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StoreKing lets Kirana stores order goods through an app, eliminating the distributors’ salespeople from the equation altogether. The idea of StoreKing is that, instead of having the retailer source goods from multiple distributors, StoreKing will be a one-stop-shop distributor. We have chosen to work only in rural cities where brands have limited reach through traditional … Read moreMaking the purchase products easy

When it comes to Kirana stores, it has the strongest card in its suit. Walmart’s $16 billion acquisition of Flipkart. Walmart’s B2B commerce business in India, where it sells products directly to 100,000 retailers. This potentially gives PhonePe exposure to all those retailers to whom Walmart currently sells. Not to just enable payment acceptance, but … Read moreDialling down on PoS

There have also been departures at the very top of the leasing unit. Ola hired ex-SABMiller India MD Shalabh Seth as CEO of its leasing business in January 2017. Seth left Ola within just a year, with no public reason given. Calls and texts to Seth went unanswered. However, the automotive industry source stated that … Read moreA less-than-perfect circle

Chinese cities are compact, and many of them already had significant cycling infrastructure when the bicycle-sharing companies came up. That’s not true of India. Where Chinese authorities can streamline the construction of cycling infrastructure, companies in India will have to deal with networks of local officials who may differ in their approach. Smartphones are a … Read moreWhether anyone’s expansion plans work

It hasn’t been easy going though. ShareChat’s members are primarily nascent internet users, typically aged between 22 and 25. The app has had to deal with the dissemination of insensitive content or fake news, or actions that can even threaten the privacy of a user, all common issues when you are catering to new internet … Read moreWhen things get ugly, determination makes it beautiful

In 2016, OYO did away with its practice of partial inventories and minimum guarantees and moved to a new model where it picked up 100% of inventory in the hotels it partnered with. It also ventured into greenfield projects setting up hotels of its own (christened “Townhouse”). Claims of the company In April 2016, OYO … Read moreOf tall charts, taller claims and gross margins

In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, India and Yugoslavia worked to create the Non-Aligned Movement or NAM. It would comprise all the countries that didn’t identify with either of the two power blocs led by the only two superpowers, the US and Russia (then the USSR). The Cold War is over. Russia … Read moreClash of the conglomerates

While delivery personnel quit their jobs or switch loyalties primarily on account of salary considerations, the poor working conditions are also a major cause of attrition. There’s pressure to complete trips on time in difficult conditions like rain, and the stress of dealing with unhappy customers as well. According to experts, even cultural aspects play … Read moreThere are no algorithms or optimisation of route needed

A couple of months before meeting this dealer, as research for this piece, I reached out to a former executive at Droom. He requested not to be named because he didn’t want to get into any trouble with the company. He narrated an incident that happened sometime in December 2017. Droom was in the market … Read moreSandeep Aggarwal was really angry

Just like the product, this grid, too, has been years in the making. Ather’s an in-house team of data scientists did a comprehensive audit of how the grid needed to be set up. “This team has run extensive algorithms which considered data points like safe parking, high visibility, and uninterrupted power supply. We did a … Read moreThinking beyond the Grind