[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by etrast75

I have a business account with amazon and all products are available.They are now sold by cloudtail business and appario business.

Thanks for the information. I had a business account that was lying dormant, claimed Airtel Prime offer and now ready to order. Everything is available like past. But this might take a toll on the delivery guys, their will be a massive reduction in the manpower needs.

It will be on the same principles of B2B as some other wholesale MNC stores like Walmart-Airtel do. But I wonder why do they donot publicize this and probably support shifting of Prime membership from regular to business account?

[roy_libran]

Keeping my personal interests aside, and despite being often a vocal opponent of this government, I think this is better for all of our larger interests.
By forcing separation of the Platform and the Seller, the Seller gets some leverage over the Platform which should help small businesses compete better.
Yes, it might be the end of subsidized products, but the extra money I will need to pay now will, hopefully, go towards boosting some small entrepreneur's income rather than towards VC Income.

One of the best parts of this budget IMO.

[vvrchandra]

Originally Posted by etrast75

So it looks like products sold by cloudtail and appario are not available for retail (individual) users only. I have a business account with amazon and all products are available..

Can we get those products that were available under Amazon pantry (mostly sold by Cloudtail earlier) now with the business account also.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by vvrchandra

Can we get those products that were available under Amazon pantry (mostly sold by Cloudtail earlier) now with the business account also.

Yes, everything. They can sell whatever they want under B2B model.

[GrammarNazi]

This isn't a knee-jerk reaction. Govt had warned them earlier, but only now it has put its foot down by making this structural separation.

Back in March 2016, the govt had released a press note laying simple guidelines which said that marketplace may facilitate in terms of payments, warehousing, logistics and help buyers match with sellers. Its role should be limited to that. The likes of Amazon/Flipkart not only gave deep discounts & hoarded products (causing inventory shortfalls), but also have its own brands to like AmazonBasics to actively replicate the best-selling products & sell for cheaper.

Actually, even that was OK if it was upto 25% of marketplace revenue through group companies. But these companies went overboard & grossly violated that also. Which IMO was very un-innovative & anti-competitive on Flipkart/Amazon's part. After putting SO MUCH at stake, they should've set-up a system where the main marketplace policy was to find local traders who sell similar products & keep it competitive (/value-driven) while expanding the market so as to extend the profitability in the 25-30% revenue-share they're allowed to do.

The current law will impact them severely & it is their own doing. Frankly, it befits them. I'm pro-capitalism, but it can't be allowed to become an unregulated monster that bullies others. What the Govt has done is like an anti-dumping law where it becomes clear that the marketplace is an agent of the seller, not the other way round. Marketplaces better become lean & efficient, else it'll be hard to sustain with large overheads. There are ways to improve product experience - use tech like VR etc. In short, let them work hard with good 'ol tech - algorithms, not manipulative management skills.

Btw, just yesterday I read about Swiggy opening its own "Swiggy kitchen" in Bangalore. Surely they are included in this. So are Grofers/BigBasket/Yatra/MakeMyTrip. I guess this is bigger than what most of us may realise.

[sushantr5]

I think this is right step. Once I was seller on Amazon and Cloudtail was giving really tough time. I think they had backdoor advantage of cheaper FBA rates. I always believed this is unfair business practice from Amazon. The popular product from other sellers are highjacked by Cloudtail and the other seller is gone to trash then.

Cloudtail is(now was) joint venture between Narayanmurthy's Son ( Infosys cofounder )and Amazon.

I think it is right time to enter again. But ultimately consumer will be a looser until next option comes. May be Cloudtail will remove Amazon's partnership and come back again.

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

This isn't a knee-jerk reaction. Govt had warned them earlier, but only now it has put its foot down by making this structural separation.

Back in March 2016, ......

Frankly, if this is the policy, then all the large supermarket chains like BigBazaar, D-Mart, More, FoodWorld etc etc need to pull the own-brand stuff off their shelves. All of them not only sell regular branded groceries, they also have a cheaper line of "own" brand grocery products.

Just saying, to keep things on the level ...

