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Two upstart ecommerce companies are merging.
<keyword id="1744533" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Group-Commerce">Group Commerce</keyword> and Nimble Commerce are going to join forces. The new company will stick with the NimbleCommerce name, and NimbleCommerce CEO Prashant Nedungadi will run the new company.
Group Commerce CEO Jonty Kelt will stay on as an advisor during the transition.
As a result of the merger, much of Group Commerce's staff is going to be let go. Kelt tells us, "many positions are being eliminated due to overlap in capabilities between the two companies."
This appears to be a soft landing of sorts for Group Commerce, which had a lot of buzz early on. It was founded by Kelt, with David Rosenblatt. Rosenblatt was the CEO of DoubleClick and sits on the board of Twitter.
Initially things were going well at Group Commerce, but somewhere along the lines the company lost its traction, and a former employee says it may have lost some of its focus.
Both companies were working on the same thing. Essentially, they want to give online publishers an ecommerce option to monetize their audiences.
"Advertising has not worked very well," for publishers Nedungadi told us over the phone. A secondary revenue stream would be nice. NimbleCommerce is going to try to do just that. Nedungadi says NimbleCommerce is all about "transactions" or sales to customers. 
The new venture will be focused entirely on solving the problem of generating an alternative revenue stream for publishers. NimbleCommerce has the technology and marketplace. GroupCommerce brings more clients.
Nedungadi says the new company will be profitable (at least at first), and he expects revenue growth of 75% this year compared to 2012. He also said hundreds of millions of dollars will flow through their new platform, but Kelt suggested it will only get to keep ~5% of that revenue.
All totaled, the combined companies will have raised $47 million in venture funding. No financial details, or valuations were disclosed in the deal.

Group Commerce Merges With Top Rival NimbleCommerce

E-commerce is growing by <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ecommerce-trends/">30% every year</a>, most notably in one of the world’s largest emerging markets—India. The cities of <a href="https://newsroom.shadowfax.in/exactly-how-broken-is-indias-last-mile-logistics-cbc34af75f7c">Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi</a> are responsible for 40% of all E-commerce orders. Still, E-commerce offers many challenges, and it’s extremely difficult to find creative solutions to the traditional challenges facing E-commerce companies. In the context of Indian businesses finding practical and creative solutions to those challenges, it becomes even harder, but some companies are surging ahead of the competition in a race that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the near future. We asked <keyword id="6515681" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="ryan-andreas">Ryan Andreas</keyword>, co-founder of <a href="http://quantifiedcommerce.com/">Quantified Commerce</a> about the biggest challenges for e-commerce in India, “e-commerce is facing a crucial moment as companies expand globally…” said <keyword id="10989" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Andreas">Andreas</keyword>, “not only are we going to have to overcome traditional problems like consumer loyalty and brand identification, but as we move into other parts of the globe there are issues that are relevant to the specific countries we’re expanding into.” One of the issues unique facing E-commerce companies in India is infrastructure. India has the <a href="http://web.worldbank.org/archive/website01291/WEB/0__CO-21.HTM">largest network of roads</a> in the world, but only 2% of them are national highways. Combine this with lax government regulations <a href="https://qz.com/1086057/1-5-million-dead-in-a-decade-just-what-is-wrong-with-indias-roads-and-vehicles/">regarding licensing</a> drivers and any E-commerce company that attempts deliveries in India will face problems with traditional forms of delivery. This difficulty in delivery leads to fewer deliveries made on time, or at all, which leads to <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/10052-free-shipping-and-delivery-timing-are-key-for-customer-satisfaction">less satisfied customers</a>, which leads to less customer loyalty, which is the death spiral for any E-commerce company. In order to get around these problems,<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/quantifiedcommerce/"> Quantified Commerce</a> is making inroads in India’s last mile and logistics infrastructure, and researching drone delivery, which was <a href="https://qz.com/1118172/dgca-indias-aviation-regulator-has-finally-put-out-draft-regulations-for-flying-drones/">recently recognized by the Indian government</a> as a serious alternative to traditional means of delivery. The infrastructure of the country you’re delivering in isn’t the only infrastructure E-commerce companies need to be concerned about. The infrastructure of a company is just as important. Vertically-integrated brands, such as the ones built by <a href="https://twitter.com/QuantifiedC">Quantified Commerce</a>, are becoming more and more mainstream. <a href="http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/vertical-integration/">The benefits of vertical integration</a> allow companies to cut down on costs, improve supply chain coordination, and increase the entry barriers of potential competitors. Because <a href="http://quantifiedcommerce.com">Quantified Commerce</a> is a vertically-integrated company, it owns all of the manufacturing and warehouses. Because it sells directly to its consumers, it has been able to cut down on costs in a big way, while simultaneously building a dominant presence in one of the world’s biggest emerging markets. However, having the infrastructure in place to deliver products to your customers means nothing if you don’t have customers in the first place. A challenge that E-commerce companies face is finding and targeting not just customers, but the right customers and E-commerce companies in India are no different. As India’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/edfuller/2015/09/10/india-asias-next-economic-dynamo/#6c8d6b89221f">middle class</a> grows they want to spend money, but they need to know where and what they can spend it on. By taking advantage of new advertising mediums like <keyword id="6354576" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> and Youtube, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quantifiedcommerce">Quantified Commerce</a> is able to target and advertise directly to consumers. This type of targeted advertising is recognized as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/2010/03/24/behavioral-targeted-ads-advertising-ftc-privacy-cmo-network-ads.html#16ee69df6042">an extremely effective way of generating clicks</a> and converting customers. Not only is <a href="http://quantifiedcommerce.com">Quantified Commerce</a> leveraging new, effective advertising mediums like Facebook and Youtube, it’s also taking advantage of new, exciting, methods of advertising. By partnering with social media influencers <a href="https://twitter.com/QuantifiedC">Quantified Commerce</a> is able to build and earn trust with potential customers, and take advantage of the concept of social-proofing in order to attract, and ultimately convert customers. This a method of earned advertising, which <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2012/nielsen-global-consumers-trust-in-earned-advertising-grows.html">Nielsen reported 92%</a> of users trust more than traditional forms of advertising. With offices located in Times Square, New York, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quantifiedcommerce">Quantified Commerce</a> has access to the best talent in the world. While bringing new talent on board, <a href="http://quantifiedcommerce.com">Quantified Commerce</a> also grows talent within. They have an emphasis on leadership and education in order to eliminate <a href="https://wiredandnetworked.com/2015/01/23/doing-business-in-india-learn-the-culture-code/">power distance</a>. By focusing on education and leadership initiatives <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/quantifiedcommerce/">Quantified Commerce</a> is allowing the smartest and most forward-thinking members of Indian society to have a fair say in business practices. I don’t have to hyperlink anything here to tell you that better ideas mean better business. As India develops both economically and socially it is important to be on the lookout for companies that understand both the social and economic infrastructure of the country. Companies like <a href="https://twitter.com/QuantifiedC">Quantified Commerce</a> not only have an understanding of India but a mastery of digital advertising, which in the wild west that is the Indian E-commerce market, is a winning combination. We will be tracking their progress over the coming years along with the rest of the e-commerce space.

