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Ecommerce companies’ unclear policies invite maximum consumer complaints
Ecommerce companies are often in the news for breaking the sales, investment, profits, and losses record. But they are also breaking the ‘most complained’ record, thanks to their obscure procedures and policies.
The Quality Council of India (QCI) analysed the consumer grievances submitted to the Centre and prepared an extensive report. From digital TV set top-box companies’ bad connection to Air India’s poor service, the government received many complaints. According to news reports, consumers complained the most about the Indian ecommerce companies to the Centre.
Customers complained about ecommerce companies’:
Not too long ago, the National Consumer Helpline released a report that stated that Snapdeal and Flipkart received the most complaints as far as ecommerce companies are concerned. The same consumer body said that consumers registered 28,000 complaints against online marketplaces in 5 months.
Would etailers be named and shamed?
After working on the report, QCI believes that naming and shaming the ecommerce companies would be the best solution. Another suggestion is to introduce a real-time grievance forwarding system that would connect etailers and the government. This would ensure that the complaints are addressed in an efficient and quicker manner.
Sellers, too have similar complaints against ecommerce companies. Be it the poor seller support service or regulations on pricing and discount, vendors, too are trying to get their issues addressed. Online sellers have been demanding for Ecommerce Regulator and have floated a petition for the same. In July this year, vendors expressed their unhappiness with Commerce Ministry’s response to marketplaces’ payment settlement issues.
Would naming and shaming ecommerce companies work? And would Indian sellers’ woes ever get heard?
E-commerce firms’ annual sales from each vendor capped at 25%
Ecommerce players like Flipkart and Amazon will not be allowed to market more than 25 per cent of its annual sales coming from one vendor, the government on Monday 28th August, clarified. The government had earlier mandated 25 per cent maximum sales from a single vendor but had not specified the period for computation of sales.
“An ecommerce entity will not permit more than 25 per cent of the sales value on financial year basis affected through its marketplace from one vendor or their group companies,” the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said in its consolidated FDI policy circular, released here.
An official, who did not wish to be named, said that this provision encourages e-market players to sell goods from different vendors.
The DIPP in a tweet stated that restriction of 25 per cent on sales of one vendor through a marketplace is to be computed on financial year basis. In the foreign direct investment (FDI) circular, the DIPP has also included the definition of ‘competent authority’ to grant government approval for foreign investment.
It said the authority means the concerned administrative ministry/ department empowered to grant government approval for foreign investment under the extant FDI policy and FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) Regulations. As the foreign investment promotion board has been abolished, the respective ministries have been authorised to approve foreign investment proposals.
Further, the government clarifies that conversion of an LLP (limited liability partnership firms) into a company and vice-versa is permitted under automatic route for sectors where 100 per cent FDI is allowed.
The DIPP, which deals with FDI related matters, compiles all policies related to foreign investment regime into a single document to make it simple and easy for investors to understand.
Back in May, Flipkart had made it clear that private labels would dominate its product offerings during the Big Billion 2017 edition. For the same, the etailer has collaborated with manufacturers from China and other Southeast Asian countries besides home country India. These manufacturers are helping Flipkart to create an affordable range of products for its private labels.
“We already have over 30 segments where SmartBuy is present and we should be able to expand it to close to 40 categories before Big Billion Day sales. This festive season, we are looking to push private labels during sale events, given the way we have ensured quality checks and standard manufacturing practices,” asserted Adarsh Menon, Head – private labels at Flipkart.
We’ll launch products 15% cheaper than competitors, says Flipkart
The push for private labels is going to get even more aggressive once the festive season starts. The Bansals-led company is planning to launch a host of products that would be available at 15% lesser price than the average price of the same products of other sellers/retailers.
Flipkart has joined hands with Sharetronic to develop a range of electronic products, which would be launched under its Smart Buy private label. The Chinese firm has worked with several global brands like Lenovo, Huawei and Toshiba. The manufacturer believes that Flipkart’s wide reach and leadership position would help them to grow their business.
For quality checks, the home-grown marketplace has hired the services of Intertek. Instead of loading the products with all possible features, Flipkart is sticking to the basics.
Menon said,
“For any product, there are ‘must-have’ features and then nice-to-have’ ones. We are focusing on the must-have features first and bringing them at a cheaper price than average market rate. We have partners like Intertek that run multiple levels of strict quality control before we start selling them on Flipkart.”
