At a time when online fashion retailer <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword> is planning to shut down its website and concentrate only on mobile app mode of operations, the big question of the hour is : Would online retailers do away with their websites and focus on mobile-app only? 
 
After speaking to half-a-dozen startups, The Economic Times found that the new entrants plan to channel efforts and marketing dollars entirely on their mobile applications. 
 Among the ones ET spoke to are local services startups Zopper, Doormint and LocalOye; online-first restaurants Holachef and Spoonjoy; online dating startup Truly-Madly; and on-demand grocery delivery firm <keyword id="2809732" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PepperTap">PepperTap</keyword>. 
 
Large eCommerce firms such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, Quikr, Ola and Myntra get 70-80% of their traffic from mobile devices, a key factor influencing Internet companies and startups to consider being app-only platforms, the ET news report confirms. Flipkart and its fashion affiliate Myntra began the trend by shutting their mobile websites and relying instead on their apps to encourage repeated use and to push targeted discounts and notifications. 
 Yet exception is there to prove the rule. Quikr is still not keen on shutting down web operation. "Mobile is clearly the most important channel for us, but for our business, which has a lot of customers in rural India, the browser is important as well," founder and CEO <keyword id="1063538" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pranay-Chulet">Pranay Chulet</keyword> told the financial daily. 
 
India's smartphone market grew 54% to 140 million devices last year, and is expected to reach 651 million in four years and be the largest mobile-first Internet market, according to Cisco. 
 
As a reflection of this market growth, Ola, India's largest taxi-hailing company, saw cab bookings through its mobile app double in the past 12 months. In contrast, its "website as a source of bookings has been negligible, as 80% of the bookings come through the app and around 20% through the call centre", Anand Subramanian, director of marketing communication at Ola, which registered more than 2 lakh rides a day in January told the ET. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

You must own a smartphone with Internet if you want to shop online

Much like the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Flipkart</a>-<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Amazon&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Amazon</a> tussle in India’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">e-commerce</a> space, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a>-<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> battle in the online cab aggregation sector is also heating up. 
 
Looking to dominate India’s $9 billion industry, both taxi-hailing apps are promising hundreds of millions in new investment, and are willing to go that extra mile to offer Indians a ride, and more. The battle for the Indian market has even been dragged from the streets to the Court. 
 
Here are a few grounds where <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> locked horns, just to get a bigger piece of the Indian pie: 
 
Raw Money Power: 
Looking at the lack of adequate public transport in Indian cities, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> have together promised an hefty investment of over $2.25 billion in India. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> reportedly plans to pump over $500 million by June in India. This is over and above the $1 billion already committed over the past nine months. That is some serious money. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> hasn’t been left wanting either. It has promised to add another 2,000 cars to its existing fleet of 26,000 in the nation’s capital. It is backed by the likes of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=SoftBank&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">SoftBank</a>, and some of the most cash-rich VCs in the world. 
 
WiFi in Autos? 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> both began offering in-car WiFi last year. 
 
However, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> has been pulling out all its stock to go up against <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a>. The company plans to launch WiFi services in the budget cab segment, and even its auto-rickshaws. 
 
Some wonder how that's humanly possible at the current cost. 
 
Legal Battles: 
Interestingly, both taxi aggregators have been in legal wrangles. 
 
In October 2015, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> filed a legal petition, accusing <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> of flouting a Supreme Court order demanding app-based taxis in New Delhi switch from running on diesel to using CNG (compressed natural gas). 
 
A few months on, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> recently sued <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> for allegedly creating 93,000 fake <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> accounts, and tampering its businesses. The company has been seeking around $7.4 million in damages. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> claims <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> employees used bogus accounts to book and cancel a whopping 400,000 rides over the last six months. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> allegedly had to pay high cancellation charges to drivers due to this. It claims around 20,000 drivers quit the platform in frustration. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> officials 'categorically deny’ <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a>'s allegations of fraud. Senior officials Anand Subramanian and Rahul Maroli told Business Insider they 'stand by' their statement. 
 
Accusations: Both <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> and <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> have been accused of wrong-doing. 
 
Recently, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Paytm&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Paytm</a>-backed online transportation app <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Jugnoo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Jugnoo</a> alleged Ola has adopted unethical practices against it. In a blog post, the company claims Ola employees made fake bookings, and tried to hamper its operations. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Jugnoo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Jugnoo</a> CEO Samar Singla has said his team saw a sudden surge in bookings and cancelations. According to him, around 20,000 cancelations were made through 800 accounts over a 10-day period earlier this month. In December, the auto-rickshaw aggregator had accused Ola of poaching employees and driver database in Chandigarh. 
 
Uber has made similar claims against Ola. Ola spokesperson <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Anand+Subramanian&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Anand Subramanian</a> maintains this to be Uber’s way of ‘payback’ for the legal petition Ola filed, accusing Uber of flouting a Supreme Court order. 
 
