Amazon, Flipkart’s growth mantra – Sell everything under the sun!

Three Ps of marketing is passé. Ecommerce biggies Flipkart and Amazon have embraced the three Es for business expansion and growth. The 3 Es are to sell – Everything, Everywhere and (to) Everyone.

Both the players are introducing new product categories and plan to sell everything under the sun.

Amazon aspires to be ‘everything for everyone’

The American ecommerce giant doesn’t want to stick a specific target market or format. Instead, the firm wants to reach out to every consumer in India and deliver what they need. Experts believe that this strategy isn’t viable but the etailer is pretty confident about pulling it off.

Amazon India Head Amit Agarwal asserted,

“Our ambition in India is to become everything for everyone. We don’t think that way (whether the time has come in India’s ecommerce market to target particular segments of customers). We believe customers, wherever they are in India, should be able to buy and get products delivered to them… The differentiator is about how you deliver the customers’ needs and not in trying to create formats. Amazon does that globally and we have been successfully doing that, and India is no different.”

Amazon India’s customer acquisition grew by 60% in 2016. This growth was driven by online marketplace’s efforts to explore tier 2 and 3 cities. The rising number of internet users also helped Amazon to acquire new customers.

Flipkart to focus on unexplored product categories

While Amazon is keen on increasing its consumer base, Flipkart want to sell new products to its existing shoppers’ base. The home-grown etailer is pushing the sales of fashion, groceries, furniture, and large appliances. Their aim is to match the popularity of product categories such as mobile phones, electronics and books.

Flipkart’s COO Nitin Seth revealed,

“The biggest lever of growth over the next couple of years will be: increasing the online penetration in the other categories (fashion, furniture, large appliances and groceries). And online penetration increases when you reach a certain tipping point where like in mobiles, you’re able to deliver quality products at a very different price point—some 20% to 40% lower than what you get offline.”

The change in strategy is the result of CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy’s entry into Flipkart’s management. The Indian etailer realized that instead of spending money on new consumer acquisition and advertising, they should work towards increasing category penetration and transaction rate per customer.

Seth explained,

“…By November or so, a lot of this focus around increasing penetration and increasing our units and transaction per customer, deepening penetration in each of the categories, category-specific strategies became clear and over the last five months that’s reflected very clearly in our strategy, in the market moves we are making and also the various product capabilities that we are looking to build.”

Be it new users or new categories, the ecommerce biggies are all set to pamper Indian buyers.  This also opens up an opportunity for sellers since ecommerce biggies would need vendors’ support to become ‘everything for everyone’.

SBI advises some 100 Snapdeal sellers to cut outstanding loans

The State Bank of India has sent advisories to nearly 100 sellers, coming under online marketplace Snapdeal’s capital-assist programme, to reduce their outstanding loans above their drawing power. The advisory comes following a letter written by All India Online Vendor Association (AIOVA) to Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, raising fears that Snapdeal may default on payments to the sellers.

The letter estimated that in any given month, Snapdeal holds Rs 300-400 crore in the form of outstanding dues and goods in transit or refunds.

“We have sent advisories to not more than three-digit number of sellers, coming under Snapdeal’s capital-assist programme, asking them to reduce their outstanding loans above their drawing power,” SBI Chief General Manager (SME) G K Kansal said.

Kansal said the bank reviews the sales position of the sellers every quarter and asks them to reduce their outstanding loans if their sales take a dip in this period.

“We review their (Snapdeal sellers) sales position every quarter, and if their sales comes down during this period, their drawing power also comes down automatically. So subsequently, we ask them to reduce their outstanding loans and bring it down to their drawing power,” Kansal said.

Snapdeal had launched the capital-assist programme to make credit available for sellers in 2014, through a network of about 27 banks and financial institutions, including SBI, Axis Bank, Tata Capital and Reliance Capital. Asked if it is an issue of raising alarm bells asking the sellers to reduce outstanding loans, Kansal said it is a normal business and not an issue of NPA.

“It is only a fluctuating facility which moves with the sales level. So if the sales goes up next month, their drawing power also shoots up. If their sales drop, the drawing power also drops down. So it is a normal business. It is not an issue of NPA. Only thing, they are temporarily irregular because of lower sales,” he said dismissing media reports which raised an alarm over the situation.

Earlier this month, Axis Bank had issued notices to some Snapdeal sellers, seeking immediate repayment of outstanding loans and withdrawing unavailed credit, citing below-par transaction flow.