Private labels equals to more profits for Flipkart
It is not rocket science to figure out why biggies like Flipkart are investing in private labels. After accumulating tons of consumer data and analysing their seller base’s sales patterns, etailers have the power to develop the right products for their buyers.
Own brands would give Flipkart a better control over its inventory and not to forget – high profit margins.
“We are studying customer data intensively; what feature the customer really values in a particular category. Take, for instance, a mixie. The customer values the motor. It doesn’t really matter if the colour is grey or silver. We have tried to double down on features that the customer values in these categories. We are working with quality partners,” shared Menon.
Big Billion might turn out to be one of the biggest sales events for Flipkart. But would it be the same for its vendors? The ecommerce biggie has been accused of undercutting sellers in the past. After hearing about 15% cheaper products, we don’t think many vendors have a favorable view of Flipkart’s private labels strategy.
Alibaba to invest in BigBasket, Amazon to pick stake in Grofers
The Indian online grocery industry is hotting up as ecommerce biggies rush to grab the largest market share.
As per latest reports, the big players are looking to invest in e-grocery companies and increase their presence. While Alibaba and Paytm Mall are going to invest in BigBasket, Amazon might invest in Grofers.
Paytm Mall and Alibaba to invest $200 million in BigBasket
In July 2017, IOS reported that Paytm may team up with Alibaba to invest $200 million in BigBasket. Now we hear that two additional weeks have been added to the 45-day exclusivity period for the investment talks. This hints that the talks might soon reach an advanced stage.
Commenting on this deal, an investor said,
“BigBasket has been missing is deep-pocketed investors till now, and if this deal goes through they will not have to worry about capital.”
The grocery leader crossed the 5 million customer benchmark this year and process over 50,000 orders daily. If Paytm and Alibaba pour $200 million into the company, then it would help both the sides – marketplaces and grocery etailer, to achieve its business goals.
Amazon shifts focus from BigBasket to Grofers
There were rumors that American ecommerce giant Amazon would invest in BigBasket. But looks like those talks failed because BigBasket has moved to Alibaba and Paytm. And Amazon has moved its focus to home-grown grocery player Grofers.
The online marketplace is looking to pick up a minority stake in the e-grocer’s company by investing in it. The talks have begun but both the parties have refused to confirm the development.
An insider disclosed,
“Both Alibaba and Amazon want to get a toehold in the grocery category, which is why they are not looking to acquire any of the two companies but only back them with capital.”
The Gurgaon-based food etailer changed its business model in February this year, which helped them to improve their monthly sales, repeat purchases and service. The start-up has managed to stay alive, even when other niche grocery players had to leave the battleground.
With Amazon’s support, Grofers would be able to fuel its growth even further without worrying about funds. Amazon is also planning to launch its food business during the upcoming festive season, after getting government’s nod.
Would Flipkart jump in this investment pool too? And will BigBasket accept Paytm and Alibaba’s offer or would it go back to Amazon?
Snapdeal seeks to stay relevant, reserves Rs 40 CR for festive promotions
Looks like Snapdeal will be participating in the festive season sales this year. After the merger deal break with Flipkart, the etailer decided to fly solo. Now it is gearing up to capitalize on the biggest shopping season of the year to avoid being wiped out by competition.
Festive season plan & promotion budget
Usually, during the festive season, there is a surge in the sale of:
This Diwali, Snapdeal will be focusing on fashion, general merchandise and electronics, a spokes person for the company said.
Companies usually spend heavily on advertising to drive shoppers their way for ensured sales. As a result, Snapdeal has set aside Rs. 40 crore for its festive season promotions, claim sources aware of its festive season plans.
Promotions will be done through mass media advertising and digital campaigns during this festive period. Outdoor advertising will take place in key metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi.
The combined contribution of festive season sales is 35-40% of the total annual sales of both online and offline retailers. This peak period usually kicks off during Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam, hits its peak just before and during Diwali, then continues till Christmas and New Years.
Is Snapdeal 2.0 good news for Online Sellers?
After months of negotiations, the Flipkart-Snapdeal merger deal was called off. Whether it was Flipkart’s asking price or Snapdeal’s dislike for the clauses imposed, whatever resulted in the deal break has left Snapdeal excited to start afresh as Snapdeal 2.0.
How about the sellers on its platform though? Are they happy about the deal break? Also, what are they expecting from Snapdeal’s new avatar?
