India's Exclusive Ecommerce Aggregator Marketplace

UEPAKI, a product of Meetish Infotech Pvt Ltd is a one of a kind exclusive e-commerce marketplace that serves as the aggregator of professional sellers and customers. The seller oriented platform has been exclusively designed by keeping in mind the need for talented designers and other professionals across the country.

Solely introduced to offer a platform for the freelancers and talented young minds to showcase their products and services while attaining a global reach, UEPAKI welcomes talented professionals and creators on board to offer their products and services and reach potential customers and businesses worldwide.

A brainchild of founder Mr. Sahil Mittal, the platform facilitates an exclusive opportunity to exhibit and promote the sale of personal creations such as clothing, décor and lifestyle products, offered by fashion designers and interior décor artists respectively in addition to services rendered by photographers, makeup artists, graphic designers, and content writers.

Dedicating the priority to these dexterous professionals, UEPAKI aims to manage and oversee the communication between the professionals and customers. Later, joined by his co-founder, Miss Charu Jain, has single-handedly designed the website through her ardent knowledge on design and art.

This integrated platform follows a no paid promotion policy where the professionals can earn and attain popularity based upon their hard work. Promoting a zero sponsorship policy, UEPAKI seeks to ensure that every seller acquires the opportunity to reach out to the target audience.

The manifestation of a single platform offering worldwide recognition along with a golden dual-earning prerequisite, UEPAKI is here to shatter all clichés. The online aggregator proliferates opportunity to individuals on board to collaborate with one another and materialize business. Furthermore, clasping a realm to undergraduates for building their one of a kind live portfolio, UEPAKI serves as the go-to hub for the young bright minds.

India To Oppose New E-Commerce Rules To Be Negotiated at WTO

In a move that formally counters efforts by members such as the EU, Japan, and Canada to push new e-commerce rules at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) ministerial meet in Buenos Aires, India has circulated a draft ministerial decision stating that work should continue as per the current work programme based on “existing mandate and guidelines".

India fears that the new global e-commerce rules could provide unfair market access to foreign online retail firms, hurting the rapidly growing domestic startups.

“India decided to be pro-active by circulating its own draft on e-commerce ensuring no changes in the current structure of discussions. This was needed to counter several developed members, including the EU and China, that are trying to move beyond the existing work programme and setting the tone for commencing negotiations,” a government official told a business news daily.

Last month, a group of countries, which included the EU, Canada, Australia, Chile, South Korea and Paraguay, circulated a draft declaration seeking to establish a working party at the Buenos Aires meet and authorising it to conduct preparations for and carry out negotiations on trade-related aspects of electronic commerce on the basis of proposal by members.

E-commerce was made a part of the WTO in 1998, but in a limited way. Members had agreed to give a temporary moratorium on import duties on digital transmissions. This moratorium is extended every two years. It was also decided to hold discussions on various aspects of e-commerce, but there was no understanding on negotiating rules.

"There is no way we can allow negotiations on e-commerce rules to begin at the WTO. It could be disastrous for our country as it could lead to goods coming in without duties through online trade. We want status-quo on e-commerce and that is what we have sought,” said an Indian official.

The eleventh Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Buenos Aires from December 10 to 13 will be attended by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu.

RBI Warns Flipkart, Amazon, PayTM For Late Payment To Vendors

India's Central Bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today took time to warn online marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon, PayTM to strictly follow its 2009 guidelines on settlement of payments for electronic payment transactions involving intermediaries.

RBI’s clarification came after a vendors’ body complained to the bank alleging late payments by the Indian ecommerce companies.

In addition to the warning, RBI has also asked the All India Online Vendors Association, which had submitted its complaint about delayed payments by ecommerce platforms such as Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm in August this year, to raise specific cases of violations with it for evaluation.

According to the 2009 guidelines, the settlements must be made in two-three days from the day of intimation of the completion of transaction as agreed upon by both parties, which is referred to as T+2, T+3 in the industry. However, according to the complained filed by All India Online Vendors Association, the settlements took more than T+15 days and that the money was not being kept in escrow accounts.

In its complaint dated August 24, the association said, “We would like to point out that our association has received numerous cases where money has been held by marketplaces for an indefinite period due to various reasons.”

Responding to the association’s complaint, RBI said, “All payments to merchants which do not involve transfer of funds to nodal banks shall be effected within a maximum of T+2 settlement cycle”, while payments to merchants “involving nodal banks shall be effected within a maximum of T+3 settlement cycle”.

In August, RBI identified platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon as intermediaries which come under the purview of the guidelines in response to a query under the Right to Information Act.

Talking to Economic Times, Flipkart and Amazon stuck with their narratives and said they had always adhered to the 2009 guidelines decided by the RBI.

While Amazon highlighted that it has always followed the RBI guidelines of T+3 settlement cycles for all sellers, Flipkart, on the other hand, revealed that its payments are done based on dispatch and payouts are done in seven to 15 days after dispatch depending on which tier the seller is categorised under.

[Image: The Financial Express]

Flipkart’s Logistics Arm Ekart Gets Rs 641 cr Funding From Group Firm Klick2Shop

According to information unearthed from recent regulatory filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Indian e-commerce leader Flipkart’s logistics arm Ekart has become the recipient of a fresh funding infusion of Rs 641 crore from its very own Singapore-based group firm Klick2Shop Logistics Services International. The fund infusion has taken place through an entity called Instakart Services Private Limited.