Snapdeal has struggled to deal with slowing growth, mounting losses, falling market share, and an exodus of senior executives in recent months.

Amazon Transportation Services – helping hand or grabbing hand?

Last-mile delivery has been a huge pain point for ecommerce players in India. Since a major chunk of our population (above 60%) still live in the rural areas, not being able to find an efficient and practical solution for the logistical woes restricted ecommerce firms’ growth. Thus entered the many in-house logistic & delivery companies. Flipkart has Ekart. And Amazon India has Amazon Transportation Services (ATS).

Amazon’s logistics arm has over 225 delivery hubs spread across metropolitan cities and tier 2 & 3 cities in India.

ATS serves three purposes:

1. Assist sellers in order fulfilment/delivery

2. Enable Amazon to expand serviceable areas

3. Create an alternate source of revenue

While point 2 and 3 are right on track, the point number 1 has fallen off the track. Vendors inform Indian Online Seller (IOS) that ATS is causing more problems than assisting them in their online business.

Find out why.

Refusing pick-ups

Picking up delivery packages on time is one of the most crucial elements of fulfilling an order. Not delivering orders on time often leads to cancelation, which puts a huge financial burden on sellers. But according to vendors, ATS employees are apathetic towards their plight and refuse to pick-up delivery packages on time.  

Online seller Anubha Saxena, co-founder of The Banyan Tee shares her ordeal with IOS. Right from throwing her return packages in her balcony instead of handing it over to arguing & misbehaving, ATS pick-up boys have done it all.

“We select a time slot every day and we expect the pickup boys to come in that time slot. The pickup boys never come in the allotted time slot and if we ask them to cooperate or come in the correct slot; they give us reasons like they don’t have time, delivery is their main job and not pick up or they simply leave by saying that we should talk to the local coordinator about it as they do not have time for this. We have also tried contacting the local coordinator several times but even they aren’t able to help it,” says Saxena.

She adds,

“Non- cooperation is one thing, but the pickup boys go to an extent to throwing return parcels in our balcony and being argumentative about everything. They even misbehave. They just want to complete the deliveries and rush to their homes.”

• ATS team bully vendors

A seller (name withheld on request) alleges that the Pune ATS team bully vendors and the online marketplace chose to look the other away.

The seller wrote to IOS,

“Facing a big time issue related to Amazon ATS executives. The Pune ATS team has refused pick-ups and Amazon is playing mute to their threats (Pune ATS is full of goons and criminals).”

• Fake delivery attempt – not delivering orders

Based on our interaction with several Amazon sellers and customers, it is safe to say that this is the most common and the biggest issue with regards to ATS. This is particularly true for COD orders, as per vendors.

Here’s what happens: Customer receives an update that ‘order is out for delivery’. A couple of hours later customer gets another update that ‘We were unable to deliver the product as customer was unavailable’. The ATS delivery guy lies about attempting delivery and puts the blame on customer’s non-availability. Customer gets angry and cancels the order. Seller loses business and money as he/she is expected to pay the various charges and fees, as per Amazon policy.  

According to the vendors listed below:

Mayank Goyal: ATS guys are not bothered to deliver the products. They just attempt for 1 time and if the buyer or seller is lucky then the product will get delivered; otherwise the product will be returned to the seller. And seller has to bear the charges of courier.

Anubha Saxena: Since a very long time, just 10% of our COD orders have been delivered. They do not try to deliver the product more than once and do not even call the customers about deliveries and simply return the parcels saying that customers do not want the parcels. Prepaid orders get delivered because customers have already given the money and they continuously pursue it. As a seller and as a customer, we have had this experience that the ATS team is not serious about the COD orders. Many of our customers even messaged us that they were not contacted and their packet has been returned saying that they rejected the parcel at the time of delivery and it was done without their consent.

Shakti Gandhi: We have received many complaints from buyer saying ATS didn’t even contact the buyer and simply returned the shipment by giving false reason. Many COD orders they don’t even attempt to deliver. Many times I feel COD orders are fake orders given by Amazon itself to inflate its sales figures. Also they earn on shipping charges. Many times we have come across that ATS delivery guy asks buyer to come 3 to 4 km to take the delivery of product.

IOS has reviewed messages sent by customers to sellers and customers’ posts on Amazon India’s social media handles that substantiate the abovementioned claims.

• Exorbitant charges

We do believe that premium service comes at a premium price. But sellers say that Amazon’s premium charges for its underwhelming delivery service are not reasonable. On one hand Amazon has increased ATS charges; on the other hand they have reduced payouts to its delivery partners. Add to this mix, the ATS executives’ complete lack of interest in delivering packages. Win-win for Amazon; loss-loss for sellers?

