Amazon had requested for time till September to restructure its business in order to comply with DIPP’s FDI guidelines. Ahead of schedule, the American etailer is already making big changes.
The ecommerce firm is working towards reducing its dependence on its biggest seller Cloudtail after 25% cap on sales from single vendor came into effect. And to do that Amazon India has roped in a new batch of selected sellers to handle the sales of some of their best-selling brands.
Amazon-exclusive products to be sold by new vendors
Nearly all ecommerce leaders, be it Flipkart, Amazon or Snapdeal, have formed strategic alliance with big brands to sell online-exclusive products on their platform. Particularly in the mobile phones segment as it is one of the top-selling ecommerce categories.
So far such brands were sold by in-house seller Cloudtail on Amazon India. Now the plan is to allow the hand-picked vendors to sell its best-selling brands like Samsung and Motorola as well to trim down Cloudtail’s contribution.
The vendors that will sell Amazon-exclusive smartphones are Amiable Electronics, Apptronics Retail, Cart2India Online, E-Mobiles, GreenMobiles, Okay Enterprises, and S&S Company.
“Amazon has indicated, though not in writing, that there will be multiple sellers for online-exclusive models instead of just one seller.”
Are marketplaces breaking any rules?
Yesterday, IOS reported about Flipkart setting up four big seller entities similar to WS Retail. With Amazon doing the same, we wonder if the ecommerce leaders are flouting FDI norms.
All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) that represents around 1000 sellers believe that these firms are violating FDI regulations by forming or investing such seller firms. Seeking clarity on the same, the association tweeted to DIPP,
“@DIPPGOI are there any rules covering related parties of marketplaces covered under100% fdi? #mociseva”
Are Flipkart and Amazon well within their rights to introduce new sellers? Or can they be booked for breaking rules? We’ll wait for DIPP to answer that.
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