Regulations for Online Stores (Draft National e-Commerce Policy)

[Sushubh]

e-commerce: Global Internet firms upset being kept out of 'Indian' e-commerce policy body, Technology News, ETtech

It includes Indian internet leaders such as Flipkart, Ola and Paytm as well as officials from ministries of finance, home affairs, corporate affairs and electronics and information technology, besides representatives from telecom, IT and e-commerce firms including Bharti Enterprises, Reliance Jio, TCS, Wipro, MakeMyTrip, UrbanClap, Justdial, Pepperfry and Practo.

Currently, the think tank does not include global internet firms such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Uber, and some of these companies are now looking to reach out to the government to be included in policy-making.

A government official said that only local players were called because “the idea is to promote Indian companies”. The ministry’s invite mentioned that the think tank will identify specific policy interventions for “nurturing domestic firms” and to create jobs in e-commerce.

Amazon and Uber are great when they create 'jobs'. But it is not welcome when policy creation is being done regulating their market.

 

[dextermorgan]

^ wtf?? isn't flipkart registered in singapore? how does it make it anymore indian than Amazon india (with its HQ in india)?

 

[dextermorgan]

almost all those "indian" companies like flipkart,snapdeal,ola, Paytm have investments from chinese companies. especially paytm which I think will be bought out by alibaba in next few years just like flipkart right now by walamart

 

[Sushubh]

National policy soon to keep ecommerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart in check - The Economic Times

 

[Sushubh]

Source

 

[Sushubh]

‘New rules will spoil e-com party; Amazon, Walmart face hard time’ - The Hindu

easy to understand why this is happening now. ambani wants to take on Amazon.

 

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[Sushubh]

How Reliance shaped the India First agenda in the draft ecommerce policy | FactorDaily

 

[Sushubh]

India tightens e-commerce rules, likely to hit Amazon, Flipkart | Reuters

Flipkart, Amazon hit as govt tightens e-commerce norms - Livemint

India will ban e-commerce companies such as Amazon.com and Walmart-owned Flipkart Group from selling products from companies in which they have an equity interest.

In a statement, the government also said that the companies will be prevented from entering into exclusive agreements with sellers. The new rules will be applicable from February 1.

so what now? Amazon cannot sell amazonbasics? google cannot stop amazon from selling chromecast?

 

[amish]

Good thing for Amazon is that they made direct entry into Indian market and they now already have good hold in market.

Whereas Walmart paid huge amount for Flipkart - they first need to recover it.

Without discounts - these companies will not attract users unless they bring back decent return policy.

 

[Sushubh]

do people really buy online because of discounts these days? i mean in most cases, the discounts are superficial. you might get a deal here and there. but generally speaking, it is not really a definitive thing? i mean it's not like in usa where during sales you can actually get a 1000 dollar TV for 250 dollars. we do not really get that kind of sale here.

 

[Sushubh]

Ecommerce: No Private Labels, Exclusive Deals, Deep Discounts On E-commerce Sites

this one is a good read.

The first restriction explicitly disallows e-commerce marketplace companies from selling private labels, that is brands they directly or indirectly own, on their platforms.

Meena added that Amazon and Flipkart may have to sell their stakes in entities that directly or indirectly own their private label products.

The second new restriction is on “exclusive deals” that many e-commerce marketplace platforms often run, say for a new brand launch.

The press note also makes clear that any services provided by an e-commerce marketplace entity should be “at arm’s length and in a fair and non-discriminatory manner”. This applies not just to services such as logistics, warehousing etc…but also to cash-back schemes.

 

[Sushubh]

of course... there is always the ambani angle to this development.

Reliance Retail: Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail takes fight to Flipkart, Amazon doorsteps

 

[Sai]

This policy is much needed. All these big marketplace companies with FDI used to flout rules by maintaining inventory and selling below cost of many mid size retailers. Thus killing the market. This decision is good for everyone in the long term.

While small sellers were fighting for this from years, who really helped is Mota Bhai. He has jumped into game now and all VC funded companies will literally bleed. None can ever fight Mota Bhai and win.

 

[Sushubh]

what's the logic in stopping these companies from selling self branded products?

 

[Sai]

Suppose you are a manufacturer. You spend a lot of time designing, prototyping and manufacturing products, take feedback from market and fine tune them. You use Amazon or Flipkart as your sales channel.

What these companies do is implement a use and throw policy. They will study your products as they grow in ranking. Once it reaches a particular volume, they will call you and force you to shift for their Fulfillment service. We will be asked to maintain inventory in multiple warehouses of theirs which is expensive due to the fees involved and the fact that the inventory is locked into a single platform. Or, their subsidiaries will call you saying we want to procure in bulk and give us 3 months credit. If you give them in bulk, they will start selling at cost since these anchor sellers pay minimum fees (free or 2-3% max, whereas we pay ~40-50% of selling price). This essentially hurts your other retail channels.

During all these drama, they will continue to observe your products and sales. And one fine day they will introduce exactly same design,same quality products using their private labels. Since they source in really large quantities from big manufacturers and sell at cost without paying commission, we the original seller who spent time and money to make the product will be out of game in a snap. They throttle traffic, sales ranks, put fake negative reviews etc etc and kill our business. Once competition is eliminated, they will Jack up prices and make money.

That's the reason why we are against marketplaces with FDI maintaining inventory. It has to be either inventory based store or pure marketplace where they don't have private label or maintain inventory through proxies.