ecommerce | Pixr8 News

19Jul By NitishNo Comments

News

ShopClues Lays off 200 people

E-commerce platform ShopClues has laid off about 200 employees as it struggles to rein in costs in the hyper-competitive online shopping segment in India. According to sources, ShopClues has sacked about 200 people as its efforts to find a buyer failed. When contacted, a ShopClues spokesperson said the company has been steadily reducing its workforce mostly in operating functions as it leverages gains from technology. "We have always been an employee first company and have ensured that impacted employees, if any, are outplaced proactively," it added. Recently, ShopClues was in talks with larger rival Snapdeal for a potential acquisition. However, after weeks of due diligence, Snapdeal decided against the acquisition as there are concerns regarding some of the findings emerg...

India’s listed E-commerce Infibeam Seeking Govt Nod to remove its Joint Auditor

12Jul By NitishNo Comments

News

India’s listed E-commerce Infibeam Seeking Govt Nod to remove its Joint Auditor

Indian E-commerce company Infibeam Avenues will seek shareholder approval for the removal of EY-affiliate S.R.B.C & Co. LLP as one of its joint statutory auditors through a special resolution, in compliance with the order from the Corporate Affairs Ministry. In May, Infibeam had said its board has recommended termination of S.R.B.C & Co. LLP's (Auditor) services as one of the joint statutory auditors on grounds of alleged sharing of unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI) a charge that S.R.B.C. had refuted. Last month, the e-commerce company had informed that its proposal had been approved by the Corporate Affairs Ministry. "As per the order, the Regional Director has instructed the company to re-obtain the approval of shareholders within the prescribed time limit...

Cross-border e-commerce startup Buyandship raises $2.2M

28Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

FUNDING

Cross-border e-commerce startup Buyandship raises $2.2M

Hongkong based Buyandship, a cross-border e-commerce shipping services has secured $2.2 million in pre-Series B funding round led by existing investor Infinity Venture Partners. Other investors include Asia-focused VC firm SQ Capital and unnamed strategic angel investors, besides Buyandship's key management. The money will be used to improve operational efficiencies and for market expansion. Wilson Chan, Co-founder, and CEO of Buyandship, says, that Asian e-shoppers are primarily motivated by the enormous difference in prices: "Buying a latest Dyson product on Indian online store costs around US$800, but less than US$500 from an overseas online store. At a discount rate of nearly 40 percent, customers naturally prefer to shop from overseas stores." In operations, Buyandship wil...

22May By AdityaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Snapdeal set to acquire Shopclues

New Delhi: Online e-commerce platform Snapdeal is in talks to acquire rival ShopClues in a deal likely to be pegged around $200-$250 million, according to sources. Snapdeal has started the due-diligence process and is likely to take a call on the acquisition over the next few weeks, the sources close to the development said. When contacted, a Snapdeal spokesperson declined to comment, while ShopClues said the company does not comment on market rumours. The two e-commerce companies have engaged in such discussions in the past as well, but this is the first time that it has made it to the due-diligence phase. The deal will be an all-stock deal and is expected to be valued between $200 and $250 million, the sources added. ShopClues' investors, including Singapore’s sovereign w...

Infibeam terminates auditor services for leaking sensitive info

5May By PriyankaNo Comments

News

Infibeam terminates auditor services for leaking sensitive info

India's first profitable e-commerce company Infibeam Avenues terminated services of chartered accountancy firm S.R.B.C & Co. LLP as one of the joint statutory auditors on grounds of alleged sharing of unpublished price-sensitive information. SRBC & Co LLP, in a statement issued later in the day, however, refuted charges and said it is open to regulatory inspection and will respond to the regulators, as required. In a regulatory filing, Infibeam Avenues said that the board Sunday recommended, subject to the approval of regulatory authorities and shareholders, "to terminate company's joint statutory auditor S.R.B.C & CO. LLP (Auditor), on the grounds of sharing company's unpublished price-sensitive information with personal e-mail accounts of their team and third-party on ...

Milkbasket raises $2.86 million from Flipkart Cofounder Sachin Bansal

30Apr By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Milkbasket raises $2.86 million from Flipkart Cofounder Sachin Bansal

India's leading online e-commerce platform Flipkart (now owned by Walmart) co-founder Sachin Bansal's firm BACQ invested $2.86 million (20 Crore INR) debt investment in daily grocery delivery service Milkbasket. The investment cycling will happen for a period of three years. "We are excited to have Sachin Bansal and BACQ on board. We have raised venture debt of Rs 20 crore for period of three years from BACQ," Anant Goel, Co-founder and CEO of Milkbasket said. Milkbasket has raised close to $16 million (about Rs 111 crore) from Mayfield Advisors, Beenext, Kalaari Capital, Unilever Ventures, Lenovo and Blume Ventures. It recently acquired Veggie India to further deepen its footprints in Delhi-NCR. "The venture debt will be used for investment in automation. We will also use it...

