Man orders mobile phone-worth Rs 9,000 from online site, gets brick instead

A man here in Maharashtra has filed a complaint against a leading online retailer for allegedly sending him a piece of brick instead of a mobile handset that he ordered, police said Wednesday.

Gajanan Kharat, a resident of HUDCO area here, told the police that on October 9, he placed an order for a mobile phone on the shopping site and also paid Rs 9,134 for it, Harsul police station inspector Manish Kalyankar said.

Kharat subsequently received a message from the e-commerce company that the product would be delivered in a week's time.

The man received a packet from the retailer last Sunday. However, when he opened it, he allegedly found a piece of brick inside it instead of the mobile handset, Kalyankar said.

The man then called up the courier delivery man, who told him that their responsibility was only to deliver the parcel and not to see what was inside it, he said.

Kharat lodged a complaint Tuesday against the e-commerce company at the Harsul police station here.

The police official said they have registered a case under IPC sections pertaining to cheating and are probing it.

Flipkart continues lead over Amazon but sales are still smartphone heavy

India’s largest e-commerce marketplace Flipkart continues to hold a 25-30 per cent lead over rival Amazon in terms of the gross merchandise value sold on its platform, but could face headwinds as a large portion of its sales is still driven by smartphones.

Flipkart's sales during March clocked in at around Rs 3,200-3,300 crore, while rival Amazon managed to do just around Rs 2,400 crore in sales, according to a person with the knowledge who did not want to be named. The gap in terms of unit sales between the two companies was at around 15-20 per cent.

“Even though the gap in the number of units sold on both platforms isn’t that huge, Flipkart continues to hold a strong lead over Amazon in terms of GMV. This is because Flipkart continues to lead in the smartphone sector, which usually have a higher purchase value,” the person said.

Standalone sales for Flipkart’s platform clocked in at Rs 2,800 crore, slightly higher than Amazon, while the rest of the group companies Myntra, Jabong and eBay raked in around Rs 450 crore. From an annualised GMV run rate perspective Flipkart holds around a 25 per cent lead at $6 billion compared to Amazon’s $4.5 billion.

An Economic Times report on Thursday cited investors and analysts estimates who put Flipkart’s annualised GMV at $4 billion, but said that sources close to investor Tiger Global said that the company’s gross sales crosses $6 billion at the end of March 2017.

While Flipkart continues to have a strong lead over Amazon in India’s hotly contested $17 billion e-commerce market, it’s reliance on driving sales through high-cost smartphones could trip it. According to a Counterpoint report, Flipkart controls 57 per cent of the online smartphone market in the country, as opposed to Amazon’s 27 per cent.

“Amazon is building value in India by selling books, low value items to customers in tier two markets and through things like Prime. Flipkart continues to drive a large portion of its GMV from smartphones which can be disrupted very easily. It’s the same thing that happened to Snapdeal, look where they are now,” added the person.
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Step-by-step guide: How to sell your old/new goods on Amazon

Special Weekend News - Are you tired of stacking old gadgets, books, magazines, et al? E-commerce giant Amazon India has started a pilot programme in Bangalore that allows people to sell their old products. 

In an attempt to mobilise its user base and to encourage peer-to-peer (P2P) sales, Amazon has launched a programme called 'pick-pack-and-pay.

'The company has integrated its P2P selling platform Junglee with its own horizontal marketplace to allow individuals to sell new and used items online' reports Business Standard.

The landing page for registration as an individual seller will be on Junglee

“We piloted this experience through Junglee, which allowed us to learn and improve. We are now making it available to even more customers through Amazon.in. Customers can get this experience now through either site,” said a company spokesperson.( Read More)