Quantified Commerce’s Ryan Andreas on e-commerce in India

<ul><li><keyword id="11925385" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="wunderman-thompson-commerce" source="Orion">Wunderman Thompson Commerce</keyword> partners with <keyword id="7780065" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vaayu" source="Orion">Vaayu</keyword>.</li><li>Vaayu’s automated carbon footprint calculation platform to power end-to-end measurement as part of strategic partnership</li></ul>Wunderman <keyword id="12656520" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="thompson-commerce" source="Orion">Thompson Commerce</keyword>, the leading global eCommerce consultancy, has partnered with clean technology company, Vaayu, to create a global <keyword id="12656521" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sustainable-Commerce-Practice" source="Orion">Sustainable Commerce Practice</keyword>. According to Wunderman Thompson Commerce’s Sustainability, Ethics and the Modern Shopper report, 60% of consumers actively choose companies that are more environmentally friendly, and 28% of consumers are willing to switch a brand or retailer based on the sustainability/provenance of products. Wunderman Thompson Commerce’s Sustainable Commerce Practice will drive responsible consumption across digital commerce channels. The offering will cover consultancy, design, operations, and technology services to support clients end-to-end in reducing the carbon footprint of their digital commerce propositions to meet the evolving needs of their consumers. Following the annual Conference of the Parties (COP26) that spotlighted the global climate crisis, Wunderman Thompson Commerce and Vaayu’s partnership will give brands a platform to measure and meet environmental commitments; the automated system and CO2 calculator can track and reduce emissions in real time. In an exclusive relationship from now until Q4 2022, the practice will leverage the strategic partnership with Vaayu to provide retailers and brands tangible opportunities to deliver against their environmental commitments. <keyword id="1876988" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="neil-stewart" source="Orion">Neil Stewart</keyword>, Global CEO at Wunderman Thompson Commerce, said, We’re delighted to bring Vaayu’s innovative solution into the Wunderman Thompson Commerce family, working together with retailers and brands to reduce carbon emissions. Our global clientele will not only be able to ensure they are ethically producing goods and services, but also reassure consumers that their commitment to driving genuine change is front of mind; we’re no longer at an inflection point, we’re at the point where action is needed. We want to give retailers the tools to weave environmentally conscious, sustainable commerce practices into the fabric of their DNA. Just as we have inclusive design in retail, we will now be able to provide sustainable consultancy, design, operations and technology services all in one place that transform the industry for the better.” “Powered by Vaayu’s carbon footprint calculation platform, our clients will have access to benchmarking tools and real-time measurement to track and offset carbon emissions. The ability to quantify the impact of their decisions, from changes in packaging design to route optimisations in the fulfilment process, in simple and transparent ways, will equip our clients and their customers to tangibly reduce the impact of their digital commerce offerings on the environment,” said Ruth Zohrer, Global Chief Client Success Officer at Wunderman Thompson Commerce. Namrata Sandhu, Co-founder and CEO at Vaayu, added, "We are excited to launch our partnership with Wunderman Thompson Commerce, providing data-driven insights that will help reduce carbon emissions across their impressive global retail portfolio, in real-time. By accurately measuring and understanding carbon impact, Vaayu mobilises businesses with the tools and transparency needed to take tangible action and reduce emissions at scale. We believe that progress starts with collaboration and are proud to join forces with Wunderman Thompson Commerce to support their efforts to help retailers decarbonise. We very much look forward to the journey ahead.”

Wunderman Thompson Commerce launches Global Sustainable Commerce Practice

<ul><li>Dentsu becomes India’s only commerce capability connecting the entire bandwidth from online to offline. </li><li>Its client client roster includes leading brands such as Tata Cliq, Kalki Fashion, Bioderma, Raymond, D’ Décor, Ensemble, Swiggy, Merck, Berger Paints, Asus, Schwarzkopf, Larsen &amp; Toubro, Carrier etc.</li></ul>To align its years of commerce expertise under one umbrella and deliver efficient business outcomes, <keyword id="10032656" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="dentsu-international">dentsu international</keyword> has launched its global commerce unit ‘<keyword id="10588639" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="total-commerce">Total Commerce</keyword>’ in India. ‘Total Commerce’ unites all of the conglomerate’s commerce capabilities under a single umbrella, encapsulating every aspect of e-commerce, last-mile delivery as well as retail radius communication. ‘Total Commerce’ is an attempt to find solutions to a world where manufacturers are jumping to consumers directly, where start-ups are disrupting the marketplace, and where branding is playing a significantly unique role. The solution has already, and over time, allowed many brands and retailers to take on various marketplaces and big-box distributors, thereby, enabling several wins. This has been achieved by helping brands prioritize and succeed anywhere in commerce by mapping their commerce maturity to a strategic road map covering creative, data and ops, experience, and performance and media. The end-to-end offering activates a research based success framework that ensures: Desirability (Brand equity): Are we loved and sought after by consumers? Availability (Distribution strategy): Planning presence and availability priorities by audience and demand Findability (Position Optimization): Optimizing visibility where audience are Buyability (Content Effectiveness): Optimizing product listings for purchase conversion Repeatability (Purchase Experience): Auditing reviews and sentiments Brands, under the four broad groups of Performance and Media, Creative, Interactive, and Data &amp; Ops and through the <a href="https://assets-eu-01.kc-usercontent.com/44bc0180-e274-014f-6b99-e5fc8ab7f759/bc0cb86d-f00d-404c-8ac0-07ac4326a842/The%20Total%20Commerce%20Playbook%20August%202020.pdf">Total Commerce</a> framework, will now be able to tap onto several proprietary products and solutions designed to support all stages of the commerce journey. These will include: <ul><li>Total Commerce Analytics</li><li>B2B Commerce Transformation</li><li>Commerce Intelligence</li><li>020 Commerce Framework</li><li>E-commerce Enablement</li><li>Loyalty &amp; Customer Lifetime Value Optimisation</li><li>Dentsu Tracking</li><li>Fast Track Commerce</li><li>Symphony Product Merchandising</li><li>Marketplace Consulting</li><li>eRetail &amp; Performance Activation</li><li>Marketplace Optimisation</li></ul>Speaking on the latest integration, <keyword id="7491447" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anand-Bhadkamkar">Anand Bhadkamkar</keyword>, CEO India, dentsu said, “We have always been focused on the changing market scenario and have built capabilities ahead of the market. In line with this, we had built capabilities in Commerce, Performance, Retail design and last-mile and experience design. All these capabilities are now being brought together under one umbrella of dentsu Commerce. In these testing times, we are certain that the capabilities of building on D2C offerings will enable our clients to stay ahead of the market and harness the power of the digitally comfortable consumer.” To ensure that clients have a specialist in every field, dentsu Commerce has built a team with Nihal Nambiar (AVP - Strategic Solutions, iProspect) for Performance Media, Krutika Shroff (Senior UX Lead, Fractal Ink Linked by Isobar) and Richa Gupta (Senior UX Lead, Fractal Ink Linked by Isobar) for Design and Experience, Aniket Khare (VP - Business Development, Merkle Sokrati) for Data and Analytics, Deepak Kumar (Director, Hyperspace) for Retail design and experience and Provit Chemmani (Group Tech – Ecommencify, WATConsult) for holistic e-comm design and delivery. It is pertinent to note here that this group will be the lead team. They have been empowered to bring together every capability of the group to build solutions for brands. Speaking on the consolidation of capabilities, the team said, “It’s a great thing that denstu has formalised the Commerce capabilities under one umbrella. We have been delivering solutions to clients at different stages of their commerce journey and now we will be able to help clients get a frictionless solution across the journey by planning and building solutions from end to end. We understand that clients themselves may be at different stages and may have varying requirements which is why working as a group helps us to pick and choose the best and most relevant solutions for our clients. Powered by our own commerce in a box solution e-commencify as well as best in class market solutions from Salesforce and Magento, we plan to work to quickly get clients connected with their consumers in the commerce space. And deliver solutions like never before.”

Dentsu India merges all its commerce capabilities under its Total Commerce offering