Indian Online Seller decided to find out. We spoke with a couple of online sellers and e-commerce enthusiasts for their opinions on the matter. The following is the scene we unearthed:
There you go online sellers; many are still hopeful for Snapdeal’s success and are waiting to see what its 2.0 strategy will do for them. Do you also think the etailer will give up being oblivious to seller issues? Or will it go back to bullying sellers twice as much?
Amazon’s Platinum Sellers still waiting for their crores from 2016 Diwali sales
American e-commerce behemoth Amazon has started the preps for the impending festive season. From ramping up logistics to expanding product categories, from launching private labels to expanding business capacity, the biggie is leaving no stone unturned.
However, according to a news report, Amazon sellers are still waiting for their payments of the last year’s festive sales. The marketplace’s few platinum sellers have alleged that they have still not received their dues, in spite of regularly following up with the etailer.
“Amazon owes me ₹1.2 crore for losses incurred during last year’s Diwali sales. The losses are from goods lost in transit, sale of damaged goods which went out of Amazon’s warehouses despite stringent quality checks, higher fees charged by Amazon vs the zero-fee commitment they made to me for the festive season. I was charged the standard Platinum Seller fee of 2 per cent, which includes delivery fees plus Amazon’s commissions. I have been in talks with them to clear the pending amount over the past eight months, but to no avail,” a seller shared.
Amazon India had reduced the number of Platinum sellers in February 2017 because of the losses incurred due to demonetization. The biggie then discontinued its Platinum Seller Program in June this year just before GST was rolled out.
Sellers seek reimbursement for funding discounts, damaged goods
Another seller said that the Jeff Bezos-led company owes him Rs. 15 crores. This money is the reimbursement for offering discounts on Amazon’s behest.
The new FDI rules restrict e-commerce companies from offering unreasonable discounts. But since discounts are a huge part of e-commerce sales, etailers urged its sellers to offer these discounts with an assurance that the money would be reimbursed. But platinum sellers say that Amazon is yet to deliver its promise.
Besides discounts settlement, some of the others contributing factors include:
Looking at the funding and strategic investment updates of the Indian e-commerce players, it might appear that there’s no dearth of funds. But the funds dry up as soon as it is time to pay off sellers’ dues.
AskMe got away without paying its vendors’ dues. eBay that usually pays on time decided to withhold sellers’ payments by putting the blame on GST registrations. Snapdeal too got through its fund crunch time by refusing to give seller payments. The Commerce Ministry also failed to correctly address Indian online vendors’ payment concerns.
Amazon has deep pockets. So it’s about time they took out a little for its platinum sellers if the allegations made about the pending payments are true and Amazon had promised to pay back.
Made in India Tech Solutions Aid Growth of Amazon India
Artificial intelligence (AI) and data mining have been helping Indian e-commerce companies like Flipkart, Myntra, and Lenskart in predicting sales, designing their product lines and developing an interactive platform.
US-based e-commerce leader Amazon is also one of the etailers that is relying on data analytics, AI and machine code to make the buying and selling experience on its platform smooth. After the USA, India is the largest technology development centre of Amazon where the data research scientists have been able to create tech solutions for the marketplace.
The machine learning and deep learning experts across Amazon India’s development center have a thorough understanding of computer vision and natural language processing. By performing analytics, the team has been able to address seller concerns and boost customer footprint.
Innovating in India
Amazon India’s CTO Dale Vaz explained how the poor internet connectivity in India compelled the engineers to build Micron, a technology to build a lighter version of apps so that consumers from across the country can use it.
Vaz revealed, “We introduced near-automated sign-ups for first-time mobile users, revamped our daily deals offering, removed elements which were too heavy for low-end users. The app was reduced from 17MB to 2MB.”
While the less-space consuming app helped buyers, the etailer’s India team also developed a tool for its sellers – Data Mart. This tool has dissected the data into various subsets such as customer preferences, selling history, market trends and sellers’ details. With the help of Data Mart, Amazon not only customizes its targeting strategy but also assist sellers in planning their advertising strategy.
“Based on the data, we help sellers who have lesser experience in online advertising, in putting up ads on select items. Similarly, our systems analyze customer buying data and pitch items to them which they might need in future,” said Vaz.
