Category: Press Quotes

Rupa & Company: The inside story

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May 5, 2020

Written By DEBOJYOTI GHOSH

Which translates to rupo or rupa in Bengali. The name, as everything else, was driven by a need to differentiate and yet belong, because it was a tough market. Brand Dora dominated, he recalls. “No hosiery store would sell anything else but Dora,” he says. To break through, they relied on two principles. Innovation, for one. In the early ’70s, for instance, Rupa launched elastic strap under – wear for men, a shift from the cotton rope string variety widely sold till then. Discipline and an undeterred work ethic, for the other.

Rai believes it is their never-say-die attitude that has got the company, No. 221 on the Fortune India Next 500 list this year, this far. Consider the challenges he faced upfront. Rupa first started selling its men’s vests in Patna, Bihar, a densely populated market with high demand for vests (baniyans). Men’s briefs and women’s innerwear followed a few years later, in the mid-’70s. “I would travel in general class coaches to Patna and most of the time would sleep in the narrow passage next to the toilet,” says Rai. The response time from stores—to give a nod to Rupa—was long, but, “despite that I would convince shop owners. Slowly we got a grip of the market and moved to other states.”

The growth is indisputable. Today, Rupa & Co., with a total income of ₹1,222.27 crore for FY19, has a pan-India presence through a distribution network of 125,000 retailers, more than 1,200 wholesale dealers and over 300 sales and marketing professionals. Rupa remains a family-owned enterprise with promoters’ holdings at 73.28% as of December 2019. It manages a portfolio of about 18 brands and over 8,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) across ranges for men, women, and children; at the back end, it has manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru, Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, and Kolkata in West Bengal.

Leading by example is Rai, who hasn’t slowed down even five decades after founding the Kolkata-based knitwear company. Always well-briefed and punctual, he follows a structured schedule of about eight hours of work a day. This discipline, he says, he inherited from his father. “During our college days, we have seen our father [Baijnath Agarwala] opening his hosiery shop sharp at 9 a.m. without fail,” says Rai’s younger brother Kunj Bihari (K.B.) Agarwala, 70, managing director, Rupa & Co. “Once my elder brother (Rai) opened the shop at 9.15 a.m. and our father came to know about it… the next day, he [their father] reached the shop at 8.45 a.m. to open it on time. He didn’t say anything to my brother but conveyed the message that punctuality cannot be compromised on.”

This is the classic entrepreneurial spirit inherent in first-generation business owners like Baijnath Agarwala, who opened a hosiery store in the 1950s; called Prahlad Rai Ramavtar, it was located on Kolkata’s Harrison Road (now Mahatma Gandhi Road). Soon after, in 1957, Prahlad Rai, his eldest son, started Binod Hosiery, a small trading business, while still studying for his B.Com at the University of Calcutta. “I was running that business till Rupa was launched in 1968,” says Rai, whose siblings (Kunj Bihari and Ghanshyam Prasad) joined the business later. The middle brother, Ghanshyam Prasad Agarwala, 74, is the vice chairman of the company but currently devotes more time on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The next generation of the family, which is now part of Rupa’s management, has absorbed the ethos of their elders. That is holding them in good stead as they try and navigate a more competitive, complicated market that does not allow for complacency.

During that time, Rupa wore the disruptor tag proudly, with new products and an emphasis on quality. For example, from the outset, German knitting and dyeing machines were used for manufacturing and hi-tech Swiss machines for finishing the products. “Before we launched Thermocot [Rupa’s thermal wear brand], similar woollen material thermals were available in the market. But we first launched a television commercial about two decades ago on thermal wear to create awareness about the category,” cites K.B. Agarwala as an example of the disruption, adding, “We first launched knitted bermudas [Bumchums] for men in the early ’90s. Prior to that, it was mostly knickers with a cotton loop.”

Between the mid-’90s and late 2000s, it launched successful economy- to premium brands such as Macroman, Frontline, Air, Softline, Jon, and Bumchums. This set the tone for an aggressive advertising and promotional push backed by celebrity endorsements. Among the first was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 1988-89, even before she became Miss World in 1994. Since then, it has built an A-list including actors Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, and Hrithik Roshan, to begin with, and now Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, and Anushka Sharma. The end of the noughties, however, saw Rupa lose its mojo and leadership status in the process. Industry experts say that the structured and execution-centric work ethic attitude morphed into a glass ceiling for the Kolkata-headquartered company.