<ul><li><keyword id="4486567" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="watinsights" source="Orion">WATInsights</keyword> are periodically published reports based on primary research conducted by Recogn, the agency’s research division that provides consumer and business insights to its audience.</li><li>This time, WATInsights looks at <keyword id="1664180" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-commerce" source="Orion">Digital Commerce</keyword>.</li></ul><keyword id="735366" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="watconsult" source="Orion">WATConsult</keyword>, an Isobar Company and hybrid digital agency from the house of dentsu India, has released ‘Digital Commerce in India - <keyword id="623994" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="social-commerce" source="Orion">Social Commerce</keyword>’, the 2nd report of WATInsights – Digital commerce series. The report by Recogn, WATConsult’s research division that provides consumer and business insights, explores the consumer sentiments and attitude towards using <keyword id="6354632" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="social-media" source="Orion">social media</keyword> platforms for shopping. Currently, there are 157 million social commerce shoppers, which is 53% of the total shoppers in India. This number is expected to grow at a rate of 45% to reach around 228 million by the end of 2022. The combination of social media with digital commerce is seeing huge growth considering the benefit it brings to customers as well as businesses. For businesses, it brings cost-effectiveness and reach through digital marketing, as it connects them directly to their customers. At the same time, the recommendations and comments help customers make a buying decision. This ensures that products are offered at affordable prices with an ability to shop on the platform itself rather than switching to other <keyword id="35621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce" source="Orion">e-commerce</keyword> apps or websites. As per the report, most consumers use social media apps like YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram to shop online. Apart from YouTube, the younger customers prefer to shop on Instagram and Facebook, while the older customers prefer to shop on Facebook and WhatsApp. Social commerce users are very likely to make online purchases from ShareChat in the future. A large majority of these customers are thrilled with the concept of browsing through social media platforms and shopping at the same time, however, the shopping behaviour varies between males and females. Most male shoppers scroll through social media without any intention of making a purchase and if they end up making one, it's because the marketing campaign initiated by the brand has played a vital role in influencing the buyer. On the other hand, female shoppers specifically search for their preferable brand on the app to either know more about the product/service or to validate their final choice. Social commerce is becoming popular as more and more Indian customers are moving online and discovering newer ways of shopping. Moreover, it includes a range of immersive shopping experiences, wherein consumers can buy customised products/services without switching apps. Commenting on the latest issue of WATInsights- Digital Commerce in India- Social commerce, <keyword id="2705388" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="heeru-dingra" source="Orion">Heeru Dingra</keyword>, CEO, Isobar India group said, “Social Media and E-Commerce are paving strong inroads in the regular Indian Internet users’ daily routine. Since the shopping environment on social media has ripened, there is huge potential to drive sales through these platforms. Hence, the need for an optimised system revolving around building customer trust and creating seamless experiences is critical. With the customer being at the core of these platforms, focusing on rich customer feedback in the form of comments, opinions, reviews, etc. will help brands cater to their audience effectively and improve their brand consideration and loyalty. This issue of WATInsights reports the pulse of today’s shoppers and serves as an invaluable resource for anyone who intends to demystify social commerce in India.” Sahil Shah, Managing Partner, WATConsult added, “Shopping was, is &amp; will always be social. Platforms, behaviour and mediums will keep evolving while more and more people will go online to shop. This report gives a deep view into what the current consumer behaviour is and highlights that social media in paid, owned and earned terms does get the maximum contribution across the funnel; especially where it matters the most, e-commerce.” WATConsult’s research vertical, Recogn, in the past, has published many detailed and comprehensive pieces of research such as ‘Digital Diverse and Multilingual India’, ‘Voice Technology in India: Now &amp; Future’ and ‘Instagram in India’, to name a few.

53% of online shoppers favour Social Commerce owing to its affordability, transparency, and convenience: WATInsights

<ul><li>Advertising giant <keyword id="168456" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="wpp" source="Orion">WPP</keyword> has acquired a leading UK-based technology company called <keyword id="12638059" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="cloud-commerce-group" source="Orion">Cloud Commerce Group</keyword>.</li><li>The company will join the Wunderman Thompson global network as part of its market-leading commerce and technology proposition.</li></ul>WPP today announces that it has acquired <keyword id="12638060" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cloud-commerce" source="Orion">Cloud Commerce</keyword> Group (CCG), a leading UK-based technology company that helps brands to market, sell and deliver their products across ecommerce platforms and marketplaces globally, such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Wayfair. CCG is a leader in multi-channel ecommerce software, supporting hundreds of European retailers and wholesalers. The software platform helps brands across the entire commerce journey, connecting customer acquisition and multi-platform commerce, with warehousing, inventory, and fulfilment partners. CCG’s solution integrates with the most widely-used and popular marketplaces including Amazon and eBay, ecommerce platforms including Shopify and Magento, and multiple accounting systems, payment gateways and fulfilment partners. The platform powers over £1 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) annually through its various integrations. CCG employs over 100 people across Europe. The company will join the Wunderman Thompson global network as part of its market-leading commerce and technology proposition. This acquisition reflects WPP’s ongoing investment into strengthening its commerce offer for clients and is aligned with WPP’s accelerated growth strategy and focused M&amp;A approach, building on existing capabilities in the areas of experience, commerce and technology. <keyword id="570483" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mark-read" source="Orion">Mark Read</keyword>, CEO of WPP, said: “Clients look to WPP to help them market, sell and fulfil across multiple ecommerce channels and marketplaces. With over £1 billion revenue transacting through its platform, Cloud Commerce Group already has demonstrable scale and success in managing the complex omnichannel commerce needs of global brands. I’m excited about how CCG’s expertise will further strengthen the breadth and depth of our commerce offering to deliver growth for our clients.”

WPP acquires Cloud Commerce Group

Six years ago, Flipkart, the poster child of Indian <keyword id="35621" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword>, began to scale a new way of shopping in the country. Since then, inspired by a buoyant middle class rapidly adopting the Internet, other e-com sites have started mushrooming. 
 I distinctly remember placing an order on an e-commerce site in those early days and feeling excited and giddy like a schoolgirl when the order came through in one piece. But the icing on the cake was the innovative <keyword id="611547" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Cash-on-Delivery">cash on delivery</keyword> (COD) instead of pre-paying for the article through a credit card – something I used to do in the US. 
 Most of us now realise the opportunity at hand. About 140 million Indians are currently online, which will go up to 350 million over the next 4 years. A rising and aspirational middle class will possess increasingly higher disposable income. Research pegs the current size of the <keyword id="863306" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-Industry">e-commerce industry</keyword> at $1.8 billion, going up to $13.5 billion by 2017. So it makes immense business sense to start an e-commerce venture today. 
 Yet, at a systemic level, rare is the venture that has been able to raise Series A <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword>. The coming together of opportunity and <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">entrepreneurship</keyword> should have ideally made the perfect combination. Then how did we reach a stage where entrepreneurs are actually hesitating to start <keyword id="1105147" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-companies">e-commerce companies</keyword>? 
 Lurking in the shadows of these sites were men who controlled what matters most in developing an industry – <keyword id="6354840" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="money">money</keyword>! Investors, seeing early adoption coming along, started funding anyone who ran a <keyword id="1935380" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="dotcom-business">dotcom business</keyword>. In fact, a couple of renowned <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firms had put their associates on a brief to contact and meet every founder running an e-commerce portal in the country! 
 
Founders loved it. They were being courted by investors who, trying to follow largely western and Chinese analogies, wanted to pump in money into these ventures even though (and here comes the surprising part) they had no envisaged plan for profitability. 
 Hence, it became a virtuous cycle – show us customers and early traction, and take away the money. Never in the past had so many young founders (most of them without any experience in growing companies) got access to <keyword id="1013332" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="risk-capital">risk capital</keyword> in the country. Everyone was invited to the party and everyone wanted to get in. 
 
But by late 2011, investors started realising for the first time that the people investing with them (yes, they have bosses as well) wanted to see, at the least, a path to profitability. Suddenly metrics such as cash burn rate and contribution margins on an order have started becoming important. It isn’t only about customer acquisition; customer retention impacting the bottom line has also come into the focus now. 
 
Over the past 2 years, as an advisor to start-ups in the Internet sector, I have noticed how raising risk capital has become increasingly difficult. Many founders still banked on the easier ride leveraged by their predecessors, but they had been unable to come up with viable ventures. One entrepreneur, who recently contacted me for advice, kept insisting that he doesn’t need to show early traction to raise capital. When I protested, he duly named many entrepreneurs who had, perhaps, raised capital in an easier environment and how he was better than them. 
 But investors today are wary of anything in e-commerce. In fact, one investor with a leading <keyword id="413887" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="VC-firm">VC firm</keyword> confided in me his firm’s efforts to stay away from this sector. As a result, it will be challenging for founders to raise capital until about the end of 2015. 
 But all is not bleak. There is no dispute regarding the opportunity. While North America, Europe and China have e-commerce websites with significant scale, India is seen as the last bastion. With more people coming online every day and consumption patterns changing, the growth potential is, indeed, immense and entrepreneurs can still start <keyword id="1472369" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce-ventures">e-commerce ventures</keyword> that will attain significant scale in the next decade. 
 
This offers immense opportunity to create viable, inherently profitable ventures, which can deeply differentiate themselves from competition. In fact, the heavy adoption of mobile in India presents the greatest opportunity in this respect. So much so that it may be wise to gravitate towards mobile-first strategies, figuring out how to appeal to consumers whose first screen to discover this digital world will be a low cost smartphone. 
 
These are the ventures that will not only find it easier to raise capital but can also develop viable businesses in the next 36-48 months. Innovation around this space and cross-pollination of the changing reality with traditional e-commerce principles could be the need of the hour. 
 
About the author: Jatin Modi runs FrogIdeas, a digital strategy and marketing firm. Earlier, he was also the head of strategy at Yebhi. Twitter@PoornViram.

