India's retail trade may be having an Amazon moment. Earlier this month, senior officials of three global handset makers met to try and figure out what to do about cutthroat online pricing.
Of course, what they see as a menace is great for consumers who're flocking to e-commerce marketplaces such as Flipkart, Amazon India and Snapdeal to find the lowest price for the electronic gadget they want. But the fact that representatives of three companies, normally battling against each other fiercely in the marketplace, came together on this issue is a reflection of how badly the traditional retail channels are getting hit.
This is somewhat analogous to what happened to traditional book trade in the US once Amazon became a force to reckon with. The companies are looking to fight back against what they see as pricing distortions and brand damage inflicted by the discounting marketplaces. Companies like Sony, Apple, Canon, Nokia and Samsung are planning to clamp down on distribution to sellers in popular online marketplaces and issue customer advisories not to buy from e-commerce portals as they are not authorized trade partners.
A senior official at a leading cellphone maker said the company had held several discussions with e-commerce marketplaces such as Flipkart and Snapdeal to find a solution, but these firms have passed the buck to the numerous sellers using their platform. Emails sent to Snapdeal and Flipkart did not elicit any response.
Of course, what they see as a menace is great for consumers who're flocking to e-commerce marketplaces such as Flipkart, Amazon India and Snapdeal to find the lowest price for the electronic gadget they want. But the fact that representatives of three companies, normally battling against each other fiercely in the marketplace, came together on this issue is a reflection of how badly the traditional retail channels are getting hit.
This is somewhat analogous to what happened to traditional book trade in the US once Amazon became a force to reckon with. The companies are looking to fight back against what they see as pricing distortions and brand damage inflicted by the discounting marketplaces. Companies like Sony, Apple, Canon, Nokia and Samsung are planning to clamp down on distribution to sellers in popular online marketplaces and issue customer advisories not to buy from e-commerce portals as they are not authorized trade partners.
A senior official at a leading cellphone maker said the company had held several discussions with e-commerce marketplaces such as Flipkart and Snapdeal to find a solution, but these firms have passed the buck to the numerous sellers using their platform. Emails sent to Snapdeal and Flipkart did not elicit any response.
No comments:
Post a Comment