Though the mass and economy segments in the men’s innerwear space form a bulk of both Lux and Rupa’s market shares, the former has managed to realise the potential of celebrity brand ambassadors better, especially in a price-sensitive market with a large rural base, say experts. Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of retail consultancy Third Eyesight, feels to gain any sort of premium over comparable products, a company needs to substantially and consistently invest in branding. “Companies that do so are able to lead the market.”

Lux has invested ₹380.56 crore in brand building in the five years ending FY19, according to data from its annual report in the last fiscal; of this, ₹90.89 crore was on advertising alone. This is an imperative since India’s innerwear market—pegged at ₹27,931 crore last year, and expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% to an estimated ₹74,258 crore by 2027—has altered significantly since the mid-2000s. Driving that change is current leader Bengaluru-based Page Industries, the sole licensee for underwear maker Jockey in India. “Jockey lifted the entire average price of the innerwear segment. There was a fundamental shift in price point. And the market is ready to pay a higher price. Page Industries created new rules in the market [through] differentiation of products. Today companies can’t get away with selling basic products,” says Bisen of Technopak.

In 1994, Sunder Genomal, managing director, Page Industries, along with his two brothers, set up the company in India for manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of Jockey products. But they have been in the innerwear business since 1959 when Genomal’s father set up their first factory in The Philippines where they were also Jockey’s exclusive licensee. (Page Industries is also the exclusive licensee of swimwear brand Speedo in India.) Today Jockey has a presence in over 55,000 outlets across India. In FY19, the company through its authorised franchisees opened 161 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) including nine Jockey Woman outlets taking the total number of EBOs to 620. At present, its installed capacity is spread over 2.40 million sq. ft. at 14 locations in Karnataka and one in Tamil Nadu.

THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE at Rupa are paying heed to the need to keep up. “Rupa and Lux were caught off guard and they have realised that they need to catch the bus that they missed earlier. That’s when they started launching more premium products,” says Bisen. Like in 2009, Rupa introduced the Macroman M Series, a premium fashion line of innerwear and sportswear for men. Hrithik Roshan was roped in as brand ambassador; the brand Euro was also added to the premium category. As another sign of staying with the times, the Agarwals started Oban Fashions Private Limited, a subsidiary of Rupa & Co. that operates the Indian business of international brands under a licensing model. In FY17, Oban Fashions acquired exclusive licences for brands FCUK from French Connection Limited, and Fruit of the Loom from New York-based Fruit of the Loom Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway) to develop, manufacture, market, and sell innerwear and related products in India. Rai’s grandson Siddhant Agarwal currently looks after this business.

“In a bid to enhance the share in the growing premium menswear segment, the company undertook various licensing of international brands,” says ICICI Direct’s research report on Rupa from August 2019. But because of intense competition from brands such as Van Heusen (from Aditya Birla Fashion), and Calvin Klein (Arvind Fashions is the Indian licensee), the management has not been able to scale up its business according to expectations, the report says. “Higher incentives offered by competitors have negatively impacted the offtake from dealers.” If the company’s pace seems frenetic, the reason is as K.B. Agarwala puts it: “There is a lot of competition in the market. Hard work is very crucial to stay ahead.”

With that in mind, Rupa has aggressive plans for modern retail trade that includes EBOs, increasing presence across e-commerce platforms, and large-format stores such as DMart, multi-brand retail chain V-Mart Retail, and Metro Cash & Carry. It currently has four company-owned EBOs in the eastern region. It plans to open about 100 exclusive brand outlets across the country in the next two years, through the more economically-viable franchisee model. “In the past, we opened large-size EBOs (500- 600 sq. ft.) but we realised that economically it is not a viable model because the average ticket size (₹150-₹200) of the product sold is too small to support the maintenance of a large outlet. Now we are looking at a store size of 250-300 sq. ft.,” says Vikash Agarwal, 43, president, Rupa & Co.

Another positive sign is the increased potential in the premium- to mid-premium segments. For Rupa, a strong player in the mid- to economy category, wholesale has been about 70%-80% of its total business. But the margin for the economy segment in innerwear is about 11%-12%, while the premium category commands about 18%-20%. “Now with the shift towards the premium category we can expect better profit margins,” says Vikash.

Rupa also wants to improve its contribution from exports, which is currently a small percentage of its turnover unlike competitor Lux Industries. “We intend to make it about 10% of the turnover in the next three to four years. The response is good and hopefully we will achieve the target. Currently, we export to Myanmar, Algeria, Middle East, Nigeria, Ghana, Vietnam, and Indonesia,” adds Ramesh Agarwal, 50, whole-time director and CFO, Rupa & Co.

