e-Commerce

E-Commerce is close to my heart, and I have been asked many times in the recent past what I think of Flipkart buying Myntra. And really, the one thing I feel is dread. I really do like both Flipkart and Myntra. Both have good products, reliable service, convenient sites and great customer support. I have… Continue reading

Multi-channel – store, phone, online, mail-order – is finally maturing. For the longest time, retailers promised and customers expected this muti-headed hydra of a retailer present seamlessly across every channel, moving between channels with similar lack of seam, permitting mix & match of all kinds. For the longest time, reality was disappointingly different. Retailers spent… Continue reading

In my last post, I talked about how giving up some of the trappings of physical retail is not without its costs. This post is about the flip side of that coin – in a way. What caught my eye was Wal-Mart’s new facility allowing customers to pay cash for online purchases. The announcement (made… Continue reading

Mass market retailing is an expensive business. Rents, staff, inventory – the average brick and mortar retailer struggles along with barely visible net margins (spontaneous dancing is known to happen at 5%). With thousands of stores, hundreds of warehouses and over two million employees, Wal-Mart has in the last five years managed a profit margin… Continue reading

The last rites of two promising startups made news a few days ago, and not just because they happened together. Flipkart shuttered Letsbuy on the same day that Snapdeal gave up on Esportsbuy, both had been acquired barely months ago, so it does seem that the acquisitions were just sugar coating on the euthanasia pills.… Continue reading