online fashion market in India and is growing at 60 per cent month-on-month. The firm expects the festive season over the next two months to drive the share to 50 per cent.

“The spike in festive sales will help increase our share in online fashion space to 40 per cent for the full year,” said Vasudev.

The e-tailer is launching a new label in women's wear next month. During Diwali season, online marketplaces are seen getting into neck and neck competition offering discounts, special offers, and fast deliveries to capture a bigger slice of the market.

Indian men outnumber women online shoppers by over three to one: Report

Indian millennials might have taken to e-commerce in a big way, with around 35 per cent of all online transactions being driven by this one age group, but it's still their older siblings or parents that are making the large purchases online.

According to the latest report from WATConsult, the ride-hailing sector sees the highest number of transactions per month compared to any other e-commerce category, but travel and electronics were by far the two biggest categories with respect to money being spent.

The gender gap in online average ticket size between men (Rs 1,865) and women (Rs 1,818) is very similar, but what is striking is that men outnumber women online shoppers by over three to one. Interestingly, while every other category has a smaller share of female spenders, in the range of 20 per cent, home decor category witnesses over 40 per cent female shoppers.

Soon, your kirana shopkeeper can help you shop online with Amazon Easy

Amazon Easy, an India-specific innovation where customers not so familiar or comfortable with doing online shopping on their own are assisted in doing so by a trained storekeeper in their neighbourhood, has been formally rolled out in five districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana by the American e-commerce company on Tuesday.

Amazon has been working on the store partner model to enable online shopping in small towns and cities since 2015 under the code name Project Udaan. Now, it is planning to bring all the existing 14,000 partner stores across 21 states under the brand Amazon Easy by the middle of next year.

"This is in a way getting ready for the next wave of online customers who are going to be very different from the present 100 million online customers in India," Kishore Thota, director (customer experience and marketing) at Amazon India, said, while announcing the launch of Amazon Easy at 200-plus stores in two Telugu speaking states.

Alibaba ready for possible trade war with US: Vice chairman Joseph Tsai

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Thursday said that the company is ready for a possible trade war with the United States, adding that it would not only survive the fight but will also thrive. This comes after the company reported its total earnings for the year.

"If US goods become too expensive due to tariffs, Chinese consumers can shift to domestic producers or imports from other parts of the world," CNN Money quoted Alibaba (BABA) Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai, as saying to analysts during an earnings conference call.

However, Tsai clarified that Alibaba does not want a trade war, as this would further deteriorate trade talks. He also said that the e-commerce giant would not face any difficulty in finding other markets for its products if the US becomes a tougher place for business.

"In terms of our international expansion, the world is a big place. We have made substantial progress in emerging markets like Southeast Asia and South Asia as these markets are ripe for us to add more consumers into our ecosystem," he said.

Paytm receives final tranche from $445 mn funding from SoftBank, Alibaba

Paytm Mall has received the final tranche of its $445 million (about Rs 3,000 crore) funding from SoftBank and Alibaba, a move that will give the online shopping venture of Paytm more financial muscle to take on giants like Flipkart and Amazon. In April, Paytm Mall had closed $445 million funding round from SoftBank Investment Holdings and Alibaba.com Singapore E-commerce. According to the latest documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Paytm E-commerce -- which runs Paytm Mall -- has issued a total of 237,705 shares to SB Investment Holdings (UK) and Alibaba.com Singapore E-commerce as part of the fourth tranche. The issuance of 211,293 shares to SB Investment Holdings and 26,412 shares to the Alibaba entity was approved by the Board of Paytm E-commerce on June 6, 2018, the documents added.

Bitcoin trading ban: Another company moves Delhi HC against RBI circular

A company engaged in trading in crypto-currencies has challenged an RBI circular, prohibiting banks and financial institutions from providing services in relation to such virtual currencies, in the Delhi High Court.

The plea was yesterday listed for hearing before Justice Rajiv Shakdher, who asked the high court registry to place it before the bench which is already hearing a similar matter.

The petitioner company, Flintstone Technologies Private Limited, has sought the withdrawal of the April 6 circular of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), claiming that it is "arbitrary, unfair and unconstitutional".

The Maharashtra-based company has contended that the RBI circular has "fenced" all the entities regulated by the apex bank from providing services to any individual or business dealing in virtual currencies like crypto-currencies.

The company, which claims to provide an online crypto-currency digital wallet service for Bitcoin and Money trade coin -- both virtual currencies -- has contended that the RBI has not spelt out any reasons for imposing the restrictions.