[rdst_1]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Frankly, if this is the policy, then all the large supermarket chains like BigBazaar, D-Mart, More, FoodWorld etc etc need to pull the own-brand stuff off their shelves. All of them not only sell regular branded groceries, they also have a cheaper line of "own" brand grocery products.

Just saying, to keep things on the level ...

The rules in place are only for e-commerce marketplaces which have majority FDI. And the rules are not sprung upon anyone. They knew the rules when they invested the money. Just that these rules were not enforced properly till now. Like others have pointed out, they are still allowed to make B2B sales. There was always a restriction on retail sales as you can see even in the case of B&M stores like Metro and Bharti-Walmart.

[Turbanator]

So they found a way out, maybe Flipkart was already doing this way. Cloudtail still buys from manufacturers or import directly and then give a small % to another vendor who will do the final sales. Some random guys will be happy doing the billing for the Amazon and pocketing small margin.

Going further, I think Amazon can now start selling more of Imported products via this route. Previously they were sort of binded with buying from domestic manufacturers due to FDI rules.

Cloudtail and Appario, in which Amazon holds 49% each, will then sell to a battery of thirdparty, preferred vendors that will undertake final sales to consumers, said people with knowledge of the matter.


https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/...conomicTimes/#

[civic-sense]

Amazon/Flipkart had to reinvent themselves as marketplaces only because of the stupid FDI rule which curbed foreign investment in retail business. As expected they found a way to circumvent this stupid rule by spinning off WS Retail and Cloudtail. Now, the govt has come with a rule on top of their rule. Rest assured Flipkart/Amazon will find a workaround for this too. As Ian Malcolm said, "life finds a way".

In a free market, anybody should be able to sell to anybody. Any "law" preventing free exchange of goods and services is taking you one inch closer to communism.

[dailydriver]

ET quotes Morgan Stanley as saying that Walmart may exit Flipkart.

Wall Street biggie, Morgan Stanley said Walmart may exit Flipkart in a similar move to what Amazon did in China if the retail giant can’t see a long-term path to profitability.

The brokerage firm said in a report dated February 4 that “an exit (by Walmart) is likely, and not completely out of the question, with the Indian e-commerce market becoming more complicated”. The report comes in the wake of the new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules for the India’s ecommerce sector which were implemented by the government on February 1

However, the same report carries Walmart's clarification to the contrary.

Responding to ET’s query, a Walmart spokesperson said: “Despite the recent changes in regulations, we remain optimistic about the ecommerce opportunity in India given the size of the market, the low penetration of ecommerce in the retail channel and the pace at which it is growing. As Walmart scales in India, the company will continue to partner to create sustained economic growth across agriculture, food and retail. Future investments will support national initiatives and will bring sustainable benefits to the country.”

[pratyush6]

We are going back to the 70's and it clearly seems to be a cue for our few 'home grown' billionaires to make a splash into e-commerce. Without this protection, they could not compete with Amazon or Walmart but now, they have a real chance.

As far as consumer goes, it's a huge blow. But who cares about consumers when you have other bosses to please? I can go as far as saying that one of them might sell their venture to Mota-bhai and pack off.

[dailydriver]

First tsk1979

Originally Posted by tsk1979

.

and now you!

Originally Posted by pratyush6

a cue for our few 'home grown' billionaires to make a splash into e-commerce

Both reaffirming my suspicion that we are truly on our way towards self reliance. Different fields: same player, similar rules; single winner!

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

First tsk1979 and now you!

Both reaffirming my suspicion that we are truly on our way towards self reliance. Different fields: same player, similar rules; single winner!

I hadn't put the TRAI and FDI norms together but now that you've said it, makes my suspicion even higher. Nice touch : self reliance

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

I hadn't put the TRAI and FDI norms together

I am not saying that you should read it. I am also not going to tell you what it is. But if you go through the first few posts of the (The Books Thread (non-fiction))Non Fiction Books Thread, you will come across a title that could pique your curiosity and answer many a query on how exactly the system is subverted to favour a few. Legally, I cannot be saying that I have read it, hence I won't!