From market leaders to now challengers, Rupa—and Lux—seem to have slipped into their new roles with confidence. Because, says Bisen, “the last 15-20 years have seen enough of stiff learning curves for these brands to understand what works in the market now and how they need to be on guard and continuously improve to seize new opportunities.” More importantly for Prahlad Rai Agarwala, what Rupa has on its side is “the culture of family discipline”. No one knows what’ll happen next, he says, but “that [the ethos] is still going strong and is still intact to run the business”.

(This was originally published in the March 15 – June 14 special issue.)

Source: fortuneindia

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The smarter the better

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April 30, 2020

Written By ABHIK SEN AND SHISHIR BEHERA,

It’s too premature—and a bit of a stretch—to liken it to a lipstick economy but there is an interesting parallel in the continued consumer indulgence in smartphones. The ubiquitous gadget—similar to the markets currently—is defying economic realities in India. Despite the stress in the telecom space because of regulatory issues, call drops, and a sputtering economy, it’s been largely a buoyant period for the upper end of the smartphone industry in 2019. Especially premium smartphones which are priced above ₹30,000, but below ₹50,000.

According to data from analytics firm Counterpoint TechnologyMarket Research, the premium market grew at 29% in 2019, while the overall smartphone market grew at 7%. And though premium smartphones account for less than 5% of the overall market, Counterpoint says the segment has the potential to grow 3x-4x.

To explain the Indian’s predisposition towards premium smartphones instead of cheaper alternatives, let’s rewind to 2014: There was a rush of first-time buyers (according to a report from market research firm IDC, smartphone users made up 35% of India’soverall mobile phone market in the quarter ended December 2014, compared to 13% in the year-ago period), facilitated by the entry of some Chinese companies, like Xiaomi, and home-grown players such as Micromax, Karbonn, and Intex, who built smartphones toa price, encouraging people to trade up from their feature phones.

Soon after, this was aided by the ease of4G and the advent of Reliance Jio with cheap data. People finally had access to high-speed Internet at a low cost. The focus shifted to data, and consumers became more inclined to spend on their smartphones, experts say. This led to a fall in the prices of smartphones. “As a result, today one can get a decent smartphone for as little as ₹5,000-₹6,000, something one couldn’t think of five years ago,” says Pinakiranjan Mishra, partner and leader, consumer products and retail, EY.

This led to more phone-time, exploring and finding new use cases: streaming or OTT (over-the-top) apps like Hotstar, Netflix, and Amazon Prime had started coming into their own; the better Internet speeds gave a fillip to online gaming, such as PUBG and Fortnite, as well. This was in 2016-17, when people were already on to their second or third smartphone. Soon after, aided by an upsurge in apps such as TikTok, consumers started spending more and more time on their phones. People were giving as much as four-five hours daily to their phone, says Tarun Pathak, associate director at Counterpoint.

Over five years, people have started seeing a smartphone as beyond just a phone—they use it for entertainment, social media, payments, and features like the camera, says EY’s Mishra.“Then the value perception of a higher-priced phone is very different. So, what I am getting out of a phone is far, far more than what I was getting out earlier.” That’s why many consumers don’t think twice before putting down money for a high-end phone.

But the ease and use aren’t the only reasons for buying a premium smartphone. “Smartphones are not just a utility item, but a very visible status symbol as well. This is especially so for consumers who cannot easily or immediately afford a more expensive publicly visible products such as a vehicle,” says Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of retail consultancy Third Eyesight. Counterpoint’s research says that the 18-24 age group is most aggressively upgrading to premium smartphones (they generally upgrade every 20-21 months), points out Pathak. But if they buy a $400 handset instead of a $100-$150 one, they may use it for longer, he says. Indians, on an average, upgrade smartphones every 24 months, compared to 32 months in developed markets, Pathak adds.

According to IDC, phones priced between $200 and $500 accounted for 19.3% of India’s overall smartphone market in 2019. That said, premium smartphones make for just a tiny part of all mobile phones in India (smartphones comprise 60% of the market). However, if the trend is towards a more western pattern of adoption, the growing interest of companies in the premium smartphone space is better understood. “Globally, the premium segment accounts for almost half of the overall market and it is also the fastest growing segment across all emerging markets,” says OnePlus India general manager Vikas Agarwal, 39. The capital-intensive industry operates on wafer-thin margins, with frequent technology disruption, making it “unsustainable” to focus on just the entry-level segment.“In contrast, premium users are discerning with higher brand loyalty which allows brands to reinvest in developing innovative technologies.”