The fund infusion in Ekart doesn’t come as a surprise as the recent times have seen various top e-commerce players in the country trying their best to strengthen their logistics network so as to ensure fast and smooth delivery of the heavy load of shipments coming their way during the forthcoming festive season. Prior to the Rs 641 crore capital infusion from Klick2Shop into Ekart through its subsidiary Instakart Services, the Bengaluru-based e-commerce giant had infused a stellar Rs 666 crore into its Instakart some 18 months ago.

For the uninitiated, Flipkart had bought back its logistics arm Ekart two years ago in 2015 from WS Retail Services, the largest retailer on its platform.

According to people who expertise in India’s logistics industry, currently, about a major 70 per cent of Flipkart’s logistical needs are being delivered by Ekart. In fact, they predict that the number might soon be touching 80 per cent.

People known in the logistical space expect Flipkart to utilise the funds received for setting up and decentralising the warehouses following how goods and services tax (GST) affected the e-commerce industry since it came into play in the country since July 1 this year. The money could also be put to use for hiring more manpower and then setting up last-mile delivery centres.

In addition to all this, experts operating in the sector also believe that Flipkart might consider providing its Ekart services to other companies as well. According to ongoing rumours in the market, Flipkart, which is already the numero uno players in the Indian ecommerce market may also expand its network further to include grocery services by year end.

Recent times have witnessed all top e-commerce firms trying their hand at taking their logistics network to a whole another level in a bid to better customer experience on their e-commerce platforms. They have realised that the secret to win over Indian consumers is to not only provide them better quality products but make these products available to them fasters than others.

Alibaba-backed Paytm Mall had recently infused approximately $35 million in its logistics network to boost same and next-day deliveries, which according to the company makes up for a whopping 60 per cent of its deliveries.

On the other hand, Amazon India has been enthusiastically promoting its Amazon Prime service, which promises to provide quicker, next day deliveries to its members compared to the non-members. Interestingly, the global ecommerce giant has established the largest number of fulfillment centres in India outside of the United States.

This development was first reported in the Economic Times.

Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal Violate FDI rules, Alleges Traders Body

The Indian ecommerce industry is in some serious soup. India’s traders body, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has decided to call out the ecommerce industry for the rules that its players are flouting in the disguise of sales and has urged the government to look into the matter.

CAIT has reportedly written to Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu urging the minister to take serious action against ecommerce biggies like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal etc. for disregarding FDI (foreign direct investment) norms listed for such players by engaging in retail trading activities. In the official complaint, CAIT has claimed that the ecommerce companies are indulging in a "blatant violation" of the FDI (foreign direct investment) policy.

CAIT alleges that Amazon’s Great Indian Festival Sale from 21 September to 24 September, 2017, Flipkart’s Big Billion Day Sale from 20-24 September 2017, Snapdeal’s Unbox Diwali Sale from 20 to 25 September 2017, Jabong’s Sale from 20 to 24 September 2017, Myntra’s Sale from 20 to 24 September 2017, and Shopclues’ Maha Bharat Diwali Sale from 20 to 28 September 2017 are all in violation of the guidelines issued by the DIPP.

In its complaint, the traders body divulges that the advertisements being carried out by these ecommerce companies for the last couple of weeks is an attempt of soliciting retail customers to their ecommerce platforms by influencing prices and creating an uneven level playing field in the industry.

Under the country’s FDI policy, ecommerce companies aren’t legally allowed to carry out retail trading activities, but ecommerce portals like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc. have become such habitual offenders of the government policies that they’re circumventing the law by engaging in B2C (business-to- commerce) activities which is prohibited for ecommerce marketplace portals.

FDI policy guidelines dictate that ecommerce portals which have opened their channels for FDI can only indulge in business activities for B2B (business-to-business) business, meaning they have to stay away from undertaking any B2C (business- to-consumer) business activities. However, majority of the ecommerce players of the country have failed to adhere to this rule.

According to allegation levied by CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, by inserting big advertisements in the mass media, these companies are addressing the consumers directly, something which is in strong contravention of the FDI guidelines.

He said, “They (e-commerce firms named) do not have ownership of the inventory of the products purported to be sold on their technology platform, how can they offer discounts or discounted prices on the products for which they are not the owners-questioned trade leaders.”

The latest development in the case is, that CAIT has charged Indian ecommerce players like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal etc for violation of FDI policy for e-commerce of the Government issued on 29 March, 2016 by Department of Industrial Promotion & Policy, Ministry of Commerce.

Keep watching this space to know what action the government decided to take on the matter.

This development was first reported in India Today.

[Image: YourStory]

Amazon Opens First Standalone Fashion Imaging Studio 'Blink' in Gurgaon, India

In order to support its flourishing fashion business in the country, global ecommerce giant Amazon has decided to unveil its largest standalone Fashion Imaging Studio called BLINK in India's Gurgaon. The property is spread across a massive space of 44,000 sq.ft and comes equipped with digital imaging facility.

With the Indian Studio, Amazon has increased the counting of its fashion studios to three. The ecommerce company already has BLINK in two locations currently, New York and London.

According to a statement given to Economic Times by Arun Sirdeshmukh, head of Amazon Fashion India, the Indian Fashion Imaging Studio has the capacity to shoot over 2,50,000 products every year.

He further added, "All of our efforts we have made for this studio in terms of technology, scale and talent are designed to deliver high quality imagery that inspires and continue to strengthen our relationships across the entire industry, with brands, designers, and creative talent. This is part if our plan to innovate in how fashion is displayed on the site and be the best possible place for fashion brands to present themselves online."

The Indian studio would enable Amazon Fashion to join hands with fashion brands and partners from all around the world and produce lakhs of high quality images for its fashion merchandise every year.