Artificial Intelligence would also help Amazon to:
“For instance, a genuine customer who is looking to buy visits Amazon site or app multiple times, views more than 4 products, looks at details of the products and then makes a purchase but certain users just come right in, open one page, book same product multiple times and then choose CoD. In such cases, we block the order to avert frauds,” shared Vaz while explaining how AI can help to spot fake orders.
Why Do Sellers think Payment Reconciliation mixed with Returns & GST is a bad combination?
The menace of products returns is something that every online seller is familiar with. The confusing returns & refund policies have been breaking sellers’ back ever since online shopping picked up. High returns also led to payment reconciliation issues and complicated reports made it even more difficult for sellers to keep track of their payments.
In July entered GST, which has its own set of problems.
Product returns, reconciliation and GST are three of the main pain points that on their own are hard to deal with. But sellers say that things take a turn for the worse when the three issues get intertwined.
With GST, it’s hard to handle the load of returns, says seller
“Return was not a lesser pain and to that GST got added to it. It is getting difficult to align the online business with loads of returns coming in. And then accounting and keeping track of credit notes and on top of that returns has to be filed every month,” says online seller Abdul Kadir Natali while speaking to Indian Online Seller (IOS).
He adds, “Still many are unsure about what to do and not to do while filing GSTR1, 2, and 3. And again this returns and reconciliations are making sellers’ lives very busy, distracted and miserable. Marketplaces with their ANTI SELLER policies are making sellers’ margin thinner and thinner.”
IOS asked Abdul if marketplaces share enough data and details for payment reconciliation. And do they provide assistance in the post-GST period so that sellers understand the exact money due to them.
Abdul states, “Marketplaces are nowhere interested in assisting seller for FREE. For that, they provide 3rd party service, which they promote as SPN (Service Partner Network). Marketplaces only know how to milk undue money from sellers and reconciliation is a headache because reconciling your own money is made difficult by these bully marketplaces.”
Impossible to match payments with the marketplaces says seller –
Seller Mayank Goyal also reiterated what Abdul says above. Goyal shared that in an online business, reconciliation is the toughest job for any seller. There are many tools, software and some SPNs that provide reconciliation services. But they all charge money from the sellers.
“Online business has much more competition and lesser margins. And if seller will give money to SPNs, the margin per product will reduce even further. The best practice for reconciliation is excel sheet on any given day and time. Marketplaces accept the return request in seconds. And seller has to keep track of the returned items and whether he has received or not, which is very tough to handle. But excel sheet can reduce that headache but the seller has to do manual work,” advises Mayank.
Mayank says that with GST, returns have become even more complicated as marketplaces don’t share enough data.
“It’s next to impossible to match the data with the marketplaces. Some marketplaces have charged double the taxes for sales and for returns. And seller has to go with the marketplaces data so that no difference comes while filing. But here sellers loses money in the name of tax,” avers Mayank.
No requirement to select GSTIN of the e-commerce operator says Amazon
IOS realizes that sellers are finding it difficult to reconcile their payments, especially after GST was implemented. There’s a confusion related to filing GSTR1. Sellers want to know if they need to submit state specific GSTIN of e-commerce operator according to the state in which the sale is being made. Few sellers said that the GST portal is not accepting the main GSTIN of marketplaces’ head office if the sale is made in any other state.
Therefore, we asked Amazon if they could clear the above-mentioned doubts so that IOS could communicate the same to the seller community.
Amazon India spokesperson affirms, “The requirement for sellers to disclose the supplies made through e-commerce operator in GSTR1 returns arises only if the e-commerce operator is liable to collect TCS. As TCS has been deferred, there is no requirement to select GSTIN of the e-commerce operator in the GSTR1 by the sellers. Once TCS reporting requirement is notified by the government, we will share Amazon’s e-commerce operator GSTIN ID with the sellers.”
In other words, Amazon sellers can continue to follow the procedure that they were following before GST was implemented. Once the TCS liability comes into the picture, the etailer would inform sellers about what to do next and how.
IOS also communicated to Amazon that quite a few sellers are feeling lost due to lack of personal support and assistance as far as GST is concerned.
Amazon’s representative says, “To provide any GST related assistance to sellers, our ‘A-Z GST Guide’ programme covers all details in the form of tutorials, blogs, free online training sessions and paid professional support from third-party service providers.”