Why
E-commerce Is Going Through Dark Days In India

<ul><li>As we enter a brand new year, we want to crystal gaze into what the year holds for us. </li><li>In today’s feature, e-commerce players tell us what lies ahead in 2021. </li></ul>With the second-largest internet user base, India has emerged as one of the most prominent markets globally. Being stuck at home because of the pandemic further triggered the desire to make life and work easier at home, which resulted in a significant increase in <keyword id="10547863" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="shopper-spends">shopper spends</keyword>. People who would otherwise go out to buy groceries and medicines at the pharmacy, turned to e-commerce platforms to get essentials delivered at their doorsteps. 2020 accelerated the e-commerce industry by a decade, revolutionising the way brands operate, run, and grow their businesses, as well as how consumers choose to shop and pay. As per Nielsen India’s E-commerce Consumer Panel (E-Analytics Solution), there was a double digit increase in average spend of <keyword id="237977" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-shoppers">online shoppers</keyword> for electronics and accessories (39%), mobile and accessories (12%), and fashion, including apparel, footwear, and accessories (10%) after the pandemic. Appliances (e.g.TV, WM, refrigerators, etc.) also saw notable shopper spending increase at 9%. This growth trajectory of e-commerce platforms in India testifies how customers are increasingly recognising the importance of comfort shopping within closed doors, and after seeing their businesses take a plunge in the first three months of the lockdown, more and more sellers are also coming online. According to IBEF, ‘The Indian E-commerce industry has been on an upward growth trajectory and is expected to surpass the US to become the second-largest e-commerce market in the world by 2034. Indian e-commerce sector is poised to reach US$99 billion by 2024 from US$30 billion in 2019, expanding at a 27% CAGR, with grocery and fashion/apparel likely to be the key drivers of incremental growth.’ The second half of the year, which is the festive season in India, brought cheer for many brands and further pushed the adoption rate of e-commerce. Players like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and Snapdeal together sold goods worth $3.1 billion in the first 4.5 days of the festival season sale. Consumers are still hesitant to return to in-store shopping completely and audiences from Tier II and Tier III are also preferring to shop online. Snapdeal saw 70% of its orders come in from Tier II and Tier III during Diwali. The pandemic and lockdown period has brought many learnings for all businesses, and e-commerce has undoubtedly been one of the sectors with the biggest takeaways. As we enter a new year, we reached out to e-commerce platforms to understand what role it would play in 2021. Here is what they said: Anchit Nayar, CEO, <keyword id="7726437" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nykaa-Retail">Nykaa Retail</keyword>: In the initial months of the lockdown, businesses witnessed a clear shift in consumer behaviour- with scores of historically offline shoppers coming online due to convenience and safety. As the country reopens further in 2021 we see the customer seamlessly moving with ease between online and offline channels underscoring the importance of omnichannel retailers catering to customer preference. Another key trend for 2021 will be a focus on bringing more personalization and curation to customers shopping online through greater tech and marketing integration. Lastly - we believe social commerce is going to have a big impact this year. At Nykaa we have integrated our content into our shopping app thereby allowing customers to watch and shop at once. Sandeep Komaravelly, Director of International Growth at Shopify: Shopify’s first annual report* <a href="https://www.shopify.com/future-of-commerce/2021">Future of Commerce 2021</a> report brought together global merchant and consumer data to predict how the commerce landscape will shift in the coming year. It highlighted five key trends that will be prevalent next year. <ol><li>Young consumers will change the business landscape as ecommerce charges ahead.</li><li>Physical retail as we know it will transform, giving local businesses new advantages.</li><li>Consumers want to shop independent. Businesses will adapt to make that easier.</li><li>More consumers will vote with their wallets.</li><li>Modern financial solutions will disrupt business and consumer banking, financing, and lending.</li></ol>Although we have seen the greatest shift online among young consumers, the other key segments including middle aged and older consumers are also seeing significant numbers starting to go online for their shopping needs. We expect such habits to persist in 2021 as Indian consumers increasingly prefer to support independent brands and local businesses. Kashyap Vadapalli, Chief Marketing Officer &amp; Business Head, Pepperfry: In a post-pandemic world, the one guarantee is massive shifts in the outlook of humanity across a wide spectrum of things. As people, as societies and as businesses, there has been a sea change in what one values or considers in their decision making and actions. The illusion of continued uninterrupted safety, growth, progress have all been shattered. In such a scenario fundamental values have become paramount. Organizations and marketing teams that focus on foundational propositions will thrive and in my opinion the trend that we will see in the next few quarters will be about these fundamental matters. People have become more purposeful in their actions and consumption than ever before and marketers who can tap into this theme of purpose will be able to attract consumers to their offerings. While digital and social have enabled interactions over the last 5-10 years, the next stage of this trend is where simple interactions, evolve to become deep connections. Going beyond the transactional exchanges and building relationships is the second key trend that will drive the growth of businesses in future. Samarth Agrawal, CEO, Cofounder, MaxWholesale: The key e-commerce trend for 2021 will be D2C retail, as e-commerce is growing at a fast pace, new-age brands will capitalize this opportunity to grow direct-to-consumer reach to a $15-$20 million revenue run-rate online for their brand. For the medium and large brands, the operative word is going to be “omni-channel retail” as they will try to champion B2C and B2B e-commerce for growth. B2B e-commerce in India today is where B2C e-commerce was in 2015. Amazon Spokesperson: “The unprecedented situation of the pandemic has brought about a rapid adoption and acceptance of e commerce as an essential service. One thing we’ve learned this year is that how important a role Amazon and ecommerce can play with enabling policies – for our customers as much as for small businesses &amp; economy. Throughout the year, we remain focused on enabling small businesses to benefit from widest reach made possible by e-commerce as they adapted to the unprecedented situation. For customers, we continued to put together and safely deliver the best of products from our widest selection by top brands across categories to address their ever evolving needs. As the lines between online &amp; offline continue to blur, 2021 will see businesses seamlessly implementing an omni channel approach and leverage our investment in technology and infrastructure to help empower their growth.” Snapdeal Spokesperson: The lockdown saw shoppers order everything online, from groceries to stationery, from maths tutorials to yoga sessions. Covid-19 related disruption has brought fundamental and long term changes in the way people shop. Millions of new e-commerce users, including in smaller cities &amp; towns, are now comfortable buying online. The growing cohort of online buyers is also leading to deepening of the supply available online. Online has grown beyond just well-known brands to embrace a wide range of regional and seller brands, which offer a compelling value proposition of good quality at great prices. The range of products that users now browse for and buy online has grown significantly this year. It’s not only phones, gadgets, food and fashion that they buy online, but also everyday stuff like a new mop, cooking utensils, bed covers and much more. Till a year ago, customers usually preferred to buy such products offline after a good look and feel. Users are now turning to online channels more proactively to discover choices beyond the physical markets in the neighbourhood. Having experienced the vast selection that is available online, the basket for online users will become more diverse and will reflect their consumption in a more representative way.

