Here's a reason of concern for the so-called "booming" Indian ecommerce scene. According to Jefferies Group, an American investment bank and securities firm, the Indian ecommerce sector witnessed a massive 50 percent cut in fund raising in the April-June quarter from the numbers that were in the same quarter last fiscal.

In a report, the firm revealed that private funding in the Indian ecommerce sector has declined by 50 percent on yearly and quarterly basis, thus confirming the downward trend fear that has been hovering over the industry for several months.

Keeping aside Oyo's $100-million deal in the month of April, there were almost no other large transactions, which strongly pointed towards a sharp slowdown in private funding in the sector. The hotel room's aggregator raised its equity fund from Sequoia Capital, Venture Partners, GreenOaks Capital, Lightspeed and SoftBank.

According to the company, the data available to them shows the fund raising figures taking a steep hit to $500 million in the quarter under review from $1 billion in the said period over the last two fiscal years.

Considering that the difficulties faced by larger companies in raising an amount of $100 million are greater, Arya Sen, an equity analyst from Jefferies Group believes that the revenue growth for Just Dial would be an important key for raising funds for entrepreneurs and startups.

According to Sen, what could be seen as a reply to the funding slowdown trend, the last 6-7 months has seen big larger e-tailers making a decision of shifting their focus to the goal of profitability from growth and general merchandise volume (GMV).

The report points out that the majority of the ecommerce companies are currently trying their very best to make the ends meet for a period of another 12-24 months. In order to do so, they are changing their strategies, cutting down on discounts and changing in their mix towards categories that are more profitable. According to the report, changing strategy and loss of market share to the global e-tailer Amazon have crippled growth for many players.

The funding coming into the travel category is suggestively of the fact that the high burn will most probes continue for the travel ticketing website MakeMytrip, despite the category facing a sad slowdown.

According to Jefferies Group's predictions, Just Dial will witness a revenue growth of 15 percent, with JD Omni's contribution, despite the company's management predicting a 20 percent revenue growth the FY 2017.

Here's hoping the Indian ecommerce sector all the very best for a speedy recovery.

[Top Image - Shuttetstock]
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