Anubha Saxena shares with IOS,

“ATS has recently increased a lot of their charges. Initially, ATS used to deliver a packet in 3-4 days but not it takes as long as 7-10 days in which customers get annoyed. As far as the charges are concerned, they charge as high as Rs. 90 including the delivery service fee for just a 0.5 kg parcel when they are sending the packages by Surface. Companies like FEDEX just charge Rs. 50 for such parcels by Air. And after paying such high delivery fee, a lot of parcels are undelivered and we bear the losses.”

Quality of Amazon’s transportation and logistics service differs from region to region?

During our research we realized that the quality of ATS might differ from region to region. IOS asked seller Shakti Gandhi if he too was bullied or has ever heard of any other seller being harassed by ATS staff.

Gandhi states,

“I am not aware of any bullying by ATS, never came across it yet. Maybe it is for some region specific. Some of the ATS problems which you have mentioned are not faced by me as maybe we are located in Bangalore. In Bangalore ATS has excellent network for Pickup also for delivery.”

So it won’t be an exaggeration to say that ATS’ performance varies according to the city. In Bangalore (Amazon’s headquarters in India), the service is great. But in regions beyond that, the service is below par. Because even Gandhi admits above that ATS doesn’t even attempt to deliver products (barring Bangalore?).

IOS reached out to Amazon India to get some answers related to ATS, right from the issue faced by sellers in Pune to fake delivery attempts.

Without addressing any of the specific issues listed out by IOS, Amazon India spokesperson says,

“As a customer obsessed company, all our processes are aligned to ensure a quality customer experience. Our delivery associates form a critical component of the delivery experience and are trained to meet this high bar of customer satisfaction. We have stringent processes to ensure timely movement of all customer packages. Our systems are configured to highlight delays and necessary steps are taken at all levels to ensure timely deliveries.”

Classic Amazon reply! IOS would keep trying though. Online Sellers, any word of advice for those in distress because of ATS? Leave your helpful comments below.

Snapdeal GST Guru a hit with over 10,000 online sellers

The goods and services tax (GST) is expected to kick in by July 1 this year. To help their online sellers prepare for it, online marketplaces are rolling out GST programs to educate sellers about the new tax and the changes it will bring. Snapdeal is one of these. The online marketplace introduced its GST Guru program not so long ago and it is a hit with online sellers. The program received responses from over a 10,000 sellers in only a few weeks after its launch.

Vishal Chadha, the senior vice president (Business) at Snapdeal said, “We are happy to see the response to our GST offering. We work closely with our sellers to understand their evolving needs and changing market scenarios, and accordingly provide them the support they need to derive maximum benefit from the marketplace. We will continue making such improvements based on the inputs from our business partners.”

What does GST Guru do?

GST Guru is an additional initiative from Snapdeal that helps sellers obtain maximum benefit from the marketplace and the overall ecommerce market. The program offers sellers –

GST 101 newsletters

Snapdeal provides a wide range of resources under the GST Guru program to help sellers match pace with the new policy changes and to meet GST requirements. The etailer sends out a weekly newsletter called GST 101 to sellers. This newsletter addresses topics that sellers are most concerned about as they prepare to shift to the new tax.

A weekly business digest is also sent by the ecommerce platform to sellers to address pressing topics. It includes special editions on GST compliance to enlighten sellers further.

Accounting advice

The marketplace is collaborating with accounting and taxation experts to deliver relevant advice to online sellers. This way financial reports can be prepared appropriately.

Besides the assistance from GST Guru, the etailer also offers all year round handholding through different mediums. Snapdeal has put together rich resources to help solves everything from simple to tough questions about online retail.

This repository of information works like a Google search where a query typed in is answered in different formats like videos, written FAQs and step by step guides, in a matter of minutes.

Flipkart and Amazon also have their own GST programs for online sellers. Flipkart introduced GST Genie and Amazon launched A-Z GST Guide to train sellers and prepare them for GST.

Have you used these GST facilities from top online marketplaces? How helpful are they? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.

Fashion to dominate ecommerce by 2020, women shoppers to increase: Study

2020 will witness a shift in the online shopping dynamic, says a study conducted by popular social networking site Facebook and leading consulting firm the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Titled ‘Fashion Forward 2020’, the study observes that the next three years will witness majority of fashion shopping to go online.