Interestingly, Uber’s rivals <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Lyft&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Lyft</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Gett&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Gett</a> had in 2014 complained against the aggregator of making false bookings, and recruiting Lyft and Gett driver partners for its own service. 
 
Experiments gone wrong: 
In an attempt to find new battlegrounds, Ola and Uber both launched their bike-taxi services in India’s Bengaluru on the very same day. 
 It seems both knew of each other’s plans and neither wanted to be left behind. However, neither was fully ready. Several users claimed not a single <keyword id="3149752" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bike-taxi">bike taxi</keyword> was visible. 
 
Both were offering extremely competitive rates. Ola has a per km rate of Rs 2, and a minimum fare of Rs 30. Uber has a per km rate of Rs 3 and a minimum fare of Rs 15. 
 
However, Ola was forced to roll back its service a few days later after the Karnataka state government said that India’s Motor Vehicle Act doesn’t have a provision for two wheelers to be used as taxis. Simply put, the bike taxi services were illegal. 
 
When asked about the same, Ola COO Pranay Jivrajka refused to comment on the issue. 
 
However, Uber bike taxis continue to ply on Bengaluru’s (earlier Bangalore) roads. 
 
This isn’t the first time this has happened. As rival Uber was turning up the heat, Ola started experimenting with hyper-local food and grocery delivery. 
 
It was later forced to shut these and focus on serving its core business. Although, it went on an overdrive, introducing new categories like Micro, Prime, a shuttle bus service and carpooling in a very short span. 
 
Regulatory hassles: 
While Uber has been facing regulatory hassles worldwide, and has the muscle to lobby for friendlier policies, Ola is still pretty new to such complications in business. 
 
Recently, Indian state Karnataka stood firm on not allowing surge pricing for app-based ride hailing services such as Ola and Uber. In the state, online taxi aggregators operate as ride-hailing service under a license obtained under the Radio Taxi Scheme, 1988. 
 
The policy says the charged fare cannot be higher than the fare fixed by the government. That means transport apps have to charge within a band where the upper limit is capped. Ola COO <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Pranay+Jivrajka&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Pranay Jivrajka</a> told BI the company's 'working together' with the state government to find a feasible solution. 
 
Way back in August, in a major setback to Ola Cabs, the Delhi High Court dismissed its plea challenging a single-judge order upholding Delhi government's ban on such taxi services. 
 
While Ola argued that non-app based taxi organizations also come under the Radio Taxi Scheme, and that Ola doesn’t own these vehicles anyway, the Delhi government had said the All India Tourist Permit (AITP) vehicles that operate under Ola brand are meant for tourist destinations and not point-to-point service in city. 
 
Online taxi aggregators were finally legalized. 
 
Chest Thumping 
Ola and Uber have both thrown around numbers that hardly make sense if put together. 
 
In a recent interview, Ola’s Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Categories Raghuvesh Sarup said, "In three weeks, we have put up a category (Ola Micro) which is already 50% of all of Uber's daily bookings in the country. The rate at which Micro is growing, it will be larger than their entire brand within a month." 
 
On the other hand, Eric Alexander, President of Uber's Asia business, in an interview said his company was on the verge of overtaking Ola in India. "In January last year, we were at five per cent market share. Now, we are right at the edge of 50 per cent. Within next 30 days, we would beat them (Ola). We will surpass them very, very shortly." 
 
The statistics are even more confusing. Ola claims it holds 75% of the Indian app-based taxi-hailing market, with over 350,000 driver partners on its platform across the country, while Uber claims otherwise. 
 
As the cut-throat fight between Uber and Ola continues, some say it’s reminiscent of Uber’s tussle with Lyft in the U.S. The two San Francisco-based rivals were constantly undercutting each other’s tariffs, poaching each other’s drivers and duplicating services. 
 
Let’s just say its the same war, but with some Indian masala.

The Ola-Uber rivalry in India – when
competition became ridiculous

As the festive season kicks off on Monday with big sales promotions, firms which provide last-mile services to ecommerce sites are encouraging their employees to go the extra mile. On offer are silver coins, cash, gift vouchers, gadgets, refurbished homes and the chance to upgrade skills to take on higher-level roles.
 

	These firms include Ola, delivery agencies such as Gojavas and Roadrunnr, and staffing firms such as Quess Corp and TeamLease.
 

	Wiser after the surge in business last year took them by surprise, companies want to make sure they'll be able to handle the extra load this time around.
 

	And a crucial aspect of that is motivating those at the end of the chain. "Compared to last year, when some of these sales saw a great deal of chaos, this time the level of preparedness on the part of the companies is much better," Rituparna Chakraborty, cofounder and senior vice-president, Team-Lease Services, a recruitment agency, told ET. "This in turn will also lead to people performing better and earning more." For example, a delivery person in Bengaluru earning a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 can boost that by 50-60% through incentives, Chakraborty said.
 

