Recently there has been uproar about how ecommerce is allowing the sale of counterfeit or illegal products. It seems like this concern has not gone past the ears of ecommerce firms, who are now planning to step up in a unique way to counter this problem.
The online retail sector is planning to give impetus to small firms that develop software products through various means, including funding. This is not surprising since earlier, Flipkart has also backed Spoonjoy, a startup providing healthy meals to busy professionals; Roposo, a fashion focused social network and many others. In fact, Flipkart is quite positive about the idea of supporting promising new companies. “We are always scouting for startups and we will not shy away when an opportunity presents itself,” says Sameer Nigam, vice-president of engineering at Flipkart.
Ecommerce firms have been caught by the collar for counterfeit electronics being sold through third-party sellers via their online marketplaces. Questions have been raised as to who is to be held responsible in such situations. Is the fraudulent seller the culprit, or the online marketplace for hosting such a product without proper verification? This question was subtly answered by the extremely successful online retailer Alibaba, which took on the Herculean task of investing millions in battling counterfeit goods sold on its website. It was a move that is exemplary to how other ecommerce firms must tackle the counterfeit war.
Indian companies are approaching this challenge in their own unique way. Flipkart has stated that its main focus for 2015 would be to bring more sellers online. This is because more sellers mean better choice for customers. Correspondingly, over $3.1 billion was pumped into 46 deals in the ecommerce space last year. Software product companies received about one-tenth of that, across 48 deals, according to research firm Venture Intelligence.
Does this signify a baby step towards supporting authentic in-house technology products, which will eventually mean only verified technology and electronic items, will be sold online? In any case, this is a positive step towards strengthening customer trust in online marketplaces.
Editor team is specialized in introducing the marketplace content targeting the Indian online sellers. They plan and coordinate to bring the appealing content for the small businesses on how to partner with the e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and strategies for improving their online business.
Leave a Comment