E-commerce: Trends to watch out for in 2021

<ul><li><keyword id="6911038" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="VMLYR">VMLY&amp;R</keyword> and Geometry had joined forces to launch VMLY&amp;R COMMERCE in 2020, the entity has been officially launched in India today.</li><li>VMLY&amp;R COMMERCE is led by Global Chief Executive Officer <keyword id="8533146" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Beth-Ann-Kaminkow">Beth Ann Kaminkow</keyword>, and will operate as a distinct company within the VMLY&amp;R global operation and will be central to VMLY&amp;R’s brand and customer experience offering.</li><li>It will help connected brands grow by unifying client strategies around commerce to drive both brand equity and customer conversion. </li></ul>As 2020 wound down VMLY&amp;R and Geometry joined forces to launch VMLY&amp;R COMMERCE, a new end-to-end 'Creative Commerce Company' combining the talent and scale of two thriving global commerce offerings. VMLY&amp;R COMMERCE is led by Global Chief Executive Officer Beth Ann Kaminkow, and will operate as a distinct company within the VMLY&amp;R global operation and will be central to VMLY&amp;R’s brand and customer experience offering. It will help connected brands grow by unifying client strategies around commerce to drive both brand equity and customer conversion. In India, <keyword id="10649442" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="vmlyr-commerce-encompass">VMLY&amp;R Commerce Encompass</keyword> launched today, combining VMLY&amp;R, Geometry and Encompass commerce strengths to scale shopper, retail activation, experiential and rural marketing practices. With this strategic move, the VMLY&amp;R India operation will now provide clients with a full funnel of end-to-end services that harness creativity, technology and culture to create connected brand experiences which inspire conversion. On the launch of VMLY&amp;R COMMERCE ENCOMPASS, Global Chief Executive Officer Beth Ann Kaminkow, said, “This is an exciting and important time to further strengthen our capabilities for the diverse India market, which is one of our key markets globally. Commerce is changing at a rapid pace never experienced before and creating opportunities for tremendous creativity. Experiential and brand activation is now digital-first and with the full strength of our local VMLY&amp;R agencies and talent, we are best placed to partner with clients on these cutting-edge solutions.” “I am very excited by the opportunities that we will have ahead and am looking forward to partnering with <keyword id="293465" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anil-Nair">Anil Nair</keyword> and the VMLY&amp;R teams in India on our steps forward. 2021 promises to be a very interesting and exciting time for our company. Our focus will remain on building and scaling our Rural and Retail Practice while we continue to evolve the Experiential practice. Being part of VMLY&amp;R allows us to fast track the evolution of our commerce offering and helps create an unbeatable proposition for clients”, added <keyword id="7975998" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ranjit-Raina">Ranjit Raina</keyword>, Group Chief Executive Officer, VMLY&amp;R COMMERCE ENCOMPASS. Anil Nair, CEO, VMLY&amp;R India, said: “With VMLY&amp;R COMMERCE ENCOMPASS, we’re able to add shopper and retail experiences to our arsenal, strengthening our position as a true, full-funnel agency that can provide holistic business solutions to our clients. We’re excited for the newest chapter in VMLY&amp;R’s story, and I look forward to working with <keyword id="52304" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Roshan-Abbas">Roshan Abbas</keyword>, Ranjit Raina and their teams to maintain our position as the most relevant agency in the market today.” VMLY&amp;R COMMERCE ENCOMPASS operational integration will continue through 2021.

VMLY&R Commerce Encompass launches in India

<keyword id="6354485" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile">Mobile</keyword> Insights is a daily newsletter from <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a> delivered first thing every morning exclusively to <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a> subscribers. <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today</a>. 

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div>Business Insider Intelligence</div><a href="http://socialtimes.com/tablets-drive-disproportionate-mobile-sales-emarketer-study-shows_b125057">Tablets Drive Disproportionate Mobile Sales</a> (eMarketer via Social Times) <keyword id="6361927" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tablets">Tablets</keyword> will drive 65% of <keyword id="757624" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile-commerce">mobile commerce</keyword> sales in 2013, even though <keyword id="6354775" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Smartphones">smartphones</keyword> still make up the majority of connected devices in the U.S., according to eMarketer. All told, mobile devices will make up 15% of digital sales in 2013, up from 11% last year. Studies differ in methodology, but 35% of mobile traffic in the fourth quarter of 2012 came from iPhones while just 17% came from iPads, the most popular tablet. But tablets are no longer a luxury item. They’re now found in half of all Internet-connected homes. By 2017, a quarter of digital sales will come from mobile devices, with nearly three-quarters of that coming from tablets. Similarly in the chart (shown above right), average order size is higher on a tablet as well. <a href="http://socialtimes.com/tablets-drive-disproportionate-mobile-sales-emarketer-study-shows_b125057">Read &gt;</a>
<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://chitika.com/samsung-apple-tablet-study">Chitika</a></div><a href="http://chitika.com/samsung-apple-tablet-study">iPad Web Traffic Share Declining While Samsung Increasing</a> (Chitika) Chitika has found that despite a share drop of 10 percentage points since October 2012, <keyword id="101239" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="iPad">iPad</keyword> users still generate 81.9% of all North American tablet Web traffic. Conversely, the share of <keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword>-based tablet traffic has doubled over the past 6 months, but still accounts for only 4.3% of all North American tablet Web traffic. While analyst firms have cataloged gains by competitive Android-based offerings like the Amazon Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy Tab in terms of tablet shipments, iPad users remain the most active user base within the entire ecosystem. <a href="http://chitika.com/samsung-apple-tablet-study">Read &gt;</a>
<a href="http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-apps/how-to-improve-your-android-security-50009497/">How To Improve Your Android Security</a> (CNet) The risks to Android phones and tablets from malware, or software written with "malicious intent," are rising rapidly. These threats are multiplying faster than gremlins in a swimming pool, so how do you protect your device from evil doers' dirty deeds? The first line of defence in any form of cyber security is to modify your own behavior. <a href="http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-apps/how-to-improve-your-android-security-50009497/">Read &gt;</a>
<a href="http://edudemic.com/2013/04/5-myths-about-writing-with-mobile-devices/">Myths About Writing On Mobile Devices</a> (edudemic) People are falling victim to myths about mobile writing which lead them to believe that writing cannot occur on a mobile device. The following is the conventional wisdom that needs rethinking:
<ol>
<li>Writing = Keyboard</li>
<li>Writing = Word processing</li>
<li>Writing = Text</li>
<li>Writing = Essays</li>
</ol>
Is writing possible on a mobile device? Absolutely. Could it be easier on a computer? <a href="http://edudemic.com/2013/04/5-myths-about-writing-with-mobile-devices/">Read &gt;</a>
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/27/mobile-app-ratings-teens-_n_3171661.html?">Teens Review Their Favorite Social Mobile Apps</a> (The Huffington Post) Old communication habits are dying. Think about it: When’s the last time you called a friend from a landline phone and talked for hours? Year after year, study after study, it’s shown that teens favor communicating through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. But now, there’s a new crop of social networking applications that are readily available to teens (aka free) — and there’s something for everyone. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/27/mobile-app-ratings-teens-_n_3171661.html?">Read &gt;</a>
<a href="http://blogs.forrester.com/bryan_wang/13-04-25-leverage_mobile_payment_deployment_to_support_expanded_business_in_china">Mobile Commerce Takes Off In China</a> (Forrester) In <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>, mobile commerce has become one of the top priorities for organizations in retail, hospitality, transportation and other services industries, given the dramatic growth of smartphone adoption and the exploding e-commerce spending. Alipay, the leading third-party online payment platform in China and sister company of the country’s largest website Taobao, claims 60 million mobile payment users and estimates 10% of its 2012 transactions were from mobile devices. <a href="http://blogs.forrester.com/bryan_wang/13-04-25-leverage_mobile_payment_deployment_to_support_expanded_business_in_china">Read &gt;</a>
<a href="http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/04/29/china-mobile-reportedly-targeting-august-2013-launch-for-chinas-first-4g-network/">China Mobile Targeting August 2013 Launch For China’s First 4G Network</a> (TNW) China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, is said to be aiming to launch its <keyword id="334031" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="LTE">LTE</keyword> network — which would be the first 4G service in China — for public usage by August of this year, according to Chinese media reports. The operator has previously said that it will begin releasing 4G-compliant devices during the third-quarter of 2013, and, in preparation for the launch, it has already deployed more than 200,000 LTE base stations across 150 different locations in the country. <a href="http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/04/29/china-mobile-reportedly-targeting-august-2013-launch-for-chinas-first-4g-network/">Read &gt;</a>

Tablets Are Dominating Mobile Commerce

<keyword id="6354485" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile">Mobile</keyword> Insights is a daily newsletter from <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a> delivered first thing every morning exclusively to <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">BI Intelligence</a> subscribers. <a href="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome?utm_source=House&amp;utm_medium=Edit&amp;utm_term=MI&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_campaign=BIIMobile">Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today</a>. 