Umang Bedi, MD, India & South Asia, Facebook noted,

“By 2020, 70% of all internet users in India will buy online, 76% of them would be digital shoppers, which means that may not buy online but will be digitally influenced, but 71% would be actual shoppers transacting online.”

Interesting insights

The current demographic of online shoppers is young males from metro cities. However, the next couple of years will see a change.Rohit Ramesh, Partner and MD, BCG, said,

“By 2020, nearly half the shopper base will be women, more than 50 per cent will come from lower tiers (Tier 2 or even lower) and 37 per cent will be older than 35 years of age.”

The Indian fashion industry is today worth nearly $ 70 billion, and $ 7 to 9 billion of this is influenced by social media and other online influencers. Abheek Singhi, senior partner and MD of BCG indicated that this figure would only go up,

“The online fashion market is estimated to treble by 2020, to reach $12-$14 billion. This will translate to a significant 11%-12% share of the total fashion market. Also by 2020, nearly half the fashion buyers will be digitally influenced.”

85% of online shoppers are using their mobile.

“Mobile has become central not just to the way brands market and sell, but also how they design products, plan merchandising and engage with customers end-to-end,” said Bedi.

40% of the growth will come from new shoppers, while 25% of the growth will be fuelled by the current bunch.

Applying the observations of the study

Google had also predicted that fashion would rule by 2020 in its study ‘Digital Retail 2020: Rewriting the Rules’. Online sellers could use a few of the following tactics:

• Concentrate on strengthening the mobile side – both mobile site and app,
• Channelize efforts to Tier 2 and 3 cities,
• Target women shoppers through ad campaigns,
• Continue to work on logistics and convenient payment, and
• Place more ads in the digital sphere.

Here is looking forward to 2020.

Baby care product market – A niche worth the risk

In online retail, baby care products belong to a niche category. The online baby care market began in 2010 with FirstCry.com and BabyOye.com. Since then many other players have come along to extract the rewards of this category.

Understanding the Numbers

The Indian population has grown extraordinarily since independence in 1947. As of the 29^th of February, India’s population is at 1.31 billion. We are the second country with the largest population, right after China. At this very minute the birth rate in our country is 51 births per minute. What do these numbers indicate? It’s a good time to be in the business of selling baby care products! The need for baby products isn’t running out anytime soon, as reports say, India will soon over take China. If you’d like to get into the business of selling online, this is your way in.

In 2015, ResearchMoz prepared a market report about the Indian baby care market. According to the statistics collected by the research team, the baby care market in India will progressively grow at a 17% CAGR within the time frame from 2014-2019.

The Indian ecommerce sector is one of the world’s fastest growing sectors. This year it is expected to jump over 2015’s $23 billion revenue by 67%. The ASSOCHAM states that out of all ecommerce categories in 2015, the baby care products segment grew by 53%. Putting this segment in third place, right after apparel (69.5%) and electronics (62%).

Why is this Category so Appealing?

Ecommerce is a modern trend. With urban living taking over most people find it easier to shop online. Not to mention cheaper! New parents prefer the comfort of online shopping compared to physical stores. Then there’s the bit that online retail has a better variety in terms of:

• Baby toys
• Baby apparel
• Baby food
• Baby cosmetics
• Baby diapers
• Baby accessories

The market for baby car seats is expected to expand by 4.96% by 2020. Baby strollers and prams on the other hand will witness a 5% CAGR by 2020. The increasing income in households and the increasing need for baby products due to high birth rates, is fueling the growth of the baby care market in India every day.

In 2012, the baby care product market size was estimated at around INR 15-25 billion. Since then the Indian children and baby care market has reached $11.12 billion and keeps growing. Upon inspection of the product prices in this market, you will notice the essentials fall within the 100-200 rupee range and nothing less. And this range is non-inclusive of shipment fees!

Who are the Key Players?

According to the numerical aggregates from SimilarWeb, we acquired the following figures about baby care product specific platforms online:

1. FirstCry.com

FirstCry.com is the largest online store for baby and kids products in India and Asia. They maintain stocks of numerous baby brands and all kinds of baby products. In January, Ratan Tata’s invested in the online store. Business is booming for this mega retailer and the plans for its expansion go beyond its online presence. At the start of the year, FirstCry’s CEO, Supam Maheshwari said they plan on setting up another 100 stores to double their existing number of 150.

2. BabyOye.com

BabyOye.com is another online store that specializes in infant care and maternity products for women on the journey from pregnancy to motherhood. The store was taken over by the Mahindra Group last year. BabyOye currently have over a hundred offline stores and products from a variety of renowned brands. According to recent announcements, the Mahindra Group will bring the US based children’s clothing brand Carter’s to BabyOye.

