Smaller e-commerce companies angry with Amazon and Flipkart’s heavy discounts

If you are happy buying your favourite products on Flipkart and Amazon – that’s the reason of headache for smaller ecommerce companies. In a written complaint to the Competition Commission of India, a group on online sellers have alleged that Flipkart's WS Retail and Amazon's Cloudtail are offering heavy discounts when selling private label products. This in turn is damaging their business.

These vendors have alleged that WS Retail and Cloudtail offer phones, gadgets and appliances at ‘rock-bottom prices’.

The retailers of private labels AmazonBasics and Flipkart SmartBuy have been tendered special benefits that haven't been disclosed publicly, the All India Online Vendors' Association, a group of 2,000 sellers on various online platforms, contended in a letter to the CCI. The letter dated March 2, 2017, was reviewed by The Economic Times.

"Flipkart has always conducted its business with transparency, integrity and in full compliance of all applicable laws,” a company spokesperson told The Economic Times. "Our private label, Smart-Buy, has enjoyed rapid success primarily due to the superior quality of products. We've shared the success of the brand and empowered sellers by licensing it to them but only after they meet our rigorous quality checks. The popularity of SmartBuy and the increased business has led to tremendous gains for sellers.”

When Indian start ups are complaining against predatory pricing of foreign players, it’s ironic to see, the same ecommerce company indulging in predatory pricing and destroying the ecommerce ecosystem of the country.