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><keyword id="1736808" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="BI-Intelligence">BI Intelligence</keyword></div><a href="http://www.instantshift.com/2013/03/22/mobile-commerce-state-of-the-industry/">The State Of Mobile Commerce</a> (Instant Shift) Mobile phones are the most widely spread electronic devices on the planet. According to The International Telecommunication Union, in August 2012 there were about 7 billion mobile phones. This number exceeds the number of PCs by about 3.8 times. Here are a few trends in the industry:
<ul>
<li>The growth of mobile data traffic worldwide</li>
<li>Mobile advertising and marketing</li>
<li>Location-based services (LBS)</li>
<li>Applications</li>
<li>Virtual wallets</li>
<li>Mobile coupons and barcodes</li>
</ul>
Here are the top stats you should know:
<ul>
<li>Nearly all Generation Y consumers owned a mobile phone of some kind and 72 percent owned smartphones.</li>
<li>Over three-quarters of Americans age 43 and under now use a smartphone.</li>
<li>53 percent of American consumers use their smartphones to access search engines at least once a day.</li>
<li>Globally, 80 percent of consumers have used computers to access the Web within the previous seven days. Sixty percent used their mobile devices to do so.</li>
<li>The smartphone market is now larger than the PC market. Smartphones outsold PCs in the fourth quarter of 2010 101 million to 92 million.</li>
<li>Smartphones and tablet computers will increase <keyword id="1613257" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mobile-web">mobile Web</keyword> traffic by 26 times during the next four years.</li>
<li>86 percent of mobile Internet users use their mobile device while watching TV, with 37 percent of those browsing the Internet for non-related TV material.</li>
<li>The number of smartphone users worldwide is predicted to exceed 1 billion by 2014.</li>
<li>25 percent of U.S. mobile Web users only access the Web from their mobile phones.</li>
</ul>
Despite unstable economies in many countries, the mobile phone market remains one of the most promising in the telecommunications sector. <a href="http://www.instantshift.com/2013/03/22/mobile-commerce-state-of-the-industry/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-ignition-mobile-presentation-2013-3">The Future Of Making Money In Mobile</a> (Bill Gross and Business Insider) IdeaLab and UberMedia founder Bill Gross gave a presentation at Business Insider's IGNITION Mobile conference last week on the monetary possibilities upcoming in mobile, calling it <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-ignition-mobile-presentation-2013-3#-1">A Perfect Storm Of Opportunity</a>. He shows how the rise of mobile computing opens a huge opportunity for companies looking to monetize. Click <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-ignition-mobile-presentation-2013-3#-1">here</a> or on <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/billgross/perfect-storm-of-opportunity-in-mobile-today">SlideShare</a> for the full presentation. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-ignition-mobile-presentation-2013-3">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://www.mutualmobile.com/resources/sales-enablement">Mobile Sales Enablement For The Enterprise</a> (Mutual Mobile) Mobile is reinventing how companies go to market. At a time when buyers have never been better informed, or more thorough in their pursuit, mobile is providing new methods to differentiate one's company from the competition, and deliver exactly what the buyer needs. Some 70 percent of sales organizations using tablets are already realizing a positive return on their investment. Learn how this shift can drive revenue growth, differentiate the buying experience, and solve some major productivity problems for <a href="http://mmweb.dev.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/aag_mse_salesexec.pdf">Sales Executives</a>, <a href="http://mmweb.dev.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/aag_mse_marketing.pdf">Marketing</a>, and <a href="http://mmweb.dev.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/aag_mse_salesops.pdf">Sales Operations</a>. <a href="http://www.mutualmobile.com/resources/sales-enablement">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/1296651-marin-software-successful-ipo-inside-the-numbers">Mobile Advertising Biggest Growth Opportunity For Marin Software</a> (Seeking Alpha) Last week, <keyword id="1087833" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marin-Software">Marin Software</keyword> completed its oversubscribed IPO at a much higher valuation than expected and with great enthusiasm from the market. Originally planning to sell 7 million shares at $11-13, it ended up selling 7.5 million shares around $14 and closed at $16 for the day after hitting an intraday high of $19.95. The $16 closing price gives the company a market cap of around $450 million. <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/1296651-marin-software-successful-ipo-inside-the-numbers">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://thenextweb.com/2013/03/24/two-year-contracts-be-damned-t-mobile-launches-flexible-pricing-plans-starting-at-50month/">Two-Year Contracts Be damned: T-Mobile Launches Flexible Pricing</a> (TNW) Following rumors that <keyword id="30493" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="T-mobile">T-Mobile</keyword> would soon get rid of carrier contracts, the company has revealed new plans which eliminate two-year contracts altogether. With these new plans, T-Mobile claims to offer unlimited text, talk and Web, starting at $50 per month. Unfortunately, these plans actually range from $50 to $110 in cost, varying based on how much you like having 4G Internet access. The $50 plan includes just 500 MB of 4G data, after which you’ll enjoy 2G speeds (which will get you nowhere on many modern sites and services). <a href="http://thenextweb.com/2013/03/24/two-year-contracts-be-damned-t-mobile-launches-flexible-pricing-plans-starting-at-50month/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/03/23/security-flaws-could-undermine-trust-in-apples-mobile-payment-ambitions/">iPhone Security Flaws Undermine Trust In Apple's Mobile Payment Ambitions</a> (Forbes) If your iPhone is your iWallet and these kinds of vulnerabilities (like the lock screen security flaw) pop up with the regularity that they have so far for <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword>, that's going to be a big problem. So if Apple’s next iPhone does indeed have biometric fingerprint authentication linked to mobile payment capabilities, that could be a big win for a company that needs one. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/03/23/security-flaws-could-undermine-trust-in-apples-mobile-payment-ambitions/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/03/23/apple-acquires-indoor-location-company-wifislam/">Apple Snags Indoor GPS Startup</a> (WSJ) Apple has acquired indoor <keyword id="6362652" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="60" keywordseo="GPS">GPS</keyword> company WifiSLAM, a sign that the war over indoor mobile location services is heating up. Apple paid around $20 million for the Silicon Valley-based company, according to a person familiar with the matter who said the deal closed recently. The two-year-old startup has developed ways for mobile apps to detect a phone user’s location in a building using Wi-Fi signals. It has been offering the technology to application developers for indoor <keyword id="59874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mapping">mapping</keyword> and new types of retail and social networking apps. The move comes as Apple continues to build its arsenal against Google in mapping. <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/03/23/apple-acquires-indoor-location-company-wifislam/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://www.codenameone.com/3/post/2013/03/5-tips-for-gamifying-your-mobile-app.html">Tips For Gamifying Your App</a> (CodeName One) Mobile apps are in fierce competition these days. There are over one million apps available in the different marketplaces. We know what Gamification is, let's define it in the context of a mobile app. The idea here is to get the user in the engagement loop.
<ol>
<li>Create engagement opportunities for the user</li>
<li>Encouraging your users to invest time through achievements</li>
<li>Guide users about the value they can receive</li>
<li>Getting rid of clutter via smart unlocking</li>
<li>Reward your key users</li>
</ol>
The more iterations of this loop, the better the app engagement will be. <a href="http://www.codenameone.com/3/post/2013/03/5-tips-for-gamifying-your-mobile-app.html">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<a href="http://www.pijnz.com/blog/new-infographic-mobile-is-changing-the-way-we-interact-with-the-web/">How The Mobile Web Is Changing Everything</a> (piJnz) 43 Americans convert to a smartphone every minute. This infographic highlights some of the ways that the mobile Web is rapidly changing the way consumers interact with the Web. <a href="http://www.pijnz.com/blog/new-infographic-mobile-is-changing-the-way-we-interact-with-the-web/">Read &gt;&gt;</a>
<div class="image-container center" style="width:600px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.pijnz.com/blog/new-infographic-mobile-is-changing-the-way-we-interact-with-the-web/">piJnz</a></div>