	Ola said incentives will help ensure that clients can get cabs when they want. "These initiatives motivate drivers to be more available on the platform during the festive season and will help us bridge the demand-supply gap," said Anand Subramanian, senior director, marketing communications.
 Hyperlocal delivery company Roadrunnr's best staff will get silver coins daily. Weekly incentives include kitchenware and electronic gadgets. The company's clients include <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and Myntra. The top 10-15 Runnrs, as they are called, will also be trained in soft skills, spoken English and computers to help them in career advancement, said Aneek Mukherjee, director, Roadrunnr. <keyword id="103483" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Raj-Kumar">Raj Kumar</keyword>, 22, hopes he can be one of the winners at Roadrunnr. During the festive season, the number of orders can double to 30 on a weekday compared with 14-15 on regular days and about 20 on the weekend, he said. One of the top performers at his branch in Bengaluru, he said, "These initiatives make all the extra trips worth it." While India's online retail market is expected to grow to around $50 billion by 2020 from $4 billion at the end of 2014, according to industry estimates, competition among the top ecommerce sites such as <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, Amazon and Snapdeal will be at full pitch. And with online sellers focusing more on margins rather than discounts, companies will need to work harder on service. 

	They also need to make sure rivals don't poach their people. "Retention is the biggest challenge since the environment is tight. Everyone from old players to the new is fighting for a share," said Guruprasad Srinivasan, Quess Corp's CEO for people and services. The company provides delivery agents for the top ecommerce companies — staffing has surged to 20,000 from 3,500 in a year. Srinivasan said most ecommerce companies are paying bonuses and incentives this time round. Riders are also crucial for companies such as Faasos, which delivers restaurant orders placed on its website.

	 
	 
	(Image credits: clubpenguin.wikia)

This festival season has surprises in store for hard working employees!

Lok Sabha Election 2019 Second Phase - 95 Constituency Candidate List from Key Parties

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>If you already pay for a cable subscription, there's no better way to view your favorite shows on the go than NimbleTV.
NimbleTV is a free cloud-based streaming service that lets New York and Chicago residents stream live TV to their favorite devices, regardless of where they are.
Previously, the service was unavailable in Chicago, and customers needed to pay about $5 a month for a DVR setup.
The company's philosophy is that if you're already paying for a cable subscription, you should be able to sign in and watch the content that you're already paying for on any device you wish, and in any country.
The best part? It just works, and you can use practically any device. You can stream NimbleTV on your computer, iPad, iPhone, Android phone, Roku, and Apple TV.
The streaming service isn't affiliated with any cable company, but you will have to sign in with a cable subscription tied to a physical address in New York or Chicago, though CEO Anand Subramanian told Business Insider that there are plans to expand to 9 cities by the end of the year.
Once you sign in, you'll be greeted by a carousel of the same channels you'd see on your home TV.
You can browse your available channels, peruse your favorites, or search for a specific channel or show. Like most TV menus, you can keep watching a show in the upper right-hand corner while you explore the channel guide.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div> 
Scrolling through your subscribed channels is similar to browsing your TV guide. If a show is airing, you can stream it right then and there, but you'll also see what will be airing throughout the day.
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NimbleTV lets you watch things in full-screen, but there's plenty of other options to mimic the traditional TV experience.
You can surf through channels using the blue arrow buttons at the bottom of your screen, or you can tap the "Menu" button to bring up a sidebar with options to navigate to your channels or recordings.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div> 
NimbleTV itself is free for existing cable subscribers, but if you want to record programs for later viewing, you'll need a cable subscription that includes DVR storage or subscribe to one of NimbleTV's own HD-DVR storage plans, which start at $4.99 a month for 10 hours of recording time.
Recording shows is a breeze, and you can choose to start recording at a moment's notice or schedule a future recording. There's even the option to record single episodes, only new episodes, or all future episodes.
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Once a show has been recorded, you can watch it at your leisure from any device, even if you're in another country. It's a great option for college students to bring their family's cable plan with them to campus without having to buy a new plan.
If you live in the New York Metro area, you can use NimbleTV for free if you subscribe to Cablevision, Verizon FiOS, Time Warner, or RCN. NimbleTV just rolled out service to Chicago as well, but you'll need to have a cable subscription with Comcast Xfinity or AT-T U-verse.
You can sign up for NimbleTV over at <a href="https://watch.nimbletv.com/login.php">its official website.</a>

You Searched For "Anand Subramanian" and got 5 results

You must own a smartphone with Internet if you want to shop online

BI India Bureau

The Ola-Uber rivalry in India – when competition became ridiculous

Saikat Pyne

This festival season has surprises in store for hard working employees!

BI India Bureau

Lok Sabha Election 2019 Second Phase - 95 Constituency Candidate List from Key Parties

BI India Bureau

NimbleTV Lets You Watch Your TV From Anywhere In The World - And Now It's Free

Steven Tweedie