3. Hopscotch.in

Hopscotch.in is an India based ecommerce service for mothers. It was founded by the former executive of Diapers.com. The online store provides insider access to exclusive baby and kids brands from all over the world. Recently they landed $13million from Facebook co-founder, Eduardo Saverin. The startup has seen a 700% consistent growth year after year and believes 2016 is the year they break even.

4. MyBabyCart.com

MyBabyCart.com is an online marketplace for online baby care products. They have a variety of online products for babies, infants, children and mothers. They encourage women entrepreneurs to follow their business dreams, which is why they provide a ready platform for women sellers to sell online.

Other players involved in expanding this niche category are Hoopos.com, LittleShop.in, BabysJoy.com, bonsaii.in, zigy.com and NewBabyClothes.com.

What are the Challenges and Limitations of this product category?

Every online category has a set of challenges and limitations. By identifying them sellers and marketplaces can take the right steps to reduce or avoid their negative impact. With baby care goods, the most responsive are city dwellers. Since the market is under penetrated, sellers need to take on promotion activities to make their presence known.

Apart from this there are cultural aspects that affect sales. In most Indian families, hand-me-downs are a common practice. Baby clothes, toys and accessories of the older children go to the younger sibling or relatives kids.

Regulation laws prevent the production, sale and promotion of infant foods. This cuts down an entire sub-category under baby care products. As a result the growth potential of this segment falls short.

Why is This a Growing Ecommerce Segment?

Despite the problems associated with this segment of ecommerce, the sale of baby and infant care products is on the rise.

• Education – Today more people are being educated about health, nutrition and safety. Expecting mothers are taught about the nutrition they and their babies require to live strong healthy lives. This gives them proper knowledge about the kind of vitamins, minerals and nourishment they need.
• Disposable income – With larger amounts of disposable income in new families, modern quality care products are affordable for newborns. Also with more spending money in hand, people have higher living standards, translating into the requirement for superior products.
• Working women – Times are definitely changing as more women join the world of salaries and wages. It is difficult to look after a baby as it is. Throw a full time job into the mix and life becomes impossible! The ease of ecommerce ends the need for physical shopping at baby stores.

Diverse marketplaces like HomeShop18, Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon introduced baby care categories that seem to be going strong. Amazon.in launched its baby care product category in 2013. Whereas, Flipkart started in 2012 and Snapdeal prior to them! Both product specific platforms and multi-product platforms have shown healthy results in the sale of baby care goods. The competition isn’t as heated as you’d expect, however, with new sellers coming into play, we cannot bank on it being this way for long. All we can be certain of is the present potential.

Is Indofash the latest one to join the ‘struggling Indian ecommerce start-ups’ list?

The ecommerce industry has provided (is providing) a wonderful opportunity to entrepreneurs and independent artists in India. Indian Online Seller’s women’s day special series and regular interviews has women & men talking about the beauty of the online retail world as it’s an even platform for all and how it has enabled them to set up their businesses smoothly.

There are of course the big fishes – Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and few others. But niche players have also managed to gain online shoppers’ acceptance. Fashion ecommerce portal Indofash’s co-founder Pallavi Mohadikar is also one of the many young entrepreneurs who found her calling in ecommerce and started a niche site.

Indofash started as an online platform by Mohadikar (IIM Lucknow alumni) and Rahul Kumar Gayakwad (IIT-Bombay alumni), to showcase the works of Indian weavers and artisans. Mohadikar left a cushy job to start her own venture and it all was fine until the company started facing troubles that many of the Indian ecommerce start-ups are facing right now.

The fashion etailer’s website isn’t working, and the social media pages were last active in January 2017. And most importantly, sellers haven’t been paid!

Where’s our money, ask sellers?

Online seller Indi Bargain messaged Indian Online Seller (IOS) that got us interested to explore more about Indofash. The seller informed us that payment has been pending for over 6 months and the fashion portal’s founder hasn’t been very responsive.

“Started selling on IndoFash last year. Talked with Pallavi and she was very confident with their plans, so I go ahead. Very soon got one or two bulk orders and I dispatched them. Not got any payment after months, then I remind team. After many reminders, they ask my bank detail again. I provided immediately and after many emails (they never pick phone), they provide me NEFT receipt (November last week), but I haven’t received any amount till date,” shares Indi Bargain with IOS.