Global ecommerce giant Amazon is trying hard to grab a larger share of the $30 billion Indian e-commerce market from its arch rival Flipkart, which currently enjoys the numero uno position in the market. It was yesterday only that we reported how the American firm has decided to double its office space in India over the period of next one year.

Amazon officially started its journey in India ten years ago by setting up its operations in the city of Hyderabad. The firm, which currently has 3.1 million square feet of office space across India, is planning on adding another 2.5 million square feet. It has already acquired office space across cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and NCR. The firm plans on serving both its local and global customers from these new offices.

Amazon Opens First Standalone Fashion Imaging Studio 'Blink' in Gurgaon, India

In order to support its flourishing fashion business in the country, global ecommerce giant Amazon has decided to unveil its largest standalone Fashion Imaging Studio called BLINK in India's Gurgaon. The property is spread across a massive space of 44,000 sq.ft and comes equipped with digital imaging facility.

With the Indian Studio, Amazon has increased the counting of its fashion studios to three. The ecommerce company already has BLINK in two locations currently, New York and London.

According to a statement given to Economic Times by Arun Sirdeshmukh, head of Amazon Fashion India, the Indian Fashion Imaging Studio has the capacity to shoot over 2,50,000 products every year.

He further added, "All of our efforts we have made for this studio in terms of technology, scale and talent are designed to deliver high quality imagery that inspires and continue to strengthen our relationships across the entire industry, with brands, designers, and creative talent. This is part if our plan to innovate in how fashion is displayed on the site and be the best possible place for fashion brands to present themselves online."

The Indian studio would enable Amazon Fashion to join hands with fashion brands and partners from all around the world and produce lakhs of high quality images for its fashion merchandise every year.

Global ecommerce giant Amazon is trying hard to grab a larger share of the $30 billion Indian e-commerce market from its arch rival Flipkart, which currently enjoys the numero uno position in the market. It was yesterday only that we reported how the American firm has decided to double its office space in India over the period of next one year.

Amazon officially started its journey in India ten years ago by setting up its operations in the city of Hyderabad. The firm, which currently has 3.1 million square feet of office space across India, is planning on adding another 2.5 million square feet. It has already acquired office space across cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and NCR. The firm plans on serving both its local and global customers from these new offices.

Amazon Raises Its Stake in India's Ecommerce Market, Doubles Its Office Space

Global ecommerce giant Amazon is trying hard to grab a larger share of the $30 billion Indian e-commerce market from its arch rival Flipkart, which currently enjoys the numero uno position in the market. In its latest effort towards realising the mission, the American firm has decided to double its office space in India over the period of next one year.

Amazon, which currently has 3.1 million square feet of office space across India, is planning on adding another 2.5 million square feet. It has already acquired office space across cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and NCR. The firm plans on serving both its local and global customers from these new offices.

According to a report in the Economic Times, out of all the cities that Amazon has selected for its expansion mission, Hyderabad is most likely to get the larger piece of the pie.

It was ten years ago that Amazon started its journey in India by setting up its operations in the city of Hyderabad. It has even set up its largest fulfillment centre in India in Hyderabad recently. The centre spans over four lakh square feet and has a storage capacity of 2.1 million cubic feet.

Flipkart, which already occupies an area of 1.5 million sqft in five buildings across the city, is reportedly now considering on adding an additional 0.9-million-sqft space in the city either in the financial district of Gachibowli or Raidurgam.

All the aforementioned spaces are separate from the 3-million-sqft campus that the global ecommerce company is currently building in Hyderabad.

Amazon expanding its office space can be considered as an optimistic sign for business park developers in India after several startups in the country had to scale down their spendings considerably, by laying off staff and cutting down office space.

According to ET, Amazon isn't the only one looking to utilise its big pockets to expand its footprint in India. Reportedly, Paytm and Flipkart, which have also raised huge amounts in funding, are also in line to go on a major expansion spree soon.

Flipkart To Ship Products in Packaging with Patent Pending ‘Anti-Theft’ Technology

With the festive season just around the corner, India's numero uno ecommerce company, Flipkart is adamant on ensuring that people get their gifts in perfect condition, right on time. The homegrown ecommerce firm aims to do this by an innovative ‘anti-theft packaging’ solution it has built to deliver the parcels securely to its customers across the country.

Speaking to The Hindu in a telephonic interview, Flipkart's senior director Satyam Choudhary said, “We are starting with high value products (like mobile phones) but our goal is to expand it to all the items."

Currently in its tenth year of operation, Flipkart is working hard to get even a larger share of the $30 billion Indian e-commerce market. The company, which currently enjoys a customer base of 100 million users, plans on increasing the number to 500 million customers in the coming years.

Flipkart is planning on holding its flagship ‘Big Billion Days’ sale from 20-24 September. The ‘anti-theft packaging’ solution incorporates special security features in shipment, which are 100 per cent tamper-proof and tamper-evident. It is currently awaiting patent grant.

Recent years have seen several ecommerce firms facing flak from their customers for delivering damaged goods or delivering rocks, empty packages instead of the products that they ordered online. The frequency of these incidents had some people question the very concept of online shopping.

According to Mr. Choudhary, "The real impact we are looking is to increase the trust so that more consumers shop online."



Flipkart is confident that the shipments packed in its new ‘anti-theft packaging’ would take take substantial amount of resources, information, time and techniques to re-open and re-seal to ensure the original form of shipment. This will make the tasks of evil-doers a lot more difficult. In addition to this, the tamper-evident feature ensures that in case a package is tampered with, the next supply chain person or customer can easily detect the inconsistency and not accept the package.