We need special GST related seller support service, say sellers
Seller Abdul points out that instead of providing assistance in the form of FAQs and webinars, a special seller support section only for GST is the need of the hour. He says that some sellers are not able to sell due to lack of knowledge about GST, its benefits and the pros of registering their business.
Mayank wants marketplaces to share simplified data.
“Marketplaces should provide enough and simplified data to seller so that he/she can easily file their returns. But why would marketplaces do that? They just don’t want sellers to reconcile their accounts. They are not providing the monthly invoices till now. So it’s going to be tough for sellers to reconcile the data of returns,” shared Mayank.
Facing reconciliation issues due to heavy returns on Flipkart, says seller
IOS had emailed Flipkart the same set of questions as Amazon. Flipkart sellers too are confused about filing GSTR1 and need assistance. But the Bansals-led company didn’t reply to our email.
This brings us to a telephonic conversation with seller Himanshu Agarwal, who says that reconciling payments on Flipkart is a tough task. More so, in the case of product returns. And the marketplace’s indifferent attitude doesn’t help either. On the other hand, he is impressed by Amazon’s seller support service in this regard.
Himanshu says that if he ships his orders on Sunday, then a week later by Monday Amazon releases his payments after subtracting all deductions, fees and returns. But on Flipkart, the returns drag on for months.
“The sale volume is good on Flipkart. But the problem is their seller support service, which is poor compared to Amazon and Paytm. Nobody listens and no one replies to emails except for automated robotic replies. There’s no decision maker; matter keeps getting escalated with no resolution. While Flipkart’s support executives are always in a hurry to close the call, Amazon representatives don’t end the call until they find the source of the problem and the solution,” asserts Himanshu.
Amazon India’s seller support isn’t flawless either. But Himanshu believes that Amazon at least tries to help buyers and sellers, as opposed to Flipkart that sides with buyers most of the times. Clearly, the seller support experience varies from seller to seller because it is often Amazon that gets accused of siding with customers.
The seller thinks that COD orders contribute to the high rate of returns on Flipkart. Himanshu shares, that irrespective of the value of the item, the home-grown etailer allow customers to place COD orders (seller has no say in it). And many customers take advantage of it by placing orders under fake name and address. He doesn’t think that GST has any role to play in this heavy returns-reconciliation saga. The blame only lies with the etailer, according to him.
As of now, Himanshu has made his listings offline on Flipkart. He’ll activate it if and when Flipkart accepts his ‘Self Ship’ request, which the etailer has rejected in the past.
Sellers, are you too facing payment reconciliation issues due to returns and GST? If so, then have you found any solution? Could you answer the questions that Flipkart chose not to answer? Please do share with our seller community by commenting below.
If so, then have you found any solution? Could you answer the questions that Flipkart chose not to answer? Please do share by commenting below.
Flipkart, Amazon get ready for Festive Face-Off
Profit Margins reduced to Accommodate Discounts
A festive season without discounts won’t have many takers. And Indian e-commerce companies understand that. But with FDI restrictions on offering huge discounts and big brands’ reluctance to deplete the value of their brand, etailers had to find a new way to entice consumers. With peak shopping season just around the corner, online marketplaces have found what they were looking for.
Biggies like Flipkart and Amazon have approached brands directly and requested them to reduce their profit margins. In return, marketplaces, too have agreed to reduce their commission by 50% so that there’s enough room for discounts.
Big electronic brands such as Samsung, LG and Sony are not going to encourage online discounts on their products. Therefore, etailers are relying on online-focused electronic brands like Sanyo, Onida, BPL, and TCL.
An executive from one television brand that etailers have approached said, “Since the marketplaces cannot burn money on mainstream brands now due to a direct business relationship, they are placing their bet solely on the online exclusive or focused brands this festive season to drive their category volumes. Even during the just concluded Independence Day sales, the focus has been on these brands.”
It is a win-win situation for online marketplaces and online-focused electronic brands. During the festive season, besides fashion products, large appliances and smartphones sell really well. And the bigger the discount, the more it sells, especially in tier 2 & 3 cities.
Brands like Panasonic, BPL, TCL and Onida are working with the online marketplaces to come up with hard-to-ignore offers during the festive season instead of burning money on advertising and promotions.
Amazon India has deep pockets, thanks to Jeff Bezos. The American etailer recently injected$63 million into its logistics arm as part of its festive prep. Its food business too would be ready to roll by Diwali.