The seller adds,

“Talked with Pallavi (she also never picked phone so chat on Whatsapp). I have screen-shot of that chat also. Conclusion is that she is visiting all major city to expand business and don’t have much time for their sellers tiny amount. I sent emails to dozens of sellers of Indofash and got response from many sellers that they also didn’t got any amount, so they stop selling over Indofash. Indofash.com not working from my home since months. Not sure whether Indofash is closed or my IP blocked.”

For a young start-up like IndoFash, the list of unpaid sellers is quite long. IOS has reviewed email trails of at least a dozen sellers who spoke about pending dues and lack of communication. But the number of affected sellers is more than a dozen.

“Worst Experience to say the least. Professionalism is a word which is missing from their dictionary. No responses to calls and/or emails. But if they have received an order, they will contact you constantly until the package is shipped. I would like to retrace my old steps when I signed up with Indofash and would definitely NOT walk the same path,” says another seller Tanay Ganguly narrating his selling experience at Indofash.

Trusting Indofash’s young team full of dreams costing sellers?

Let’s be honest – Indofash doesn’t feature in the top 5 online marketplaces or niche marketplaces list. It is a relatively new player that not many have heard about. Therefore, IOS was interested to know as to what made sellers sign-up for it at the first place.

“One of IndoFash team member contacted me directly via email/phone. I enquired about Indofash and feel that Pallavi is from a weaver family and highly educated. Pallavi also called me and explained their plan in detail. Also she had good contacts with weavers and craftsmen unlike now days CEO, who know only to speak,” answers Indi Bargain when IOS asked what was about Indofash’s pitch that made the seller list its products on the site.

So clearly, the young founder Mohadikar was able to convince vendors about Indofash’s USP and her knowledge & passion for handloom products left many impressed. She had the right idea, the right platform and support of many sellers, in spite of being new to the industry. Then what went wrong?

Founder’s word

IOS reached out to Pallavi Mohadikar, Indofash’s co-founder to ask the above question and she replied promptly.

“Yes, there has been few issues regarding payments because of few internal issues that every startup has to go through. But we have taken care of all the problems. We have paid most of the sellers. Most of the vendors have been very supportive through this phase and we have almost sailed through it. We are rebooting the company and all these people are standing strongly with us,” says Mohadikar.

IOS requested her to share something about the ongoing reboot process and future plans, but she didn’t reply to the follow-up email.

Speaking about the sellers’ pending dues, she asserts that all the remaining payments would be cleared by the end of March 2017. In fact, soon after IOS emailed Mohadikar, she contacted sellers (as informed by Indi Bargain) and asked them to share account details and exact outstanding ledger with her. She assured sellers that all the payments will be cleared before 15th March.

Mohadikar informs IOS,

“There are few sellers who do not even have any pending payments but still protesting for sake of it. One of the seller called Indi bargain, we have paid them in last November itself. I can share the payment receipt with you as well still they are again asking for payments.”

But according to Indi Bargain, the account number mentioned in the payment receipt is wrong.

“They have shared the NEFT receipt. But the account number doesn’t have two leading zeros (Jaipur, ICICI bank account starts from 00120) so amount will be refunded to sending party… I am trying to tell them dozens of times, that my account number should have 2 leading zeros, but the receipt doesn’t contain… Contacted my ICICI bank, but they told that only sender can confirm the status of transfer. The receipt prints after making a transaction, but if any failure occurs, payment revert back to sender account,” explains Indi Bargain.

Mohadikar chose to ignore IOS’s question about Indi Bargain’s claim that the payment failed as the receipt contains wrong/incomplete bank account number.

Is India an unforgiving ecommerce market?

Only 4 months back (November 2016), Indofash raised Rs. 1 crore from angel investors. The company’s plan was to utilize this money to reach out to global buyers and add 130 lakh artisans & weavers. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to pay its domestics vendors with that money.

This is not a unique story. Right from big names to niche players, many are finding it hard to survive. While the small players are looking for buyers, the big ones are busy firing staff members and wooing investors. And vendors across various ecommerce platforms are fighting for their dues.

What is it about the Indian ecommerce market that makes its hard for start-ups to sustain? Lack of investors, lack of ecommerce-specific laws or way-too-demanding customers? Can only companies with deep pockets like Amazon or those with support of deep pocket companies like Flipkart-backed Myntra, Jabong and Alibaba-backed Paytm survive?

Or is it the blind ambition of start-ups without proper planning that’s killing them? Or fooling vendors has become a norm for biggies and newbies?