Google's Great Online Shopping Festival hits Singapore

Taking place on February 2 to 4, the Cyber Monday-style event lets global brands such as Airbnb and Adidas take advantage of the city-state's high broadband penetration.

Google is expanding its Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) from India to the city-state of Singapore. Like cyber monday or singles day in  china, the Google-led initiative gets companies to offer discounts for products and services ahead of the retail-friendly Chinese New Year, on February 2 to 4.

The online sale, which started in India in 2012, will feature recognisable global apparel brands such as Adidas and Uniqlo alongside online travel services such as Agoda, Airbnb and Hotels.com.

One of the reasons Singapore was chosen as the second venue for GOSF, Google said, was due to research indicating that more than 49 percent of Singaporean Internet users use their phones for product information, with 12 percent of them completing purchases. This compares favorably to highly connected countries such as Japan, at 24 percent and 5 percent respectively

Yureka-yureka sold 10,000 phones in 3 sec

            Micromax's fully-owned subsidiary Yu Televentures has Thursday sold 10,000 Yureka smartphones on Amazon in just 3 seconds, for its third online sale after launching the Rs 8,999 device last month.

            In the month of February, YU is looking at ramping up the availability of the device and will put almost double the amount of devices for sale, the company said in a statement. The device will go on sale every Thursday at 2pm, registrations for which will begin a week prior on the the dual-SIM smartphone, Yureka, is amongst the cheapest LTE devices in the country. It runs Cyanogen's operating system, bears a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3.

            The smartphone runs on octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, has a 13-megapixel Sony rear camera and a front-facing 5-megapixel camera with 16GB of inbuilt storage expandable up to 32GB, powered by a 2500 mAh battery.

Growth of Online Shopping in the world

                  Throughout the world online buying has grown exponentially. The money Australians spend online is projected to increase by about $10 billion within the next five years. Consumers may still be concerned about the security of online shopping, but more and more of them are prepared to buy on the web. Faster delivery, easier return policies, and many sites offering free shipping have also increased the desirability of online buying. IBIS World research forecasts an 8.6% per year increase in online revenues over the next five years.

                  In South Africa, 51% of individuals with internet access shop online. In Kenya, 18-24% make online purchases. In Nigeria approximately 28% of the population has internet access according to ITU figures. The number of mobile cell phone subscriptions has topped 87 million. A new group of internet developers are eager to increase buying options by providing discounted deals on a wide range of products and services. Analysts indicate that a lack of convenient and reliable electronic payment services for online shoppers is a major problem confronted throughout Africa.

                      In the U.S., Forrester Research shows that $248.7 billion online sales are expected by 2014. A compounded growth of 10% is forecast for the next five years. In Western Europe sales are expected to reach 14 billion euros ($155.7 billion), a growth of 11% percent annually. Apparel, computers and consumer electronics will continue to be dominant purchases; these three areas make up 40% of the current online sales which won't change in the near future.

                    Online sales continue to be mostly small-ticket items. The high-ticket products lag far behind by comparison. On average, retailers that have both a physical (store) and online presence have reported an average of 23% growth. Online only retailers (including catalogue sales) however have seen only 9% yearly growth. Online shoppers are beginning to think that the best deals are available online (71%) and that they get better prices there (66%).

                     The internet is only going to become more popular as time goes by and purchasers worldwide become more comfortable about the security and on-time delivery of their purchases. This is the one area of merchandising that continues to have a positive outlook far into the future.

Fashion trend cues from small screen!!!

Indian e-commerce industry has been growing at a scorching rate during the last few years with hundreds of million dollars being invested by venture capital funds in the sector. E-commerce has been around in India for more than a decade but has become main stream only in the last few years.

            Online shoppers have now graduated from buying only Books/Electronics to buying Clothes, Shoes and Accessories. In fact, as per a recent study by Accel Partners, Fashion category recorded highest number of transactions in 2013. As per this study, Fashion is expected to grow by 400% in next three years.Baggout.com conducted a survey amongst its users to dig deeper into this trend and the survey produced some deep insights into the underlying reasons as well as possible risks to this growth story.

Main findings from the survey are –

I.        Flipkart and Snapdeal are the best rated retailers and are ahead of vertical sites including Myntra and Jabong

II.        Clothes and Footwear are the two most popular categories in Fashion

III.        There are a number of fundamental reasons leading to growth in online Fashion sales including Ease of shopping from home, low prices, discounts and prolific Product collection available online

IV.        50% respondents buy Fashion products (Clothes, Shoes, Accessories) online at least once a month while 31% buy rarely or never buy online

V.        However, the industry needs to still solve a few problems so that this growth story does not get derailed. The biggest impediment to buying online is the inability to check for fitting which discourages a lot of people from buying online in spite of the liberal return policies of online retailers. The other big problem is the lack of touch and feel.