The anti-theft special boxes will also come with a few unique additional features such as inside flap interlocking, single quarter opening area, hidden notches in the corners and seal by shipping label. In order to ensure there's no duplication or reprinting of the label, the shipping label will also come enabled with special security features.

Flipkart To Ship Products in Packaging with Patent Pending ‘Anti-Theft’ Technology

With the festive season just around the corner, India's numero uno ecommerce company, Flipkart is adamant on ensuring that people get their gifts in perfect condition, right on time. The homegrown ecommerce firm aims to do this by an innovative ‘anti-theft packaging’ solution it has built to deliver the parcels securely to its customers across the country.

Speaking to The Hindu in a telephonic interview, Flipkart's senior director Satyam Choudhary said, “We are starting with high value products (like mobile phones) but our goal is to expand it to all the items."

Currently in its tenth year of operation, Flipkart is working hard to get even a larger share of the $30 billion Indian e-commerce market. The company, which currently enjoys a customer base of 100 million users, plans on increasing the number to 500 million customers in the coming years.

Flipkart is planning on holding its flagship ‘Big Billion Days’ sale from 20-24 September. The ‘anti-theft packaging’ solution incorporates special security features in shipment, which are 100 per cent tamper-proof and tamper-evident. It is currently awaiting patent grant.

Recent years have seen several ecommerce firms facing flak from their customers for delivering damaged goods or delivering rocks, empty packages instead of the products that they ordered online. The frequency of these incidents had some people question the very concept of online shopping.

According to Mr. Choudhary, "The real impact we are looking is to increase the trust so that more consumers shop online."



Flipkart is confident that the shipments packed in its new ‘anti-theft packaging’ would take take substantial amount of resources, information, time and techniques to re-open and re-seal to ensure the original form of shipment. This will make the tasks of evil-doers a lot more difficult. In addition to this, the tamper-evident feature ensures that in case a package is tampered with, the next supply chain person or customer can easily detect the inconsistency and not accept the package.

The anti-theft special boxes will also come with a few unique additional features such as inside flap interlocking, single quarter opening area, hidden notches in the corners and seal by shipping label. In order to ensure there's no duplication or reprinting of the label, the shipping label will also come enabled with special security features.

11 Tips For Success In Fashion E-Commerce

As far as the world of fashion e-commerce is concerned success can often prove to be so elusive. The main reason for such an assertion is the fact that the levels of competition at this stage are really fierce. The bottom lines in these cases are defined by factors such as appearance, mobility, and usability of your website. Statista says that a fourth of the users go away from shopping carts because of the fact that the navigation processes are completed. 21 per cent do so because the process of ordering can take quite long. 15 per cent take such a decision because the website has timed out.

Giving your customers love on a regular basis

Harvard Business Review says that it can take anywhere between 5 and 25 per cent more money in order to get new customers in this sector as opposed to retaining ones that are already there. Your strategy to retain customers should include loyalty programs like discounts for customers who transact frequently on your website. When you do this they are less likely to browse the sites of your competitors. They will know that they would be able to purchase products of high quality at good prices from your store itself.

Offering support for your customers

If your customer service is a poor one then your customers would be highly frustrated. In case they find that returning items on your site is difficult they will likely buy from your competitor the next time around. Wall Street Journal says that around 33.33 per cent of all products bought online is normally returned. If you can, you should have customer service agents working throughout the day and resolve the issues faced by your customer and answer any queries that they may have. If your customer service is great the sales cycle would be shorter and that would be beneficial for your brand.

Giving customers reasons to come back

As far as making customers come back time and again is concerned you need to create ways such email marketing campaigns and execute them properly. These campaigns should provide your customers regular information on any and every new promotion on a regular basis. When you do this your fashion e-commerce store will always be on their minds. It would be even better if you are able to provide the right information to the appropriate customer. This would mean that there are higher chances of sales as well as better returns on investment (ROI).

Using images that amaze

One of the biggest open secrets of a successful e-commerce store is that the website must have exceptional images. You can always use those stock images but you should also know that they do not work anymore. You can always employ a fashion photographer so that he can take top class photos of your inventory. These should ideally be much better than the staple product shots that you get these days – they should tell the story of your brand. You can be sure that when you do this your store will perform so much better than your customers.

Telling stories

A lot of websites in the sector that you operate make do with plain descriptions of their products. Instead of this, you should focus on creating stories that have a vibrancy of their own. These stories should help your customers have a better idea about how they would feel when they own your product. These stories should actually inspire them to take steps in that regard – i.e. buy your product. You should give them a reason as to why wearing one of your dresses would make them special, the cynosure of all eyes at a gathering.

It should be easy to find you



A very important part of your success in the long term is going to be search engine optimization (SEO) done properly. If it is hard to find your website then what chance would you have at success? Would you be able to sell anything like that? It is very important that you work with an SEO expert in order to make sure that the content on each of your pages is optimized properly with respect to the product that you are covering on that page.
You also need to have proper meta tags for the search engine as well.

Establishing the right partnerships

If you wish your online fashion store to be successful it is very important that you go for the right partnerships – ones that are more likely to work than not. You should be building associations with the influencers on various social media channels. It is also important to have similar relations with top fashion bloggers like Fashionbzzer, Akanksharedhu, blahandmore who can be such great ambassadors for your brand. They can really help your e-commerce site reach unprecedented heights. You can always start by getting across to the top reviewers out there.