The Future Of Mobile Commerce Is Bright

<ul><li>Paving the way for immersive and informative shopping with its <keyword id="623994" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="social-commerce" source="Orion">Social Commerce</keyword> proposition, <keyword id="319719" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="myntra" source="Orion">Myntra</keyword> believes that the charter is likely to engage ~50% of its monthly active users in the next 3-4 years.</li><li>Myntra aims to churn out close to 1000 hours of live video content per month for deeper consumer engagement, contributing exponentially to the creator economy phenomenon.</li><li>To shape the future of optimised engagement for brands, by blending elements of product discovery, personalization, ease of purchasing, community, and edutainment.</li></ul>Myntra today announced its foray into Social Commerce at scale, to cater to the rapidly evolving content consumption patterns and shopping preferences of consumers. As a part of this launch Myntra also unveiled M-Live, bringing a first-of-its-kind, interactive, and real-time, live shopping experience to the fingertips of millions of shoppers in the country. With the launch of its Social Commerce charter, Myntra is looking to transform the way consumers shop by bridging the gap between inspiration and commerce while bringing both under one single platform. Under this charter, Myntra will target fashion and social media savvy young men and women who are looking to have access to the best-in-class fashion advisory and in-demand trends. Myntra’s Social Commerce proposition: Today, social platforms are considered to drive ~70% of purchase decisions for fashion-forward consumers with fashion and beauty being the most popular categories in the Social Commerce realm as per industry reports. Pivoted on community, connection, and trust, Myntra believes that as the future of shopping, its Social Commerce charter is likely to play an important role in defining the way its customers shop. Myntra’s Social Commerce Business has three distinct propositions that add immense composite value to consumers, creators, and brands alike: <ol><li>M-Live - With M-Live, its pioneering proprietary live video streaming, and live commerce platform, Myntra is further paving the way for the future of shopping that resonates with today’s social media savvy, fashion-conscious generation. M-Live aims to facilitate a real-time engagement between consumers and brands by allowing influencers and experts to host live video sessions of product and styling concepts curated by them, on the Myntra app, enabling viewers to shop instantly. M-Live is also the nearest to an expert-assisted offline shopping experience that is fully experienced online. The core benefit is the users’ ability to get interactive descriptions of products independently curated by experts they can trust and identify with while getting instant advice on various aspects like styling, fitment, product quality, and material. With several concurrent users joining the live sessions, it also gives users the opportunity to shop as a community and benefit from the community’s knowledge, observations, questions, and comments, enabling a more confident shopping decision that is backed by social validation.</li></ol> <div type="image" title="image004" msid="87868167" hostid="261"></div> 2. <keyword id="9063941" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="myntra-studio" source="Orion">Myntra Studio</keyword> - As an unparalleled, widely sought-after personalised content destination on an e-commerce platform that provides users with access to 20,000+ original, inspirational, and shoppable fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content assets at scale, Myntra Studio has helped establish Myntra as a frontrunner in innovative content-led commerce. The platform has grown by 25X in the last 6 months itself. Some of the leading brands on Myntra have 2-3 times larger communities on Myntra-Studio and witness a 3-4X higher engagement, in comparison to other similar influencer-led platforms. The in-house built platform has managed to attract and induce shopping among the younger and premium shoppers from across the Metros as well as Tier 2 towns and beyond. With Myntra Studio, Myntra became one of the early e-commerce movers to solidify its positioning in driving a content-led approach, strengthening its fashion proposition and consumer engagement. 3. Myntra Fashion Superstar - As season 3 goes live, this unique, fully shoppable digital reality show continues to churn out some of India’s popular fashion and beauty influencers. With every passing edition, this show has enabled Myntra’s vision of empowering the creator economy. This year’s theme ‘I Wear My Story’ showcases the hunt to find India’s next big fashion influencer and leverages the synergy between iconic fashion trends and social media. Myntra Studio currently engages ~20% of Myntra’s monthly active user base and Myntra expects this to grow to 50% in the next 3-4 years as it scales its Social Commerce charter. A Powerful Enabler for Brands: For brands, Myntra’s social commerce proposition, ensures popular influencers and experts help in establishing more meaningful connections with one of the largest communities of fashion-forward customers. This enables them to offer real-time and on-demand demonstration of features and other aspects while creating visibility for brands in an otherwise crowded environment. This enhances their potential to propel sales by trends and quality as against through pricing alone. Additionally, the brands get the rare opportunity to connect with leading influencers on a commerce platform who drive the conversation for them. It potentially also serves as an engine that increases traffic and stickiness to the platform, resulting in a higher frequency of customer visits, higher demand, and an attractive destination for newer, younger audiences along with better ROI. Unlocking The Creator Economy Phenomenon: The influencer ecosystem in India has begun to significantly scale up with new digital-first content creators emerging across geographies. With its foray into Social Commerce, Myntra is set to create a new ecosystem for consumer-influencer engagement by providing the necessary turf for hundreds of talented influencers to engage with and acquire new followers under one roof while widening their horizon of value creation and also building significant monetisation opportunities for themselves by partaking in the sales outcomes and creating measurable business impact. In addition, with M-Live, Myntra will start by supporting multiple concurrent live streams, and will steadily scale this, with an aim to churn out close to 1000 hours of live content per month in the near future. On Myntra, the influencers would also get the opportunity to partner with leading Indian and global lifestyle brands. It will propel the rise of a different segment of creators who are relatable, engaging, and confident sellers. Pioneering in-house Product-Tech Play: With Myntra Studio’s success as a frontrunner in innovative content-led commerce, M-Live has also been developed in-house with Myntra’s product-technology team working from the ground up. This allows for better customization and planning for the future and to help scale the proposition at will, alongside developing and introducing new innovative features to cater to the ever-evolving needs of the customers. Myntra Studio is slated to be the mothership of all of Myntra’s in-app content-led commerce initiatives. Speaking on the launch of its Social Commerce charter, including M-Live, Achint Setia, VP and Business Head, Social Commerce, Myntra said, “With Myntra Fashion Superstar, Myntra Studio, and now M-Live, an immersive live video shopping experience, we are heralding a new age in fashion and beauty, making big strides in the Social Commerce landscape, with our path-breaking tech-pivoted solutions. At the heart of our Social Commerce initiative, is our desire to offer unparalleled content-led shopping formats to our customers, while harnessing the power of the creator ecosystem and technology. Built for today’s consumers who are gradually progressing from text-based or catalogue-based shopping to influencer-guided interactive experiences, the charter also offers brands an avenue to build salience with a highly engaged fashion-forward customer base, for new launches, collaborations, and showcase hero products along with a host of other benefits. ” Social Commerce, which is a $1.5 billion to $2 billion GMV market in India today, will be worth $16 billion to $20 billion in just five years, with fashion and beauty commanding the lion’s share of this market at over 50-60% as per industry reports.

Myntra forays into social commerce; Launches ‘M-Live’ for real-time video-enabled, interactive shopping experience

<ul><li>WATConsult’s research division – Recogn, unveils the 3rd report of WATInsights - Digital commerce series.</li><li>146 million <keyword id="9674678" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="video-commerce" source="Orion">video commerce</keyword> shoppers in India who have purchased and transacted on <keyword id="21654" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="video" source="Orion">video</keyword> commerce platforms.</li></ul>WATConsult, an Isobar Company and the globally awarded hybrid digital agency from dentsu India, has released ‘Digital Commerce in India - Video Commerce’, the 3rd report of WATInsights - Digital commerce series. The report by Recogn, WATConsult’s research division, shares insights on the scope of the futuristic channel of advertising and captures consumer sentiments towards using this platform for shopping. Today, India has one of the highest per capita consumptions of Internet data, heavily skewed towards video content consumption. This, along with the rapid growth of the Indian e-commerce market, has given rise to a new format called video commerce. Currently, there are around 146 million video commerce shoppers in India who have purchased &amp; transacted on video commerce platforms. The total is nearly 49% of all e-commerce users in India, today. The number of video commerce shoppers is expected to reach 216 million by the end of 2022, growing at a rate of 47%. Thus, the format has immense potential for brands to connect directly with their consumers. As per the report, when it comes to the video content format, most customers prefer explainer content videos followed by customer testimonials &amp; product demonstrations. While product videos add a different dimension to the online shopping experience, video content with a duration of 15 seconds to a minute can make users stay longer on the platform. Also, if they like the videos, they share them with their circle of friends and family, further increasing the reach of the content. Live streaming commerce in India is gaining traction and it can help brands, retailers, and marketplaces to accelerate conversion, improve the brand appeal &amp; create differentiation. More than half of the customers state their affinity towards shopping online during live streaming on social media and shopping apps. Commenting on the latest issue of WATInsights- Digital Commerce in India- Video commerce, Heeru Dingra, CEO, Isobar India group said, “Video commerce has become popular with more Indians moving online and discovering new ways of shopping through video platforms. When it comes to buying products, customers are interested and want to see what they are getting. It offers businesses and marketers a higher rate of conversion and is the most powerful instrument in today’s age. There is a huge opportunity to capture the video-based social commerce market, especially live-stream-based e-commerce while the market matures. Consumers today are frequently looking out to streamline and enhance their experience, they prefer instantaneous results. Brands can use this format to streamline their sales. I believe this latest issue of WATInsights will be an invaluable resource for anyone who intends to demystify <keyword id="13192684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="video-commerce-in-india" source="Orion">video commerce in India</keyword>.” Sahil Shah, Managing Partner, WATConsult added, “The world has moved towards dynamic content and is driving commerce through video. This is the next big leap! I think the true power of video led marketing on digital will come into play when it can have a direct impact on the bottom-funnel metrics as well. On top of that, if one can get creative with the many formats available then it is the ultimate icing on the cake. This fantastic report made by our research division will give you a lot of data backed learnings &amp; insights to activate the next phase of growth for your brand’s commerce through the use of video. I hope everyone enjoys reading the report as much as we did, making it.” For the record, WATInsights are periodically published reports based on primary research conducted by Recogn, the agency’s research division that provides consumer and business insights to its audience. WATInsights delve into the different aspects of the digital industry, consumer behaviour and more. Additionally, the research also covers some relevant topics like Instagram in India – users’ perspective, voice technology in India and the usage of the internet in the local language. WATConsult’s research vertical, Recogn, in the past, has published many detailed and comprehensive pieces of research such as ‘Digital Diverse and Multilingual India’, ‘Voice Technology in India: Now &amp; Future’ and ‘Instagram in India’, to name a few.

