Much has been written recently, with more than a touch of surprise, about ecommerce companies opening physical retail stores. Whether it is Amazon, Birchbox and Bonobos in the US, Spartoo in France, Astley Clarke in the UK or FirstCry and Flipkart in India, young tech-based ecommerce businesses are adopting the ways of the dinosaur retailers that they were apparently going to drive into extinction. Perhaps, the seeds of the surprise lie in the perception that the ecommerce companies themselves built for their investors, the media and the public, that it was only a matter of time that the traditional retail…
Ravi Teja Sharma & Rasul Bailay, The Economic Times New Delhi , 29 July 2015 Riding on the back of humongous investments and rising valuations, ecommerce companies and technology startups outpaced IT/ITeS firms for the first time as the biggest office space taker in the country in the first half of the year. Companies in this segment leased more than 6 million square feet of office space, or over 35% of the total, according to property research firm Knight Frank. Flipkart leased 3 million sq. ft. in Bengaluru with Embassy Office Parks, Amazon took 1.3 million sq. ft. in Bengaluru,…
Sharan Poovanna, Mint Bengaluru, 29 July 2015 India’s largest e-commerce firm, Flipkart, has launched 20 stores in 10 cities to let its customers collect the items they ordered online at their convenience, mimicking similar moves from Amazon.com Inc. The initiative aims to address issues such as unavailability of customers during delivery and restricted entry of delivery boys into IT parks, gated communities and educational institutions. The stores will also be a centrepiece of Flipkart’s rural expansion strategy and will provide a reliable alternative to door delivery in small towns. “We also plan to offer several value-added services at these experience…
Soumonty Kanungo, Daily News & Analysis (DNA) Mumbai, 20 July 2015 Buying an anti-ageing or anti-wrinkle cream online is no longer an urban phenomenon. A growing number of women from smaller towns are busy placing orders for such products these days, thanks to the increasing rural penetration of e-commerce companies. If e-retailers are to be believed, customers from tier-3 and tier-4 towns and beyond are growing aspirational and on their shopping lists are products like microwave ovens, dishwashers and high-tech smart phones. Sridhar Gundaiah, founder and CEO, StoreKing, a Bangalore-based assisted e-commerce company having a large rural and semi-rural target…
Mehak Sharma, Indiaretailing.com New Delhi, 17 July 2015 "Shopping is as much an experiential occasion, as it is a transaction comprising products and money. It is a social, participative activity, which is not replicable to the same degree by online social sharing of browsed products, wishlists and purchases," says Devangshu Dutta, CEO of retail and market analyst firm Third Eyesight. Dutta's analysis appears to be echoed in today's retail environment, where several e-tailers are increasingly looking at establishing offline presence. In the past few years, a slew of pure-play e-tailing companies, including Lenskart, Healthkart, Fabfurnish and Caratlane, among others, have…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