Keeping things clean

This is something that is almost a given. Your e-commerce site should definitely be clutter free. If you wish your viewers to keep browsing your site this is something that you should definitely do. Hopefully, if they like it they may hit the button that matters the most – the one that reads “buy now”. The user interface of your website should be really impeccable. Overall, the user should have an experience that is really simple and yet interactive to a high extent. You need to know that in this day and age people always have other options.

The need to be mobile



These days at least 85 to 90 per cent of your viewers would be using mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones in order to access your site. The design of your website should be responsive to these devices as well. In fact, the way people are using these devices these days it seems that in a few years people might even stop using desktops for web searches. The reason for this is the fact that most of the people out there search for these things while they are on the move. Your website should be capable of being seen clearly on any device.

Representing a lifestyle

It is very important in the fashion game to stand out from your competitors. This is something that cannot be stressed enough. There is too much competition in any case and this is why you need to find a niche and just focus on it. This can be your surest way to success. It is also important that you spend money in order to show your levels of expertise in that particular domain. You can always focus on something that is special and preserves of a few instead of selling run of the mill products.

Getting your price right

Last, but definitely so far away from being the least, it is important that you get your prices right. You have worked hard so far in order to get new customers but you do not wish to lose them just because your competitor has a lower price to offer. You want them to buy your stuff. You should do substantial research on pricing. You can always use things such as opportunities for a future promo offer or bonuses so that they keep coming back and buying from you.

Fintech Startups Are Making It Easier For E-Commerce Businesses To Sell More

Before we talk about the role of Fintech industry in eCommerce, let’s take a look at some of the important points pertaining to current Indian eCommerce and technological trends:

• 5 million credit cards were recorded active in March 2016.


• Only about 10% of eCommerce buyers like to use plastic money to buy things online.


• Remaining card holders are hesitant in uploading their card details on an online ecommerce portal.


• National Institute of Transforming India (NITI Aayog) CEO Amitabh Kant stated that Cards, POS machines and ATMs may become redundant in India by 2020.

And now, let’s take a couple of scenarios in consideration to understand how these factors may affect the eCommerce industry.

• A wants to buy a particular item from an online store. He wants to buy it on EMI basis, but he doesn’t have a credit card to do so, because majority of online stores provide EMIs only on credit cards.


• B wants to buy an item on EMI, but the amount is lower than the minimum amount his credit card provider bank allows.

In both the scenarios mentioned above, the end result is an abandoned cart, and the e-commerce venture suffers a bounce, or a lower order value.

How does Fintech come into the picture?

Fintech companies such as ZestMoney have offered a way of paying for a purchase through EMIs, without needing a credit or debit card. When partnered with e-commerce websites, this particular payment method is proving useful from the viewpoint of maximum conversions and higher order value.

Real Life Examples:
ZEFO, a refurbished and unboxed product e-commerce platform, collaborated with ZestMoney witnessed a 35% increase in their sales, with twice the transaction size they had earlier, the ticket size grew by 120%.

In another instance, EMI Dukaan, an electronic gadgets eCommerce portal, included the similar payment method and the results were a ten times increase in monthly sales, more than 90% of buyers opting for premium mobile phones instead of budget phones, and their business now expanded to 4 more cities.

Another India based Fintech initiative, Kissht, which literally translates to Installment, also works on the same principle. They also let people buy things from online store that have integrated their payment method on their websites. Kissht also offers a mobile based app where all the collaborated vendors are shown.

So how does it help the marketplace owners, vendors and buyers?

See, it all boils down to the fact that with more sales happening on a portal, one gets to generate better revenue and a big user base. If a customer is able to buy something on EMI without needing a credit/debit card, they will be happy to proceed with the purchase not just once but repeatedly. Reduced bounce rates and lower cart abandonment instances are always good for business.

Fintech startups are not only helping end customers but vendors too in grossing more sales. Using this payment method, vendors are able to sell their products and get the said price without any hassle.

Customers, on the other hand, will be able to purchase things they want, and pay on a monthly basis.

There are many instances in the world when an innovation proved to be beneficial for masses alike. Fintech startups nowadays are focused on how to help eCommerce business generate more revenue and help them expand their business, while making sure they also offer vendors and customers some value. Enabling customers to buy things on installments without needing a card means their needs are met; vendors get to have better sales, while eCommerce marketplaces get to enjoy better revenues on each successful purchase. If this is not a 360 degree winning strategy, what will.

[box]Above is an authored article by Akash Singh who is a Digital Marketing Specialist at FATbit Technologies.[/box]

Singapore's Shopmatic Secures $5.7 Mn From ACP Pte, Spring Seeds Capital

Singapore-based e-commerce firm, Shopmatic has raised $5.7 million in pre-series A round led by led by technology venture capital firm ACP Pte Ltd and Spring Seeds Capital. Spring Seeds Capital is an investment subsidiary of Spring Singapore, an agency under Singapore's trade and industry minister.

The company plans to utilize freshly infuse funds to aggressively expand to Indonesia, the Philippines and West Asia.Commenting on the development, Sameer Narula, Managing Partner, ACP said, “By using the deep data-sets generated on its platform, Shopmatic has the potential to enable SMEs and partners better target their services and products and to accelerate the adoption of e-commerce in these high-growth markets," Narula, as part of this round will be joining the board of Shopmatic.

Commenting on the development, Sameer Narula, Managing Partner, ACP said, “By using the deep data-sets generated on its platform, Shopmatic has the potential to enable SMEs and partners better target their services and products and to accelerate the adoption of e-commerce in these high-growth markets," Narula, as part of this round will be joining the board of Shopmatic.