Number of video commerce shoppers is expected to reach 216 million by the end of 2022, growing at a rate of 47%: WATInsights

New Delhi, Banking issues like reluctance to process <keyword id="6358355" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="forex" source="Orion">forex</keyword> received through alternate channels and high processing fees are hindering the growth of <keyword id="7848945" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce-exports" source="Orion">e-commerce exports</keyword> from India, and there is a need to bring mindset change to unlock the sector's potential, a report by think tank GTRI said on Monday. Unlocking India's e-commerce export potential to USD 350 billion by 2030 requires addressing banking issues that hinder growth and increase operational costs, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. "To initiate change, both the RBI and banks must shift their mindset towards treating small-value exports differently from larger ones. This shift is essential to prevent misuse while streamlining processes. Without this fundamental change, any reforms attempted by the RBI and banks will fall short," it said. Small e-commerce businesses often face challenges because banks are not equipped to handle low-value transactions efficiently, it added. The key issues include reluctance to process forex through alternate channels, high processing fees, incorrect purpose code allocation, and limitations in the RBI's EDPMS (Export Data Processing and Monitoring System). The Reserve Bank of India tracks export payments and reconciliation through its Export Data Processing and Monitoring System. "Banks are happy to process forex received through bank transfers but reluctant to process forex received through foreign currency cheques, payment gateways like PayPal, credit cards, <keyword id="151105" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="western-union" source="Orion">Western Union</keyword>, cash receipt when a buyer selects item live in the retail shop," it said. Banks delay crediting forex received in a firm's account when payments are received through such channels, and this affects cash flow and hampers business operations, the report noted. Banks charge money multiple times at different stages for the same small-value shipment, it added. Elaborating this, it said that essential charges include charges for submitting shipping bills (Rs 80 to Rs 2,000) at the time of forex realisation (1-to-2.5 per cent of value), intermediary bank charges during forex transfers (USD 10 to USD 55 per transaction), penalties for bills pending at EDPMS (Rs 100 per shipping bill per month). "Most charges are fixed for a transaction irrespective of value. Bank charges can exceed 50-60 per cent of the shipment value. This makes e-commerce exports commercially unviable," it said, adding banks allocate purpose codes for each remittance but frequently issue incorrect codes. For example, purpose code P0103, meant for advance payments, is often assigned even when exports have already occurred and the firm has submitted proof. Incorrect allocation of purpose codes by banks leads to reconciliation problems, EDPMS pendency issues, and issuance of notices and fines on exporters. The RBI issues notices to exporters for EDPMS defaults but does not give them direct access to view their records, as per the report. "Exporters must rely on banks/DGFT for critical data, leading to unnecessary delays and complications," GTRI co-founder <keyword id="504704" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ajay-srivastava" source="Orion">Ajay Srivastava</keyword> said. The report suggested eight action points, such as the creation of a single window platform for e-commerce and small-value shipments, standardise bank charges, defining a time limit for banks to complete all small export-related requests by the RBI, and exempting shipment value up to USD 1,000 per shipment from monitoring till the single window is implemented. It also pitched for an extension of the timeline for EDPMS closure from the current nine months to 24 months and redesign the courier shipping bill to reflect correct payment terms. On the single window, Srivastava called for integrating the RBI, banks, Customs, DGFT, India Post, courier companies and exporters. "This platform should cover all realisation methods other than bank transfers. The exporter should be able to conduct all transactions online. SW will automate the EDPMS reconciliation process," he added. He said that high processing fees and multiple charges at different stages of exporting hurt small businesses the most, and the banks should charge a one-time fee for each shipment instead of further charges at various stages. "The government could subsidise these fees to ease the financial burden on small exporters," the report said, adding there is a need to raise the export realisation variation limit from 25 per cent to 100 per cent.

Banking issues hinder growth of exports through e-commerce: GTRI report

New Delhi, Feb. The <keyword id="6358021" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="budget">Budget</keyword> for 2021-22 extensively and comprehensively envisages <keyword id="9594937" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="several-initiatives">several initiatives</keyword> and areas of focus, aimed at enhancing India's overall competitiveness and manufacturing capacities, which would enable growth, diversification and technological enhancement of India's exports, <keyword id="8497279" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Commerce-Secretary-Anup-Wadhawan">Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan</keyword> said on Wednesday. These cover both ease of doing business in the area of approvals and procedures, and the physical environment for <keyword id="6355120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment">investment</keyword>, targeting a plug and play eco-system for investors, he said. Briefing the media on the Budget 2021-22 initiatives, the <keyword id="84" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Commerce">commerce</keyword> secretary said that one primary area of focus is the creation of a robust infrastructure, logistics and utilities environment for the manufacturing sector. Some of these measures include a scheme for Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA), which will create world class infrastructure with plug and play facilities to enable the creation of global champions in the sector, benefiting from economies of scale and agglomeration. Seven Textile Parks will be established over three years. He said that further, steps like substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbours and fish landing centres will be made in five major fishing harbours at Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat, along with a multipurpose Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu, are proposed. These measures are expected to boost exports from the textiles and marine sector. Wadhawan said that for the promotion of exports from the agriculture sector, the "Operation Green" scheme of Ministry of Food Processing Industry, which is presently limited to onion, potatoes and tomatoes, has been increased to 22 perishable items. This would promote creation of infrastructure and value addition for horticulture products. Also, the Budget allocation for the schemes such as Agriculture Export Policy (AEP) and Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) has been enhanced, which will help in the implementation of AEP in States and boost agriculture exports. Speaking on the plantation sector, the Commerce secretary said that Rs. 1,000 crores have been provided in the Budget for the welfare of tea workers, especially women and their children. This will benefit around 10.75 lakh tea workers, including 6.23 lakh women workers engaged in the big tea estates of Assam and West Bengal. In addition, around 1.47 lakh small tea growers are also likely to be benefited. Wadhawan said that this Budget also promotes ease of doing business through rationalisation of procedures, easing of compliances and trade facilitation measures. The measures include certain changes in the provisions relating to ADD and CVD levies, mandatory filing of bills of entry before the end of day preceding the day of arrival of goods, he added. He further added that streamlining of the ADD / CVD provisions, including measures aimed at enforcing anti-absorption, will potentially enable a level playing for domestic industry through addressing unfair trade practices. The commerce Secretary said that the Budget has proposed rationalisation of customs duty structure with a thrust on both easy and competitive access to raw material and infant industry protection objectives to encourage exports, particularly of value-added products. This includes reduction in duties on critical raw-material such as iron and steel, copper scrap, naptha, nylon fibre and yarn, etc. To rationalise the duty structure of gold and silver, the rates have been reduced to 7.5% from 12.5% with Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess of 2.5 %. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/indias-principal-economic-advisor-says-the-real-monopoly-to-be-worried-about-is-in-search-internet-and-social-media/articleshow/80663403.cms">INTERVIEW: Google and Facebook ahoy! India’s Principal Economic Advisor says the real monopoly to be worried about is in search, internet and social media</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/budget-2021-22-prioritises-gaganyaan-indias-human-spaceflight-mission-over-all-others-heres-why/articleshow/80663272.cms">Budget 2021-22 prioritises Gaganyaan, India’s human spaceflight mission, over all others — here’s why</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/home-first-finance-company-ipo-lists-at-618-19-premium-over-the-issue-price/articleshow/80662539.cms">Warburg Pincus-backed Home First Finance Company IPO lists at 19% premium over the issue price</a>

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