That translates into higher margins as well. And competition is less intense in this segment, with a limited number of players, say experts. Therefore, once a company gets its features and price combination right, it’s a large enough market when one considers the different price points. Most players in this segment in India have one or, at most, two models.

realme, a relatively new Chinese brand, entered the segment last November with its X2 Pro. Madhav Sheth, realme vice president and realme India CEO, says his customers wanted “premium specs and top-notch look at a competitive price.”

A recent Counterpoint report indicates these smartphone firms are on the right track. In 2019, the ultra-premium segment (phones priced above ₹45,000) grew at 63% year-on-year, the report says. It helps that in a country of 1.3 billion, less than 500 million people use smartphones, so the market is largely under-penetrated. But Pathak says it’s not just about launching a product, but also about the image of the brand—something which can take years to build. In fact, sometimes, doing well in one particular segment could actually work against the company. Upasana Joshi, associate research manager, client devices, at IDC India, says that companies which are heavy on low-end products, face challenges to scale up the brand value. For example, a brand known in the budget segment (like Xiaomi) might find it difficult to make headway in the premium segment.

“A brand must build an identity that a customer can relate with. Today, a customer buys a premium phone not just for its features but the overall value it delivers. And this value comes from the harder aspect of the product and the softer aspect of brand personality. Hence, the need for a strong brand and customer affinity,” explains vivo’s Marya.

The other challenge is that people buying premium smartphones tend to hold on to them for longer, say up to three years. Therefore, companies need to constantly innovate to give customers “compelling reasons to upgrade”, Marya says. This also means that, as HMD’s Kochhar points out, since consumers hold on to their phones for longer, they need an experience that does not deteriorate over time. “This means the need for regular software upgrades for at least a couple of years.”

Customers’ expectations in this segment tend to be higher, which is where brick-and-mortar stores and/or experience zones play a key role. At these locations, people can experience the look and feel of the device before buying it. After-sales support, too, is an important consideration for such expensive devices.

Another concern is the global slowdown in smartphone sales. Can India keep the party going? realme’s Sheth admits that growth in the smartphone market is expected to be “in single digits in 2020, about 5%-6%”, yet he is upbeat about opportunities even in the slow market. As is vivo’s Marya, who explains that India’s premium segment is still at a nascent stage, contributing about 12.5% by value, and as such “it offers immense opportunities”.

A compelling reason for the brands’ optimism in the premium smartphone space is the ushering in of the age of 5G. While telecom companies have been slow off the blocks, experts believe that those in the age bracket of 18-24 years wouldn’t hesitate to buy a 5G smartphone, even if there’s no 5G network available.

“With 5G coming in, the power of the smartphone is expected to go up manifold, in terms of speed and ease of usage,” says Raja Lahiri, partner at Grant Thornton India. “5G will become a driver, provided it comes at the right price,” adds EY’s Mishra. Most companies Fortune India reached out to agree that 5G would be the next growth driver.

OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau believes the evolution of 5G could change the way a human interacts with technology. “The next phase of growth in smartphones will be artificial intelligence and augmented reality user experience and we look forward to driving this change,”adds realme’s Sheth. It will give users an incentive to upgrade, as also attract many first-time buyers of premium phones.

Agarwal from OnePlus adds that over the long term, 5G has the potential to revolutionise industries in India, especially across healthcare through real-time patient monitoring and medical data management, more efficient transportation, and better public safety measures to name a few. “As a major agrarian economy, 5G can also offer promising smart agriculture solutions through easier remote data collection, aiding automated processes,” he says.

As for the recent challenges in the telecom space, experts and industry sources say most consumers aren’t even aware of the regulatory issues, and many ignore the call drops, especially if they carry two connections. And if customers are dissatisfied, they can always port their number to another service provider, experts say.

While big hikes in data prices could be a threat, Indians who have formed a significant consumption habit won’t most likely be deterred by potentially higher data prices, Third Eye-sight’s Dutta explains, keeping India’s connection with the smartphone going for the conceivable future.

(This story was originally published in the March 2020 issue of the magazine.)

Source: fortuneindia

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How tech firms are helping build robust local supply chains amid Covid-19

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April 19, 2020

Written By Anchita Ghosh

Now that many areas are out of bounds for big retailers for various reasons, is there an opportunity for local kiranas?