Amazon buys warehouse robotics startup Canvas Technology

11Apr By NitishNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Amazon buys warehouse robotics startup Canvas Technology

Amazon has said it had acquired Canvas Technology, a robotics startup in Boulder, Colorado, that has built autonomous carts that can move goods around warehouses. An Amazon spokeswoman did not comment on the deal's price tag but said the companies "share a common vision for a future where people work alongside robotics to further improve safety and the workplace experience. We look forward to working with Canvas Technology's fantastic team to keep inventing for customers". The deal was earlier reported by TechCrunch. The world's largest online retailer has increasingly automated its fulfilment centres with robots, originally from Kiva Systems which it agreed to buy for $775 million in 2012, that transport shelves of inventory to workers to pick customer orders. Amazon has a...

23Mar By NitishNo Comments

CHINA

Tmall Global Unveils New Initiatives to Boost China’s Imports

Hangzhou, China: Tmall Global unveiled two key initiatives that further Alibaba’s plans to bring $200 billion worth of international goods into China over the next five years and help businesses of all sizes enter the China market. The initiatives the "Centralized Import Procurement (CIP)" and "Tmall Overseas Fulfillment (TOF)" are import solutions offered by Tmall Global to help international brands accelerate their entry into China and capitalize on hot demand for high-quality products. As the biggest cross-border platform in China, Tmall Global not only helps brand open up flagship stores on the platform, but also offers direct import services that can help bring international goods, from companies of all sizes sell into the Chinese market, benefiting Chinese consumers with an ...

Amazon will exit from New York, 25k promised Jobs on Hit

15Feb By PriyankaNo Comments

USA

Amazon will exit from New York, 25k promised Jobs on Hit

Amazon jilted New York City on Valentine's Day, scrapping plans to build a massive headquarters campus in Queens amid fierce opposition from politicians angry about nearly 3 billion in tax breaks and the company's anti-union stance. With millions of jobs and a bustling economy, New York can withstand the blow, but experts say the decision by the e-commerce giant to walk away and take with it 25,000 promised jobs could scare off other companies considering moving to or expanding in the city, which wants to be seen as the Silicon Valley of the East Coast. "One of the real risks here is the message we send to companies that want to come to New York and expand to New York," said Julie Samuels, the executive director of industry group Tech NYC. "We're really playing with fire right now....

Infibeam Avenues Q3 net profit zooms close to $4 million

15Feb By AdityaNo Comments

BUSINESS

Infibeam Avenues Q3 net profit zooms close to $4 million

Infibeam Avenues Thursday said its net profit grew manifold close to $4 million (Rs 26.6 crore) during the December 2018 quarter from the year-ago period. The net profit stood at Rs 1.9 crore in the October-December 2017 period, Infibeam said in a statement. The company's total revenue more than doubled to Rs 150.3 crore in the quarter, compared with Rs 73.6 crore in the October-December 2017 period, it added. "Our strong performance for the quarter was a result of strong traction in the payments business, GeM contribution, and the synergies being realised across our cloud platforms," Infibeam Avenues Managing Director Vishal Mehta said. He added that the company is already on track to process payments worth Rs 50,000 crore by the year end. "(This) is an important milestone...

Alibaba Net Profit Increases 37% to $4.9 Billion

30Jan By AdityaNo Comments

BUSINESS

Alibaba Net Profit Increases 37% to $4.9 Billion

Chinese ecommerce leader Alibaba said Wednesday that net profit increased 37 percent in the latest quarter as growth in cloud computing and other business lines helped offset a slowing expansion in core online retail. The company's net profit grew to 33.0 billion yuan (USD 4.9 billion) in the October-December third quarter, compared to 24.1 billion yuan over the same period in 2017. Alibaba dominates China's emerging consumer culture and its corporate results were widely anticipated for any signs of whether a worsening Chinese economic slowdown and the US-China trade tussle was curbing the country's appetite for shopping. Revenue growth slowed to 41 per cent in the quarter, with sales in its core e-commerce business coming in at 40 per cent. While most companies would envy suc...

Asia’s Richest Man Mukesh Ambani Entry in E-commerce Space Will Reduce the Digital Space: Infosys Former CFO

19Jan By PriyankaNo Comments

Entrepreneurs Talk

Asia’s Richest Man Mukesh Ambani Entry in E-commerce Space Will Reduce the Digital Space: Infosys Former CFO

After news broke of Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani entry into Indian e-commerce space against giants like Amazon and Flipkart, Infosys former CFO T V Mohandas Pai Saturday said the foray of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance into India's e-commerce space would allay fears of digital colonisation and dramatically lower costs, immensely benefiting the consumers. "One thing is certain that consumers and India will be a winner, and in online retail, the fear of becoming a digital colony will recede with the entry of a formidable Indian entity, Reliance," he told Pixr8 in an interview. Reliance seems to be creating next generation retailnetwork which has the potential to radically change the dynamics of retail in a fast growing economy, Pai said, adding that "it would dramatically lower costs, ...