Founded in 2014 by Anurag Avula, Yen Lim and Kris Chen, Shopmatic offers merchants and individual entrepreneurs a platform to sell online. It enables small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs to build online stores with integrated payment and shipping functions and sell their products or services through multiple channels.

“With this round of funds, we aim to expand our service to a wider seller base across more markets in Asia and other emerging markets," said Anurag Avula, CEO, Shopmatic.

With an angel investment of $1.5 million from undisclosed investors from India, the US and Singapore, founder launched the Shopmatic. Company has last year launched Shopmatic Go, a mobile-centric product with more than 1,30,000 downloads since November, and has acquired Taiwan-based 5xRuby, a technology development house.

Jack Ma and Dr Kituyi Highlight E-Commerce Opportunities For The Developing Nations

"Over the past 20 years, we have witnessed the mistakes of celebrating opportunity without facing challenges. The phenomenal rise of e-commerce must be saved from a similar fate," said Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi Secretary-General of UNCTAD during a high-level panel at E-commerce week held on April 25.

Distinguished speakers included Dr. Kituyi, Jack Ma (Founder and Chairman of AliBaba Group and UNCTAD Special Advisor for Young Entrepreneurs), Roberto Azevêdo (Director-General of World Trade Organization), Houlin Zhao (Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union) and Amanda Long (Director-General of Consumers International).

In front of an audience of over 800 attendees, the speakers discussed the topic, "Digital Transformation for All: Empowering Entrepreneurs and Small Business".

"The appetite for digital economy can inspire the development of other infrastructure sectors," said Dr. Kituyi, "e-commerce provides many opportunities for growth in the developing world but we need to seize those opportunities now," he added.

Responding to comments from ministers, Jack Ma said "E-commerce is designed for the developing world. If you want to do it, you are ready. Don't wait."

Eight Ministers from Bhutan, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Pakistan and Thailand made interventions during the high-level discussion showing support for e-commerce. They also highlighted some of the on-the-ground issues faced by countries attempting to enable an environment for e-commerce development.

Moderated by award-winning BBC journalist Nancy Kacungira, the discussion covered topics ranging from job creation, e-commerce trade regulations, strategies for making e-commerce more inclusive, increasing digital infrastructure and more.

"We have two challenges at WTO on E-commerce. One is defining what E-commerce means for everyone and two is inclusivity in trade for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)," said Roberto Azevêdo of Director-General of World Trade Organization.

During the over-two hours of interactive conversation, the speakers suggested new ideas for leveraging e-commerce technologies and e-commerce solutions for sustainable development.

"I encourage increased investment in broadband to continue to improve infrastructure and connect the unconnected," said Houlin Zhao the Secretary-General of ITU.

"We have the B20, but we need the B200, to create rules and laws to support the small guys, not control them" said Mr Ma.

The high-level panel discussion sets the tone for the rest of the E-commerce week's discussions. E-commerce week runs from 24-28 April 2017 on the theme "Towards Inclusive E-Commerce".

The high-level panel was live-streamed and the recording can be found here.

There's Rise in Lack of Trust in E-Commerce Among Global Users Including India, Says Survey

A new global survey reveals that Internet users are increasingly concerned about their online privacy, and that 49 percent of users polled say lack of trust is their main reason for not shopping online.

The countries included in the survey was: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

The survey, conducted by Ipsos and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Internet Society, comes as data breaches and the reported hacking of elections in several European countries continues to capture international headlines. The survey results suggest that the resulting impact on trust is hindering further development of the digital economy.

Released yesterday at the UNCTAD E-Commerce Week in Geneva, the 2017 CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey on Internet Security & Trust shows that among those worried about their privacy, the top sources of concern were cybercriminals (82%), Internet companies (74%) and governments (65%).



“The lifeblood of the Internet is trust, and when that is damaged, the consequences for the digital economy are nearly irreparable,” said Director of CIGI’s Global Security & Politics program Fen Osler Hampson. “The results of this global survey offer a glimpse into why policymakers should be concerned, and why there is a strong link between user trust and the health of e-commerce,” he said.

Lack of trust is most likely to keep people off e-commerce platforms in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, suggesting that the potential gains of e-commerce are not spread evenly around the globe.

The survey also revealed great differences in e-commerce behavior when it came to how users are purchasing goods online. For example, in China, India and Indonesia, more than 86 percent of respondents expect to make mobile payments on their smartphone in the next year, compared with less than 30 percent in France, Germany and Japan.

[caption id="attachment_116155" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Propensity to use online payment systems on mobile phones varies greatly by country, with most G-8 countries near the bottom of the list, and emerging economies near the top.[/caption]

Even in the digital world, location still matters. Fifty-five percent of global respondents indicated that they prefer purchasing online goods and services made in their own country.

"The survey confirms the importance of having adequate consumer protection and data protection in place, areas where many developing countries are lagging behind," said Shamika N. Sirimanne, Director of UNCTAD’s Division on Technology and Logistics. “More capacity-building is therefore urgently needed,” she added.

The survey of 24,225 Internet users was conducted by global research company Ipsos, on behalf of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) between December 23, 2016, and March 21, 2017. The survey was conducted in 24 countries—Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

“Nearly 50 percent of Internet users surveyed do not trust the Internet and this lack of trust is affecting the way they use it. The findings of this year’s CIGI-Ipsos survey underscore the importance of taking action now to build stronger online trust by addressing users’ concerns and using technologies such as encryption to secure communications,” said Sally Wentworth, Vice President of Global Policy for the Internet Society.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

E-bay, Snapdeal and Amazon Are Biggest Consumer Offenders in 2016

All the ecommerce users in India, this is something that you might want to take into notice before making your next big online purchase.

The Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, C R Chaudhary, recently informed the Parliament that the government has received over a whopping 1,386 complaints against e-commerce and direct selling companies through its National Consumer Helpline till December last year.

According to the facts laid out by Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha, among the leading e-tailers in the country, e-bay topped the list with 135 complaints, closely followed by Snapdeal with 120 and Amazon with 114 complaints. Flipkart stood at fourth position with a double digit number of 92, followed by whaaky.com at fifth with 79 complaints, Shopclues at sixth with 47 complaints and the post-demonetisation famous e-wallet company Paytm took the seventh position on the list with 46 complaints filed against it by its consumers. Interestingly, Myntra, Flipkart's fashion arm had just two complaints as against Flipkart's 92.

Not only did Chaudhary made the Parliament aware about all the statistics associated with the complaints received through National Consumer Helpline, but he also told the members of the house that all of the 1,386 complaints received were dealt by the department concerned as per consumer grievance redressal procedure. He also emphasised on the fact that as of now there is no proposal to regulate the country's e-commerce platforms by bringing in a separate law.

Out of the 1,386 complaints received by the government through the National Consumer Helpline, bookmyoffer.com received a maximum of 449 complaints. Simultaneously, Homeshop 18 (a venture of Vaicom 18) received 15 complaints, Jabong.com tied with Homeshop 18 with 15 complaints, naaptol.com received a total of 13 complaints, Shop CJ Network India received 10 and askmebazar.com received a total of just 6 consumer complaints till December 2016.

Resonating with the facts furnished by Chaudhary is a recently consumer study conducted by research firm Red Seer Consulting that for the fourth time in a row ranked Flipkart as India's most trusted e-commerce brand, above competitors Amazon and Snapdeal. While the government received a total of 120 complaints for Snapdeal and 114 complaints for Amazon, it received just 92 complaints for Flipkart, a number that is much low when compared to the number of shoppers that shop from these website every day.

The year 2016 was a moderate growth year for the Indian Consumer Internet sector, compared to previous year. For the financial year 2015-2016, Flipkart reported a whopping Rs 5,223 crore in losses, while Amazon with Rs 3,571 crore in losses came in at second position and was followed by Jasper Infotech run Snapdeal, which more than doubled its losses from previous year to Rs 2,960 crore. It is interesting to note that for the financial year 2014-15, the combined loss of the three largest e-commerce companies in the country came out at Rs 6,031 crore (Amazon: Rs 1,724 crore, Flipkart: Rs 2,979 crore, Snapdeal: Rs 1,328 crore), a figure which was almost single-handedly chased by Flipkart with Rs 5,223 crore losses in the next financial year.

A bill called the Consumer Protection Bill 2015, has already made its way into the Indian Parliament that seeks for the government to set up a central consumer protection authority in the country that can look into, scrutinise, inter alia, unfair trade practices.

Big Blow To India's E-Commerce As It Grew At Mere 12% in 2016

While we all are looking towards the year 2017 with a new ray of hope and happiness, here's a news that might dampen the ecommerce industry's spirit.

According to recent statistics released, despite the fact that the Indian retail consumer spending saw a massive jump to a whopping $750 billion, Internet penetration grew by 40% and increased investor interest in the sector in the year (2016) gone by, the country's ecommerce industry saw a growth of a meagre 12%, a figure that has got many stakeholders worried.

The 2016 figure of 12% growth looks highly disappointing when compared to the 2015 figure when the ecommerce industry grew by 180% to become a $13 billion sector.

According to a research study done by RedSeer Management Consulting, a combination of a number of events over a relatively short period of time have led to the floundering growth numbers of the sector.

It all started in the year 2015 when e-tailers went through the heavy discounting phase and a significant percentage of GMV was being driven by retailers and wholesalers buying goods and in turn selling them to end customers.

Soon, these e-tailers realised the mess that they had created and jumped into action to clean it. All of this resulted in an immediate fall in retailer orders and brought in the much-needed correction to the market.

According to a statement by RedSeer CEO Anil Kumar, this industry-wide circular trading correction was one of the various reasons why Snapdeal's growth figures have come down significantly and it had vacate its number 2 position in the Indian e-retail market for Amazon. He also said that while it is still largely unknown what led to the significant drop, but he believes the new found discipline around cash burn and focus on revenue versus GMV was as a crucial contributor to the situation.

Kumar also talked about how the first quarter mass exodus episode of senior leadership from Flipkart in the year 2016, followed by a deep quest on ways to fill the gap and defining the new leadership structure. This lost them between 3-4 months as they practically ended up not doing anything significant around growth.

When the DIPP decided to put regulations on the extent of discounting and the percentage GMV contribution by captive selling arms of e-tailers in the first quarter of 2015, the industry received another hurtful blow. While the first regulation ended up putting all the e-tailers in a fix for the duration of first few months on how they should be realigning their strategy, course correction had to be done in order to manage the 25 percent limit put on captive sellers - which ended up again shifting e-tailers' focus from growth.

The final blow for the industry came on November 8th when the Indian Prime Minister announced the demonetisation drive, according to the Redseer report titled 'The Indian E-tailing Market in 2017'.

According to Kumar, for an industry which relies heavily on cash, the demonetisation drive served as a major roadblock on the success the sector had been able to pull in the October festive period. Overall, the industry suffered ~20% of the GMV in the months of November and early December, and the growth figures from there-on haven't been very inspiring.