Let us join the dots. What if there was a platform, which not only solved the inventory issue of the hyper-local businesses, but also provided the facility of delivering the products at the customers’ doorstep like the big e-commerce firms do? Now that many areas are out of bounds for big retailers for various reasons, is there an opportunity for local kiranas?

Well, the answer is yes. A host of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platforms have stepped forward to solve the problems of local kirana stores by supplying products and providing manpower, besides bridging the last mile in some cases by delivering products directly to the customer.

Indeed, after the first announcement of a nationwide lockdown on March 24 in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak, the kirana stores — that control 98 per cent of India’s $360-400 bn grocery retail market — were the ones to be hit the hardest. Their distributors couldn’t reach them, while their loyal customers stayed away. Within days, some shut shop. Some smart ones turned to B2B e-commerce platforms like Near.Store, Jumbotail, ShopX, Ninjacart and MaxWholesale. Though most of these B2B players have been around for some time, they have now become the lifeline for many hyper-local business owners.

So while Bengaluru-based Jumbotail solved the problems faced by Abraham by filling up his stock and providing staff support, Wagadwala’s concerns were addressed by Mumbai-based Near.Store, which has tied up many kirana shops with residential societies.

Wagadwala thanks his stars for being approached by Near.Store — a plug-and-play hyper-local tech platform. “I couldn’t go to Vashi, from where I procure food grains. Besides, there was a limit on the amount of grocery I could purchase. Near.Store helped me out with procurement to begin with. It is even taking bulk orders from the housing societies on my behalf and helping me with the delivery,” says Wagadwala.

Aashis Kumar, founder of Near.Store — which was launched just three months back — says the lockdown forced many mom-and-pop stores to down the shutters temporarily. “So we tied up with housing societies and brands. We aggregate orders from these societies online. Say a housing society with 100 people generates Rs 20,000-Rs 40,000 worth of orders in 12 hours. We give all the orders to a nearby kirana store,” he says. His firm also offers them the option of credit like the monthly credits given to customers by local shops.

Last week, MaxWholesale launched an app, Radius The Neighborhood, that streamlines communication between retailers and consumers and ensures contactless delivery. Samarth Agrawal, founder and CEO of MaxWholesale, says the idea is to empower the retailers with technology. “Every retailer serves 100-200 families in its neighbourhood. They don’t have the wherewithal to develop their own apps. So we decided to provide them with a system that will give their customers the experience of big business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platforms.”

He adds his firm was working with some 13,000 kirana stores even before the lockdown. MaxWholesale’s Radius and Near.Store also help build catalogues based on the kinds of products stocked by these stores and the catchment area. This information is stored in the cloud.

Near.Store’s Kumar says the aim is to help small stores and chemists go online. “We have a database of over 200,000 products. We attach a small dongle to the stores’ billing system, which uploads everything they sell offline automatically. This helps list the products, besides creating websites for the stores.”

In 99 per cent of the cases, local shops leverage the supply chain facility offered by these platforms. Manohar Reddy, who runs one of Jumbotail’s J24 stores at Hadosiddapura in Bengaluru, says due to the lockdown, other vendors have stopped distribution. “But I got 100 per cent of my inventory via Jumbotail.”

This unbroken chain of supply has much to thank technology. Near.Store’s Kumar says often he comes to know when a store would run out of stock even before the owner does. ShopX CEO and co-founder Amit Sharma says a lot of brands have also been approaching these platforms to reach a store if their own supply chain is broken at some point.

ShopX and MaxWholesale are in direct touch with millers and mandis. “Models like these are emerging as an alternative to the traditional supply chain,” says Sharma, adding they are also working with the local APMC and police to find a solution to the problem of spoilage of fresh produce.

Most of these small retailers who have tied up with the B2B platforms say their businesses have grown by leaps and bounds since the lockdown was announced. Abraham, who has been working with Jumbotail for the last two years, says the value of his orders grew from Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 per day to Rs 70,000-Rs 1 lakh per day now. Mohan Baby of C K Stores in Bengaluru says his store sales have grown to Rs 4-5 lakh per day in the last month.

That said, Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of management consultant Third Eyesight, says while retailers have been able to expand their businesses with logistics support form these platforms, they should be watchful the balance of power doesn’t shift to the digital partners.

“Over time, the customer relationship may shift to the platform. If you buy a product from a particular store or brand on the platform, Amazon for instance, you are still shopping on it. Over a period of time, if the platform sees a particular product is doing well, it may promote a directly-sourced competing product.”