Jabong's Big Brand Sale: Get more than 50% off on Mango, Forever 21, Adidas

Online fashion marketplace Jabong targets 80 per cent sales growth and seven-fold revenue growth over average daily sales with its Big Brand Sale, scheduled from January 25 to 28.

"In line with Jabong's affluent target audience with the highest share of Sec A1 consumers, this sale focuses more on premium global and Indian brands with exclusive lines and discounts. We expect 80 per cent growth and 20 million sessions during the sale.
The Big Brand Sale offers our customers an opportunity to acquire premium global brands at less than half the price. The Big Brand Sale is also expected to expand Jabong's customer base significantly," said Gunjan Soni, Head of Jabong.

The four-day fashion festival at Jabong.com will feature premium brands like Mango, Forever 21, Next, Adidas, Lee Cooper, Blackberry's and Carlton London, among others.

"This time around, we expect to double sales over the previous edition of the sale. We are expecting over five million users to participate in the sale to avail of exciting offers on international and Indian brands," said Soni.
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Discord at WTO meet: No deal on food security, fisheries subsidies, e-com

The World Trade Organisation failed to reach any new agreements on Wednesday, ending a three-day ministerial conference in discord in the face of stinging US criticism of the group and vetoes from other countries.

The stalemate dashed hopes for new deals on e-commerce and curbs to farm and fisheries subsidies and raised questions about the body’s ability to govern increasingly disputed global trade.

The frustrations led some ministers, including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, to suggest that negotiations among smaller groups of “like-minded” WTO countries were a better approach going forward.

“We have not achieved any multilateral outcomes,” European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told a news conference. “The sad reality is that we did not even agree to stop subsidising illegal fishing.”

She said the meeting laid bare one of the WTO’s biggest deficiencies - that all agreements must have the unanimous consent of all 164 member countries. She said the United States was partly to blame but that other countries also blocked progress.

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo added that WTO members needed to do some “real soul searching” about the way forward and realize they cannot get everything they want.

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Amazon's big profit miss spooks investors, but analysts stay bullish

A steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly profit rattled some Amazon.com investors, but Wall Street analysts remained largely bullish about the company's aggressive spending plans.

Shares of the e-commerce juggernaut, which have risen 40 per cent this year, were down 4.3 per cent at $1,001 in early trading on Friday, wiping out $21 billion from its market value.

The stock touched a record high on Thursday, helping CEO Jeff Bezos briefly unseat Microsoft Inc co-founder Bill Gates as the world's richest person.

"The overall story coming out of Amazon's second quarter print feels a lot like it did three months ago - accelerating growth, stepped-up investments, lower near-term profitability," JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said.

"But will anyone care about profit when Amazon is taking bigger chunks of market share?"

The world's largest online retailer reported a better-than-expected rise in revenue, but operating profit came in well short of analysts' estimate as the company continued to pump in money to expand in international markets such as India.
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WATCH: Flipkart electronics sale begins tomorrow; here are the best deals

he logo of India's largest online marketplace Flipkart is seen on a building in Bengaluru. Photo: Reuters
Flipkart is back again in the news for its much-awaited sale offering discounts on electronics and mobile phones.

The sale period begins from midnight at 12 am on March 22 and ends on 11:59 pm on March 24.

Catch the best deals CLICK HERE.

Amazon Fashion claims top spot, ahead of Flipkart, Jabong & Myntra combined

Staking claims on the top spot in the fashion marketplace ecosystem with triple digit growth month-on-month, Amazon Fashion on Wednesday said that it is far ahead of its main competitors in India Flipkart and its two subsidiaries Myntra and Jabong.

Capitalising on its more than a million strong 'Amazon Prime' membership base, its fashion vertical has increased the assortments of products eligible for 'Prime' deliveries and service. According to the company, the move has helped in making more Prime members shop for fashion on the portal and is even helping it in increase its membership base as more people are looking for exclusive services.

"We are the biggest brand with the largest selection of products in the country. We continue to grow the traffic on the site and are the largest visited e-commerce destination. One out of three people who come to the site check out a fashion product. If you look at 'Prime' already a fourth of fashion deliveries are on it," Arun Sirdeshmukh, Head, Amazon Fashion India.

Amazon Fashion has an assortment of overall 15,000 brands and around 1,000 exclusive international brands the latest entrants being Marks and Spencer's and sports activities brand Under Armour. (READ MORE)