Amazon India sold more than local rival Flipkart for the second consecutive month in August, setting the stage for the festive season, the outcome of which could well determine the future of Indian e-commerce firms.

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Amazon outsells Flipkart for second straight month
Amazon India sold more than local rival Flipkart for the second consecutive month in August,
setting the stage for the festive season, the outcome of which could well determine the future
of Indian e-commerce firms.
eTailing India Thought Corner
E-commerce marketplaces buckle-up before festivals
Ahead of the festive season, e-commerce companies are leaving no stone unturned to gain
maximum sales. To achieve results, they are introducing innovative initiatives as well as adding
up temporary staff.
Hiring Manpower:
 Efficient delivery of products to customers is one of the key factors in achieving greater
customer-experience.

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 To ensure smooth function of logistics during the festivals, Flipkart will look to hire more
than 10,000 staff on a temporary basis. Similarly, Snapdeal also expects to bring in
10,000 temporary jobs between 15th September to 15th November to ramp up its
delivery and logistics service.
Focus on vendor management:
 With the peak festival approaching, all e-commerce players have further plans to
strengthen its seller network.
 Marketplaces such as Snapdeal and Shopclues are disbursing loans to its merchants to
stockpile ahead of Diwali. Snapdeal has announced collateral-free loans worth Rs 1,000
whereas Shopclues will be disbursing INR 200 crore under its Capital Wings initiative to
its sellers.
Ways to work around curbs on offering discount:
 Amazon has reportedly decided to cut the commission it gets from some large and
preferred sellers by 30-50 per cent on the condition that the saving is benefited to the
consumers.
 eBay India, on the other hand, has started working with their merchants to figure out
reasonable discounts that can be offered to end consumers.
 Flipkart and Snapdeal plan to offer credit to sellers, equivalent to the discount offered, a
common practice in offline trade.
Brand management:
 SoftBank-backed Snapdeal has pumped in over Rs 200 crore to re-brand itself which will
include a 360-degree marketing campaign ahead of the festival. Snapdeal has come up

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with new logo and a tagline and aims to create a trust factor among its potential
consumers.
Online retailers would need the launch of innovative products and services that can pull new
users. For instance, launches of high-quality, low-cost smart phones by Motorola and Xiaomi on
Flipkart in 2014 as well as its annual shopping event, Big Billion Day was a big success.