Ankita Rai, Financial Express New Delhi, 5 July 2016 Think ‘mobile wallet’ and you will probably think of recharges, DTH/bill payments or at the fringes of your mind, even e-commerce sites. But paying for a can of yoghurt at a milk-booth near your home with, say, a Paytm? Not an idea to be scoffed at — this is a reality today. In order to drive the next phase of revenues, the offline ecosystem poses a world of opportunities as far as m-wallets are concerned. Ranging from the Big Bazaars of the world to the neighbourhood mom-and-pop stores, petrol pumps, auto…
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Rashmi Pratap, Hindu BusinessLine Mumbai, 4 July 2016 Apart from changing business models, mall operators are also benefitting from the challenging times in the e-commerce space. Though online sales are expected to zoom to $55 billion by FY2018 from $14 billion in FY2015 - according to Retailers Association of India - investors in e-retailers are tightening the reins. They are questioning the business models of e-commerce players, who have been forced to re-think their strategy. Hedge funds have been actively funding Indian start-ups so far. However, with economic slowdown in China and rising interest rates, they have scaled back their…
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Ankita Rai, Financial Express New Delhi, 3 July 2016 The convenience of mobile wallets is being put to the test, not just with increased competition in the space, but also due to the National Payments Corporation of India’s unified payment initiative (UPI), which is expected to create the next level of growth owing to a more seamless backend. In response to market pressures, m-wallets are expanding their scale of operations and tying up with offline merchants to move beyond recharge-related services, DTH and bill payments. From the likes of Big Bazaars to neighbourhood mom-and-pop stores, petrol pumps, auto rickshaws and…
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AFP/New Indian Express New Delhi, 3 July 2016 The horrific slaughter of diners at a Dhaka cafe has fanned fears that surging Islamist violence may imperil the giant garment industry in Bangladesh, which built its economy on cheaply supplying fashion to the world's big-name brands. Gunmen stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital's diplomatic quarter on Friday evening, rounding up foreign hostages before murdering 20 people with explosives and machetes, in a brutal targeting of the small expat community. Islamic State jihadists released gruesome images of corpses lying in crimson pools on the cafe floor as they claimed responsibility…
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Ateeq Shaikh, DNA (Daily News & Analysis) Mumbai, 30 June 2016 The e-commerce sector is likely to benefit from the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission, but not immediately. "If the entire amount of arrears is paid it will boost consumption in a relatively shorter span," said Harish H V, Partner, Grant Thornton India LLP. But if the payment is staggered, it may take time for increase in sales through e-commerce platforms. Devangshu Dutta, managing director of Third Eyesight, a retail consultancy firm, said, "The increase in consumption would be over a period of time. In the short term, the…
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