But this time around Flipkart is also flush with funds thanks to the $2.5 billion investment by Softbank. The home-grown etailer has laid out clear plans to utilize this money to fight against Amazon.
While speaking about the 2017 festive season, Flipkart’s senior director Smrithi Ravichandran stated, “With every festive season, Flipkart has expanded the e-commerce horizon in India, bringing to existing and new customers the widest product range at best prices. This year is going to be even more delightful for customers, because along with existing affordability programmes, we’re making new additions like extended warranties and buyback guarantee.”
While Amazon is counting on its subscription service Prime, Flipkart is looking to capture buyers’ attention by offering new schemes. The Bansals-led company also revamped its large appliances category ahead of the festive season. Push for private labels too have increased.
With each passing day, the festive war between Flipkart and Amazon would intensify even further.
Do buyers prefer Amazon more than Flipkart?
Amazon has been in second place for the most part of its e-commerce journey in India. The US-based etailer, however, has been working on various strategies to pick up sales and push it ahead of rival Flipkart. IOS reported recently that the etailer sees itself as the true market leader with a gross sales increase of 88% in Q1 of FY18.
But, has it really managed to jump into the first place where customer preference is concerned?
What Amazon India has that its rivals lack are its Prime program and strong logistics play. These have managed to capture customers and encourage repeated sales. According to a survey by Forrester Research, a research firm, Amazon continued to be online shoppers’ preferred destination. This has widened the gap between Flipkart and Amazon.
Between the period from February to March 2017 a total of 2,000 Indian consumers participated in the survey conducted by Forrester Research. The results from the survey showed that out of the 2,000 shoppers recorded –
Based on the stats collected from the respondents, the customer preference for Amazon India was higher than that for Flipkart, for the first time last year. From the details the 2,000 metropolitan respondents provided, it was found that in 2017 –
Amazon’s share of new customers in non-metro locations jumped to 75% during this year. In 2016, the year-on-year new customer share increased by 60%, the company said.
In 2017, online retail spending scaled up again after the dip caused by limited discounts and sudden demonetization. The year’s online spends per buyer grew to Rs. 26,671 from the amount in 2016, which was Rs. 24,092.
Senior forecast analyst at Forrester, Satish Meena mentioned, “Shipping cost, shipping time, product review-ratings, low price guarantee and retailers return policy are the key factors for customers while picking an online retailer. Over a period of time, Amazon rated high in almost all the factors allowing customers to order more products and also increasing the num ber of categories they purchase.”
“Online customers are looking beyond just discounts and are now also considering good experience and fast delivery. Product ratings have also become important,” said an anonymous ecommerce logistics player.
Meena also claimed that more buyers are engaging with Amazon as a result of superior customer service. The US-based e-commerce company has received 25% year-on-year sales growth due to a wide variety of consumables and fast fashion categories.
Festive season e-commerce sales are back; but this time, the merchants selling on these platforms are more at ease. The sellers YourStory spoke to said the online portals have not forced any major discounts on them this time, but they expect a large set of new customers and higher visibility.
Flipkart is launching its Big Billion Day sale on Tuesday and it will run till 17th. Amazon is running its Great Indian Festive sale during the same period while Snapdeal will have a special deal every Monday alongside offers through the month until Diwali. At the time of writing, Snapdeal claimed to be on track to reach $100 million in sales in a single day from its Monday Electronics sale on October 12th.
Kuberbox, an online seller for diamond jewellery, participated in Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sale last year, and saw the same momentum in sales for the next two months. “Once your product sells well on a marketplace platform, you are shown higher on their website. Even if you are selling on low margins, it helps you to get more visibility for your brand and your customer base will increase substantially,” says Sourav Lodha, Founder of Kuberbox.
To know more, visit E-commerce merchants expect festive-sales windfall
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Gurpreet Singh, cofounder & CEO of Browntape, an ecommerce software company that helps online sellers manage orders and inventory, chose Goa to start up because he was already working there and had a feel of the place. “Goa is well-connected to all metros, has a nice mix of urban and rural and a good place for people to build their lives,” he says. While there are challenges in hiring people, retaining talent is much easier in Goa.
“In the past six months, I have interviewed at least six senior people from metros who have been advised by doctors to move out of these cities due to pollution-related illnesses in the immediate family,” says Singh. Prototyze, an incubator located in a picturesque bungalow in Dona Paula on the outskirts of Panaji, has 150 employees, three venture teams and a mini zoo.
