Nearly half of the country’s small businesses have either exhausted their funds or are close to doing so, as the unprecedented demand crash due to the extended coronavirus-led lockdown forces them to dig into their own reserves, a recent survey shows. The survey by community platform LocalCircles, which covered around 7,000 businesses–including startups, small and […]
Archives for 2020
Time on your hands?
Four weeks into lockdown and many business owners will be feeling the strain. Whether that is from having too much work or none at all. We work with many different businesses and have some who can’t trade at all and others who have kept an income coming in by finding new ways of working. Its […]
Non-essentials sales curb could pinch ecomm firms hard
From expecting the Indian ecommerce firms to benefit from the lockdown just as they have in the US and China, analysts and industry watchers are now expecting overall growth in the sector to be in the mid-single-digits this year, down from almost 35% in 2019. For the two largest players in the space, Walmart-owned Flipkart […]
Paytm in talks to raise new capital from technology major Microsoft
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Digital payments firm Paytm has held talks with US technology giant, Microsoft for fresh funding as the company looks to boost its war chest to fight growing competition in the sector, two people in the know said. The proposed fund raise, which may amount to around $100 million (Rs 760 crore), is […]
Zero commissions, zero interest rates: Is cash still king at custodians?
Clients are parking more cash than usual in brokerage accounts as coronavirus fears roil markets. That would be a boon for retail brokerages and custodians where client cash is a critical revenue driver. But there’s a problem. Lower interest rates. On March 15, the Fed cut interest rates to near zero, and retail brokerages and […]
Birx: US needs a ‘breakthrough’ on antigen testing to aid in reopening
Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator, speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Michael Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday that while the coronavirus trends give her “great hope” for […]
View: Integrate local kirana stores in the supply chain of e-commerce
By Pradeep S. Mehta and Sidharth Narayan, CUTS International The government of India has been keen to integrate the local Kirana stores within the e-commerce ecosystem. Talks on it had been ongoing between Ministry of Commerce, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), and e-commerce service providers. […]
Udaan lays off at least 3,000 contract workers
Udaan, a business-to-business commerce online startup, has laid off about 10-15%, or an estimated 3,000-3,500, of its contract staff, according to company executives and staffing agencies that ET spoke to. The job cut is largely driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has significantly dented the company’s revenue from non-essential categories including electronics and apparel. Udaan’s […]
China’s Yunnan launches 800,000 T metals stockpiling drive
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Yunnan province said on Sunday it would set aside 1 billion yuan ($141.22 million) to help businesses stockpile 800,000 tonnes of nonferrous metal as part of efforts to boost its real economy following the novel coronavirus outbreak. The funds will be used to cover interest on bank loans taken out for […]
Where the Heck is My Stimulus Check? If you haven’t gotten it yet, this may be why.
As the COVID-19 emergency created a massive economic crisis, the federal government passed the CARES Act. Key features of the act include stimulus money to help both impacted businesses and individual Americans. For individuals, funds are arriving. However, you may be among those who have not received what you were expecting and aren’t sure why. […]