This further ended up having a domino effect on the comparatively young and fragile ecommerce industry, leading to a slower new customer acquisition and a cap on funding. This lead to leading players in the market focusing their energy fully on the existing market share fight, rather than working on creating new ones.

However, while 2016 proved to be a dud for the Indian ecommerce industry, the study expects the industry to pick-up year-on-year growth rate and become a $80 billion sector from the existing $14.5 billion figure by the year 2020.

E-Commerce Traffic Dropped Post Demonetization, Says Study

The demonetisation move by the Indian government last year caught everyone in the world by surprise. And now, according to a
CouponDunia study, the demonetised drive proved to be a good news for some sectors of the economy, while a few had to face some really hard times.

A recent study done by CouponDunia, a famous coupons site has revealed that digital wallets like PayTM, freecharge, followed by online cab players like Ola and Uber were among the top performing categories for cashless transactions post-demonetisation. Apart from digital wallets and online cabs, grocery ordering and food ordering platforms have also become more popular and witnessed a surge in traffic ever since 500 and 1000 notes stopped being legal tenders, said the report furnished by the cashback platform. According to the report, PayTM, Freecharge, Mobikwik, Dominos Pizza and Yatra were the top performing brands post the demonetisation announcement. An interesting fact that emerged from the study was, that traffic on e-commerce sites has down slided dramatically in the past two months.

Reportedly, Amazon saw its traffic dropping by 22 percent, while Flipkart’s and Snapdeal’s traffic fell by almost half (50 percent). The report also revealed that India's Tier II towns were more affected by the cash crunch when compared to the top Indian metro cities. Further, among the tier I cities, Mumbai with 37 percent less traffic online post-demonetisation was the most affected city, followed in second position by Kolkata with a 26 percent drop in traffic. It also added, Delhi witnessed a 7 percent decline in online traffic; while the city of Chennai saw 16 percent drop.

The study further revealed that the traffic for search term ‘McDonald’s online order’ has seen a 90 percent increase since the demonetisation announcement, while FoodPanda, a online ordering platform, gained over 11,000 new user orders within just 10 days of demonetization.

In addition to all the interesting aforementioned findings, the CouponDunia study also revealed a couple of other findings. The study revealed that ever since the demonetisation announcement, Yatra has done 400 domestic flight bookings and Uber had successfully completed over 3,500 rides within a week of November 8, 2016 when the move was announced by the Indian Prime Minister.

[Top Image: Shutterstock]

Snapdeal Launches Cash on Demand Service

Has the demonetisation drive dampened your Christmas cheer? After all, what is Christmas without presents, decorations and celebrations? While some of our needs can be fulfilled by online shopping, we still require cash for some tasks. While the government might not be understanding this basic thing, India’s leading online marketplace Snapdeal has not only understood the matter but has also done something to bring the much needed festive cheer back into the country.

Snapdeal has announced the launch of a pilot service called Cash@Home, which will allow users to order cash and deliver it at the doorstep. Yes, you read it right. Now, you can order cash instead of queuing up for hours at your nearby ATMs.

In the pilot phase, the service is currently only live in Gurgaon and Bengaluru. Users availing the service can pay for cash using their ATM card. And, don't worry, the service won't cost you a bomb. Snapdeal will be charging a nominal amount of one rupee as convenience fee, which can be paid through FreeCharge wallet or through a debit card at the time of booking the order. The service is a goodwill gesture by the ecommerce giant so as to allow users in need of cash to access it without having to queue up at their banks or ATMs.

"Snapdeal will be using the cash that it receives through Cash on Delivery (CoD) service to operate this facility. The delivery of cash will be done one day after requesting for the service," read a press release by Snapdeal announcing the launch of the service.

Commenting on the new launch, Rohit Bansal, Co-founder, Snapdeal said, “The launch of the cash on demand service is intended to further help our consumers tide over any cash crunch that they might face in addressing their daily needs."

For now, Snapdeal has put a limit of Rs. 2000 per booking. Users can make use of any bank’s ATM card to pay for the cash. When the cash is delivered to the customers, they will be required to swipe their ATM card on the PoS machines, which Snapdeal’s courier partners will be carrying with themselves for all such deliveries.

[Top Image: Shutterstock]

Flipkart Founders Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal Named 'Asians of the Year' By Singapore's Strait Times

The year 2016 seems to be winding up on a good note for India's ecommerce giant Flipkart's famous founders- Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. After making it to Times Magazine's list of 100 Most Influential People in the world, the entrepreneurial geniuses have now been chosen for the extremely prestigious "2016 Asian of the Year" as part of a group called the "The Disruptors" by the Straits Times of Singapore.

The other names included in the 'disruptors' group are the founders of Tencent, Go-Jek, Razer and Grab.

According to a joint statement released by the two Flipkart founders in Bengaluru, the two have humbly accepted this honor bestowed upon them by the Straits Times of Singapore on behalf of all the Indians. The founders feel that their company's innovative steps over the years, each aimed at transforming commerce in India through technology, have truly disrupted the market and it makes them both really proud to be recognised for their efforts and achievements.

During the start of the year, Bansal and Binny made news for appearing on Time Magazine's much famous and appreciated list of 100 Most Influential People in the world for the year 2016.

It is interesting to note that in the previous years, the award has been awarded to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the year 2014, and posthumously to Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father, in the year 2015.

The Asian of the Year 2016 awards aims to recognise and award entrepreneurs "operating at the frontiers of technology's interface with business", who have successfully been able to launch businesses that have disrupted the traditional business model and hugely benefited their end-consumers.