“Travel is a breeze, pollution is relatively less and the beach is a walk away,” says Mohan Krishnan, chief planning officer at Prototyze, who has lived in Goa for 14 years. In the last 18 months, Prototyze has incubated Mobiefit, a fitness brand; HandyTrain, a mobile training platform for companies to create and deploy training programmes; Seynse, a fintech venture; TempoGO, a digital transportation company; and Mondeart, a platform for home owners and interior designers.
To know more, visit Work life imbalance, the only danger of starting up in Goa
economictimes.indiatimes
When Browntape got to know that one of the online marketplaces was looking for sellers who retail colourful laptop bags priced between Rs 699 and Rs 999, it immediately passed on the information to its clients.
Firms like Browntape and Sellerworx help small businesses manage their online operations across marketplaces and become active on ecommerce platforms, by providing technical backing, key market information other support. These services also help the marketplaces sign up more active sellers, as most of their current seller base is inactive, with small and medium sellers struggling to stay competitive in a market where challenges range from low margins to complex payment and reconciliation processes.
Sellerworx works with 800 sellers on Flipkart, Paytm, Snapdeal, Shopclues, eBay and Amazon and, according to the company, as much as 60% of these sellers are active on the ecommerce platforms. “There has been a large push to onboard a critical mass of SMEs in the last six months,” said Venkat Potluri
To know more, visit Browntape, Sellerworx help small businesses manage their online operations across marketplaces
economictimes.indiatimes
E-commerce is like a family – to make it work, everyone in the ecosystem has to work on their relationships, make compromises, have proper communication, and most importantly, know that the effort is worth it. The buzzword in Indian economy functions only with the cooperation of multiple segments – offline retailers, online retailers, logistics partners, delivery boys, and most importantly customers.
In the last few years, since the country witnessed the birth and growth of e-commerce, all the top players – homegrown rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal, their American competitor Amazon, younger unicorn ShopClues – have been racing to get the maximum number of sellers on their respective platforms: for the simple reason that it provides more selection and possibly more discounts to the customers.
In the last six to seven months, however, e-commerce majors and their sellers have had quite a frictional relationship. Reportedly struggling with funding crunch, Flipkart increased their commission, whereas Amazon – perfectly timing its counter move – decreased theirs. Flipkart’s recent hike in commission has irked their sellers so much that many threatened to quit the platform.
To know more, visit The game is on – e-sellers versus Flipkart-Amazon-Snapdeal
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Hyderabad-based logistics firm Gati Ltd has invested $3 million (around Rs 22 crore) in Goa-based cloud software startup Browntape Technologies Pvt. Ltd, it informed stock exchanges.
Browntape, founded by Gurpreet Singh and Piyush Goel in 2012, was a part of GSF accelerator’s second batch. It makes cloud-based software, which online merchants can use to manage their orders and inventory for ecommerce marketplaces—such as Amazon, Flipkart, eBay and Shopclues, among others—where they are listed.
These sellers can track the status of their orders and print invoices through the software. For a seller, when an item sells on an ecommerce platform, the stock quantity gets updated.
“Gati will use the Browntape platform to offer a single-window solution to customers by integrating our established pan-India logistics network and Browntape’s multi-channel order management platform,” Dhruv Agarwal, chief strategy officer of Gati, said in a statement.
“Online sellers will be able to manage their ecommerce ecosystem seamlessly in terms of order flow, physical product flow and information flow,” Agarwal said.
To know more, visit Logistics-tech startup Browntape raises capital from Gati
techcircle.vccircle.com
Gati Limited has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs. 8.4 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2106 as against a profit of Rs. 8.3 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.
The express distribution and supply chain solutions company posted a consolidated revenue of Rs. 425.64 crore for the second quarter, as against Rs. 404.94 core, for the same period last year.
The company announced it has invested in BrownTape Technologies, a cloud-based software solutions company which helps online merchants manage their order for multiple e-commerce marketplaces.
“The relationship with BrownTape will form an important part of the company’s long-term growth strategy. The alliance will work on the vision of simplifying e-commerce for all levels of online sellers,” Dhruv Agarwal, Chief Strategy Officer of Gati, said.