Pinakiranjan Mishra, partner and leader in consumer products and retail, EY, cautions it is too early to rejoice, both for the platform and the kirana owner.

The supply chain issue is temporary, so tomorrow “if the fast-moving consumer goods companies offer the products without additional cost, why would the retailers take help of the B2B firms,” he asks.

The other side of the coin is the new store and stock management knowledge that the kirana store owner is acquiring. “Now the kiranas know what it would take to ensure 50-100 per cent growth,” says Mishra.

Source: business-standard

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More sellers opt for e-commerce platforms amid lockdown

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April 17, 2020

Written By Alnoor Peermohamed, ETtech

Snapdeal also said it had deployed teams to assist new sellers in signing up on its platform, with large business centres such as Ludhiana, Surat and Salem seeing an increased number of signups.

“We are indeed seeing a spike in the number of seller queries with regard to the resumption of business and also new registrations. The government’s announcement of allowing business across all categories is providing independent sellers an accelerated and safe channel to resume their business operations,” said Rajnish Wahi, senior vice president – corporate affairs and communications at Snapdeal.

Walmart-owned Flipkart declined to comment.

A source in the company, however, said it was still too early to determine if there had been an increase in new seller signups.

Industry experts said this could be a stop-gap arrangement for sellers to kickstart businesses immediately.

“The fact is that small businesses are really cash-strapped and if they have to pay salaries to their employees, then they need to earn money,” said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of retail consulting firm Third Eyesight. “The motivator for these businesses seems to be that they have inventories and e-commerce is a good way to get to the customer who is unable to get out.”

Source: economictimes

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E-commerce firms seek clarity on non-essentials; gear up for MHA guidelines

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April 15, 2020

The MHA has come up with fresh guidelines allowing e-commerce companies to operate, ensuring strict social distancing without any restriction on their timing and closure, after April 20

Written By Peerzada Abrar, Samreen Ahmad & Neha Alawadhi

“For instance, a delivery associate might be carrying a TV (phone, laptop) and the police on the ground might seize these items.

”Industry insiders said the main problems firms faced on the ground were absenteeism of delivery personnel and hardship in getting curfew passes, issued by state governments. “You (government) told the delivery staff wages are valid even if you are not coming to work,” said a person. Additionally, passes were issued to those carrying essential services and not to firms per se, the person added. “It is the prerogative of the state to decide what is essential and what is not.

”Experts say there was also no clarity in the guidelines on the nature of non-essentials. “If companies are able to follow all the social distancing and safety protocols stringently, then the chances of getting things up and running are reasonably good. Probably some products that were not specifically listed as essentials but are essential in nature, such as grooming, stationery, home essentials like cleaning and kitchen products, will also be allowed to run now,” said Pinakiranjan Mishra, consumer leader at EY India.

Experts said there was no distinction between essential and non-essential with respect to transportation. “If that works, then all e-commerce firms should be able to work, but it depends on how the guidelines are implemented at the state level. There are red zones as well, where movement is restricted. So, firms will have to liaise at the local level to ensure delivery,” said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive at Third Eyesight, a consulting firm.

Dutta said a lot of backend work was required for companies to keep websites running for non-essentials. For example, content work, including photoshoots, text and data support, was provided by external agencies and the work couldn’t be done from home.

“How the backend work would be done is also a question that needs to be answered,” he added.

Meanwhile, online retailers are expecting huge demand for products and are reaching out to sellers to keep stock ready to fulfil pending and new orders after April 20, according to sources. Srinivas Mothey, senior vice-president at Paytm Mall, said: “We hope to open most of our categories, including electronics, small appliances, clothing, mobile phones, and accessories, among others,” said Mothey.

“The government has just come out with fresh guidelines. We believe things would be far better by the time we restart full-fledged operations,” said Mothey, when asked about the ambiguity related to the selling of non-essential items.Amazon India said it was evaluating the guidelines and had sought clarifications from the authorities on implementation.

“We are committed to the government’s efforts of ensuring social distancing and delivering products that customers need the most at their homes. The resumption of economic activity from April 20 is a welcome step that would nonetheless depend on unhindered availability of labour,” said an Amazon spokesperson.

Flipkart said it would continue to serve consumers to promote social distancing through its sanitized supply chain.“At this critical juncture, the e-commerce industry can ensure that citizens stay indoors and all their needs are met through home deliveries,” Snapdeal said.

Source: business-standard