Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Faced with delays or cancellation of orders of essential items, customers have taken to social media to criticize Amazon India in the past one week, after India imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown to counter the Covid-19 virus outbreak. The essentials, such as staples, fast-moving consumer goods and other household items, were ordered […]
Availability of essential goods improve across online and offline channels: Survey
The availability of essential goods has improved across offline retail stores and online platforms, one week into the 21-day nation-wide lockdown ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a survey by LocalCircles in collaboration with the Department of Consumer Affairs. For the two-day period of March 30-31, availability of essentials at offline stores improved […]
Covid-19 global roundup: Amazon workers unrest, Social media crackdown & more
Amazon, Instacart workers protest Workers of e-commerce giant Amazon and US grocery delivery firm Instacart are on strike over concerns about safety and meagre paychecks amid the coronavirus crisis. #BREAKING: Over 100 Amazon employees at JFK8 warehouse walk off the job over @amazon’s dangerous response to protec… https://t.co/f2RjMEXdxu — Make the Road NY (@MaketheRoadNY) 1585587945000 […]
Social media firms ask creators to make ‘at home’ videos during lockdown
Sameeksha Sud, a popular TikTok creator with over 20 million followers on the short-video platform, has started making all her videos inside her home. Sud is known for her short dance videos but now her focus is on making comedy vines and videos. “There is an environment of tension around so I am trying to […]
Piyush Goyal meets CEOs of e-commerce firms to take stock of supply chain issues
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday took stock of the improvements in supply of essential goods by e-commerce platforms, logistics providers and large retailers, a week into the 21-day nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19. Goyal, in the meeting with CEOs from firms such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, Grofers, BigBasket, Delhivery, Amazon […]
Disney Plus to launch in India on April 3
Disney Plus, a video streaming service from The Walt Disney Company, will launch in India on April 3, via Hotstar. The streaming service was earlier slated to launch on March 29, along with the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the suspension of the league made Star & Disney India to suspend Disney Plus launch as […]
China’s Pinduoduo raises $1.1 billion in share placement amid volatile markets
Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo said on Tuesday that it had raised $1.1 billion in a private share placement, bolstering its ability to finance growth, despite recent market volatility. Undeterred by the coronavirus epidemic that has rocked financial markets around the world, Nasdaq-listed Pinduoduo has secured several long-term investors including Chinese private equity firms Hillhouse Capital […]
ETtech Top 5: Online retailers tap common resources, Zoom app usage explodes & more
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Online retailers tap common resources What’s the news? E-commerce, logistics and ride-hailing firms are putting in place several measures to ramp up capacity to deliver essentials to customers. These include procuring permissions to stock food at their warehouses, use railway freight to move goods and cabs to enable last-mile deliveries. Why does […]
Deferring credit card, personal loan payments may cost more
Read the fine print on your credit card bill? If you did, you might not consider deferring those repayments – or that personal loan you took to fund that trip to Maasai Mara this winter. Of course, the central bank has given a three-month grace on repayments – and those include unsecured loans such as […]
BigBasket ropes in laid off restaurant workers amid Covid-19 lockdown
BigBasket has partnered with the National Restaurant Association of India and Retail Association of India to offer jobs to those laid off due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The online grocer is offering temporary job opportunities for restaurant staff and retail employees registered on these platforms. The Bengaluru-based company has also set up a call centre […]