VI.        Online buyers decide to buy from a retailer based on a number of factors including Product Collection available and Pricing on the retailer’s website

‘Republic Day Parade’ on Amazon India live and exclusive!!

        Amazon India has announced their Republic Day sales discounts on their site starting January 23 till January 26.The deals are updated every time the stocks are over and its going to be an exciting weekend for online shoppers as their sponsors like HDFC, Ola, Saavn, Freecharge, etc are also there to lure buyers with discounts and special limited period offers.

Some of the exciting discounts available currently are:

         Micromax canvas (33% off), laptops (33%),TV and  home entertainment ( minimum of 20%), Ray-Ban Aviators (35% off) ,The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years ( 64% off).

RSS wants online shopping banned in Maharashtra

   Swadeshi Jaagran Manch leader Mr Gachke has iterated the need to ban ecommerce business in Maharashtra amidst PM’s call for foreign investment in India. The leader is furious over the fact that 80% of the stakeholders of ecommerce players in India are foreigners and that they haven’t come under the ambit of taxation as of now.

                              With the ecommerce business in India rising at a compounded rate of 35% each year, it’s estimated that the revenue generated by 2020 would easily cross the $100 billion mark. In a recent study conducted on the pattern of online shopping in India it was found that 4 crore Indians had purchased something via online shopping.

Xiaomi wonder continues

The Chinese tech giant Xiaomi had produced wonders in Indian market in a couple of month’s time and has become world’s 4rth in mobile phone sales. The latest news is that Xiaomi has sold 90k units during its sales on 19th January  via flipkart - 30K units of Redmi 1Sand 60k Redmi Note 4G smartphone. The entry level phone, Redmi 1S is priced at INR 5999 while Redmi Note 4G has a price tag of INR 9999.

               The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G is a 4G enabled phablet that runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and has 720p resolution. The phone also boast of a 13 MP master camera. Redmi 1S is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor and has 1GB RAM.

eBay's "India Census 2014 " is out

          Delhi tops the list of states contributing to ecommerce in India while Maharashtra becoming second in having the most active state taking part in the same. According to the survey carried out by eBay- India Census 2014, India have 4,556 online shopping hubs that range from metros to rural areas. The survey also found that inclusion of smartphones and high speed internet in the lives of people have made it easier for online transaction.

         One of the interesting facts about online shopping in India is the contribution of tier II and  tier III cities. The survey found that the notion that metros contribute the most is wrong as there are as many as 3,313 tier-II and III cities, and 1,233 rural hubs in India.

Flipkart teams up with TCYonline- when ecommerce met e-learning

                The Bengaluru based Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart has now entered a new sphere of shopping potential - competitive test preparation tool provider. By joining hands with TCYonline, the online education pioneer, Flipkart sees a dramatic change in the way it might raise their business as coaching centers across India is charging huge sum as fee. The venture has kick started from January 19 2015 , and has made available products/coaching materials for around 100 exam categories for 3 months on Flipkart.

                          So far TCYonline has tested over 50k teachers across 90+ exams through their popular testing platforms. This partnership could possibly bring about a huge change in the way e-learning reaches the students and job seekers as they get high quality coaching at an affordable price.

BabuMoshay.com –ecommerce of perishable goods

                   When the big players in ecommerce show less interest in delivering  daily needs of people and automobiles, the former is close to be solved this year as Babumoshay.com- an ecommerce venture backed by a few Rotarians of New Delhi is about to be launched soon. This would mean hygienic, treated and fresh goods like fruits, vegetables, and other perishable everyday needs too go online. The business aims at providing 1.5 lakh employment allover India. Discounts on various day to day activities of checkups, recreation, entertainment, travel etc will also be featured in this site.

Lenovo A6000 is the cheapest 4g phone in India

           Lenovo A6000 will be India's cheapest phone to have both 4G facility as well as a 64-bit capable chipset. The phone will be sold via flipkart on January 28th; with the registration beginning on 16th.The device is price at an INR 6999.

              Lenovo A6000 has the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 64-bit quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz.Apart from the 5 inch 720p display the phone boasts of a 8 MP camera and a 2300 mAh battery. Lenovo A6000 is a dual sim phone that runs on Android 4.4 Kitkat upgradable to Lollipop version.

Amazon India apologises for the technical snag

Following a glitch in their debute sales of the much awaited Micromax Yu Yureka , Amazon India has
addressed the impacted customers vis twitter .The device , which is believed to be a game changer
in the under 10k category was put on sale on Amazon India for a price tag of INR 8999, but few customers were asked to pay an extra 3500 for the phone during the transaction procedure.Micromax
 Yu Yureka had a limited stock of just 10,000 units put for sale while 3 lakh have had already registered for the
same.The next sale will be on 22nd January and and the number of units that would go on sale is still
not revealed.