To know more, visit Gati invests in e-com facilitator BrownTape Tech, nets Rs. 8.4 cr in Q2
thehindubusinessline.com
On a few major marketplaces in India that are live today including eBay, Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Tradus and Shopclues over 50,000 merchants sell their products. With a lot of them them having started with a single platform, are now selling on 4 or 5 sites simultaneously. Many of them have their own branded sites as well but work with other affiliate networks too.
Now talking from a merchant’s perspective – they live in overburden of excel-sheets who log into the sites where they have showcased their inventory, every morning, in different tabs, and copy paste orders into a central database of excel-sheets. Some other manually type the order details into Tally. Trying to solve this problem of Indian marketplace merchants – Browntape, a Goa based startup has come up with an automated process to eliminate the need of heavy and slow excel sheets.
The platform integrates with all the marketplaces and bring the orders for a merchant to one single console – on top of generating all the the shipping labels in one click. Moreover, the merchants get a common sales analytics for all their channels and thus helps them in getting a centralized inventory system.
To know more, visit Handling multi-channel selling on various ecommerce marketplaces ? Try Browntape
iamwire.com
Goa-based Browntape, a cloud-based software which helps online merchants manage their orders and inventory for multiple e-commerce marketplaces, has raised an undisclosed amount of investment (around $ 1 million) from Seedfund and serial entrepreneur Krishnan Ganesh.
Following the investment, Seedfund partner Paula Mariwala has joined the company’s board. “We will use the fund for sprucing up technology, expanding its sales and marketing team in various cities, and hiring.
Sellers can track the status of their orders and bulk print shipping labels, invoices through Browntape. These entire functions manifest on one screen through a multi-channel order fulfilment software. For a Browntape user, when an item sells on one online store, the stock quantity gets updated on all his other online stores automatically. The data is also updated at the seller’s inventory records.
To know more, visit Cloud-based inventory management startup Browntape raises close to $1 M from Seedfund & Krishnan Ganesh
yourstory.com
GSF Accelerator has announced the graduation of twelve startups from its 2013 Summer Accelerator Program. The startups underwent a 10-weeks program that ran simultaneously in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
The twelve startups are ClinchPad, PosterGully.com, TripTern, BrownTape, TimeSaverz, AirStream, TradeStreet, Swym, RidingO, DhilCare, Tinysurprise, and Flinto.
The startups will now will get a chance to pitch to angel investors and venture capitalists from India and rest of the world in a two-day conference, GSF #WhereDoWeGONow on August 21 and 22, 2013 in Bangalore.
GSF Accelerator is India’s largest tech accelerator, founded by Rajesh Sawhney, and backed by 20 Indian founders and 5 funds from across the world. GSF aims to provide promising startups in the mobile, social, local and cloud spaces with access to venture & business networks, personalised & intensive mentoring, and initial capital.
To know more, visit GSF Accelerator graduates twelve startups as part of its 2013 Summer program
gadgets.ndtv.com
GSF, an incubator endeavoring to become a “TechStars” for India and the developing world, just graduated its second batch of startups covering everything from trip planning in South Asia to CRM to cheaper electo-cardiograms.
The accelerator, which just started off a year ago, is the brainchild of longtime Reliance Entertainment executive Rajesh Sawhney. He’s been seeking a way to jumpstart a startup culture in India, even as multi-national foreign and domestic companies continue to recruit the best technical talent out of the country’s universities.
India has had a few notable growth-stage startups like advertising network InMobi and Flipkart, but Sawhney wants foster a broader pool of startups across the entire country.
Instead of concentrating the accelerator in a single city, GSF simultaneously runs a 10-week program in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. Sawhney says this is because India has so many major cities with technical talent, each with their own strengths. Mumbai is at the heart of India’s entertainment industry while Bangalore is the tech hub that attracts foreign companies.
To know more, visit India’s Accelerator GSF Graduates A New Batch Attacking Everything From Trip Planning To ECGs
Techcrunch.com
Serial entrepreneur K Ganesh has also invested in the Goa based company. The company, founded in 2012, was one of the companies from the 2013 batch of GSF Accelerator.
Browntape is an inventory management service for merchants who sell on online marketplaces like Amazon or Flipkart. The startup has over 500 sellers in India which includes the likes of Organic India, Haridwar Shree Ganga Depot and multi-retail brand CMM Retail.
Companies that power the Indian e-commerce industry by means of providing various services stand to make a lot of money for their services.
To know more, visit Inventory Management Solution for Merchants Browntape Secures Funding from Seedfund
NextBigWhat.com
