BY: NEHA SHAHAB The concept of e-commerce first formally came forth in 1991, a time when internet practically did not even exist in India. Even worldwide, very few could fathom that the act of buying and selling goods and services over the internet, would be as widely accepted a practice, as it is today. By the late ’90s, people became aware of this thing called the internet, but for a majority of them, it remained a luxury they did not particularly need. In a truly Indian manner, it was only in 2002, when the IRCTC introduced an online reservation system, that the public widely accepted the internet as something fruitful, by which time a company named Amazon, was already beginning to create a few murmurs in the US.
Many people are also unaware that Rediff had been trying to capture the Indian market since the year 1999 and that IRCTC was the first company to create a successful portal.
Investments/ Developments
Some of the major developments in the Indian e-commerce sector are as follows:
In May 2021, Amazon introduced a video streaming service within its shopping app called MiniTV for users in India. MiniTV features web series, comedy shows and content on tech news, food, beauty and fashion.
In May 2021, Flipkart strengthened its grocery infrastructure to cater to customer safety and demand across India. In this quarter, it is planning to further expand its fulfilment centre capacity for grocery by over 8 lakh square feet across Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Coimbatore and Hyderabad.
In May 2021, Flipkart announced that it is in talks with sovereign funds, private equity majors and other investors to raise up to US$ 2 billion at a valuation of US$ 30 billion.
In April 2021, Flipkart announced a commercial alliance with Adani Group to improve the company's logistics and data centre capabilities and create about 2,500 direct jobs.
In April 2021, Flipkart announced to acquire Cleartrip, an online travel technology firm. Flipkart announced to purchase 100% shareholding of Cleartrip as the company expands its investments to broaden its digital commerce offerings for customers.
In April 2021, Kirana commerce platform ElasticRun raised US$ 75 million in a round led by existing investors—Avataar Venture Partners and Prosus Ventures.
In March 2021, Amazon acquired Bengaluru-based retail tech start-up Perpule for Rs. 107.6 crore (US$ 14.5 million).
In March 2021, Purplle, an online beauty store, raised US$ 45 million from Sequoia Capital India, Verlinvest, Blume Ventures and JSW Ventures.
In March 2021, Captain Fresh, a B2B marketplace for seafood, raised US$ 3 million in seed capital led by Matrix Partners India and Ankur Capital.
In March 2021, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which represents 80 million traders and 40,000 trader associations, announced the launch of a mobile app for its e-commerce portal, ‘Bharat E-market’. The association aims to get more small traders to sell online easily through smartphones.
In February 2021, Flipkart partnered with Maharashtra State Khadi & Village Industries Board and Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation to bring local artisans and small and medium businesses into the e-commerce ecosystem.
In February 2021, Zomato entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to introduce 300 street food vendors on its portal.
In February 2021, Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of Flipkart Group will offer grocery on its app with an aim to provide kiranas and small retailers one-stop access to a wide selection of products.
In February 2021, Udaan, a B2B e-commerce firm, announced to expand its warehouse capacity (by 5x) to 50 million sq. ft. across several states in the next 7-8 years.
In January 2021, Flipkart introduced SuperCoin Pay to strengthen its SuperCoin rewards programme by allowing customers to pay through SuperCoins at >5,000 retail outlets across the country.
In January 2021, The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) unveiled eKhadiIndia.com, an e-commerce portal, which will comprise >50,000 products, ranging from apparel to home décor.
In January 2021, the B2B e-commerce platform, Udaan raised US$ 280 million (Rs. 2,048 crore) in additional financing from new investors—Octahedron Capital and Moonstone Capital. Prior to this, in October 2019, the company raised US$ 585 million (Rs. 4,280 crore) from Tencent, Altimeter, Footpath Ventures, Hillhouse, GGV Capital and Citi Ventures. It is likely to deploy the latest fund towards continued market creation of B2B e-commerce in India and digitise more small businesses across the country.