Amazon Shopping Tricks

1.      Save the best worst item to buy.

2.      Install awesome extensions for Amazon.  

3.      Shop the Amazon Outlet Store

4.      Get A Price Drop Refund From Amazon

5.      Get Amazon Add-on Items Shipped Without the $25 Minimum

6.      Your Prime Membership Extended If Your Package Doesn't Ship on Time

7.      Get Amazon Prime Video Credit

8.      Use Amazon Gift Cards to Use Up Prepaid Debit Card Balances

9.      Use the Best Credit Card for Amazon Purchases

10.  Donate to Charities While You Shop Amazon

Alibaba enters Indian market

The Chinese ecommerce player Alibaba will invest $ 575 in One97 Communications Ltd's online
payment and marketplace businesses.Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( aka Alibaba) and Zhenjiang Ant Small
& Micro Financial Services Group would gain a combined 30% stake in One97 while  One97 would then be valued at over $2 billion.The New Delhi Based company has given hints about the dealing saying they are in the process of raising fund and that they would communicate once the process is completed.

Buy property online

India's property buyers have now gone online for even buying properties as far away as you can think.Without even
having to visit the place deals are being made at a brisk rate.Foreign investments are also increasing
following PM Narendra Modi's moves to encourage this sector.Buyers get to  see 3D
replicas  of the property or houses, and then do the necessary offline procedures.

Yu to reach Indians via Amazon

Micromax Yu Yureka will put on sale for the first time through Amazon.in on January 13 2015.This 4G phone
is one of the most anticipated phones from Micromax,priced at under INR 9000 .Micromax Yu Yureka runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octacore processor and 64-bit multi-core
has  a 5.5 inch HD IPS display ,5 MP front facing camera and a 13 MP back camera powered by 2500 mAh
battery. Yureka offers vast customization ,12.5 GB for apps alone ,with mass storage  expandable upto 32 GB. 

Jet.com is all set to beat amazon

Ecommerce startup Jet.com intends to open in February 2015 says Marc Lore . Marc Lore ,the founder of
Diapers.com which was then aquired by amazon after a legal fight with him is all set to take  revenge. Jet.com
says they only intends to make profit out of membership charges from  their shoppers that too after a 90  day free
trial. They also promise 10-15% discounts to them unlike amazon or any other ecommerce sites.

Black Friday shopping tips

1) Be prepared.

2) Plan your route         .

3) Make list.

4) Sign up for email alert and loyalty program.

5) Adding the items to the cart first.

6) Use social media.

7) Compare current and future sales prices           .

8) Create a budget and stick to it.

9) Check store return policies.

9) Check the warranty.            

10) Get gift receipt.

11) Use the right credit card.

12) Avoid old stock.

Discount rates to fall

Online buyers will from now on experience a low level of enthusiasm as far as newer
customers are concerned as online big players from India are planning to down discounts on
products . Ecommerce as it has evolved worldwide, Indian players like Amazon India ,Flipkart,Jabong
have been following the global pattern from the last half of 2014.They believe that as a part of
ecommerce maturity cycle they are bound to lower discount rates ( more than half compared to previous years)
and that customers loss wont be affecting the business as people are not much bothered
about discounts.

Ecommerce cleanup?

The department of consumer affairs is finally all set to intervene into the ecommerce sector as it has seen a tremendous growth till today. Taking into consideration both the consumers and e-commerce sector, a lot is there to tackle as far as the department is concerned. Consumer complaints are parts and parcel of any business, but when it comes to online shopping a new framework of law need to be installed. Having gone
              unchecked since their start , 2015 will witness tight laws being inacted ,plus learning from the sector-the way they do business and prosper,even for the government.

Death to Malls !!

Online shopping has opened up a big hole in the retail sector as vacancies in
malls and retail shops are at an ever increasing rate in developed countries.Though they make up for only 10
% even in the US, it’s a synchronised global phenomenon as electronics to home requirements to clothings are all online centred.Food and automobile industry remain  the sectors thats not affected by  this phenomenon.

Amazon Today offer - Asus X200MA-KX238D Laptop for just 16000/- only

Asus X200MA-KX238D 11.6-inch Laptop (Celeron N2830/2GB/500GB/DOS/Intel Gen7 Graphics/without Laptop Bag), Black

2.16GHz Intel Celeron N2830 Processor
2GB DDR3 RAM
500GB Hard drive
11.6-inch Screen, Intel Gen7 Graphics\
DOS
Intel Gen7 Graphics
LED Backlit Display
Built-in speaker and Microphone

Israelis “love” cross country goods

Israelis “love” cross country goods
In a recent survey commissioned  by PayPal , an unlikely country was seen  in the list for top
buyers of  shopping cross border  consumer goods online- Israeli’s pipped  Austria and Australia to be the number one. Israeli’s  see cross border products to be cheap even after inclusion of taxes as 82% of the 72% Israeli population shopping online buy cross border goods.

It’s a big deal

Ecommerce big players in India are expected to spend a whopping 1.9 billion dollars in infrastructure,
warehousing and
logistics alone by 2017-2020as per a report by Assocham and PWC.