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Flipkart is looking at adding content to its portal Major e-commerce and retail players, including Paytm, Future Group and Flipkart, are set to invest close to $100 million in procuring and incorporating entertainment content, in a bid to take on  Amazon  India. According to sources, Paytm, which recently announced a host of new features in ‘Inbox’, its in-app messaging service, including live TV, news, cricket, entertainment videos and games, is planning to invest close to $30 million in this sector. Kishore Biyani-led Future Group is planning to make significant investments in creating a separate entertainment vertical on the company’s various apps and has set aside close to $14.5 billion for on-boarding artificial intelligence and machine learning on its platform to support entertainment content. It is also in talks with various entertainment content providers as well as movie theatre chains to provide tickets online as well as offline. Article Source :...

Prime Day this year will also feature over 200 exclusive new product launches from top brands From more than 200 exclusive launches, massive discounts, cashbacks, brand new entertainment content to even virtual reality stores at malls all over the country, Amazon India is going all out on the second edition of members-only Prime Day, which is part of its multi-national global discounting and deals event. The 36-hour-long event will start on July 16. In an India first initiative,  Amazon India  is planning as many as 11 pop-up stores in malls across the country where online shoppers with the help of virtual reality headsets would be able to see the products before buying. "For the first time, customers will be able to experience the new products launching on Prime Day in Virtual Reality (VR) before buying. VR brings alive exclusive products in an environment that customers are likely to use it in, for example, customers can see a dress modelled in three-dimens...

The company said the partnership will start this summer at Marriott's select properties and the service will be available by invitation to other hotel chains Amazon.com  said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Marriott International to help increase guest access to amenities with Alexa, through its voice-controlled device Echo, in an attempt to expand its presence in the hospitality industry. Alexa for hospitality would assist in providing services ranging from ordering room service to requesting housekeeping or calling the concierge for dinner recommendations without picking up the phone. The company said the partnership will start this summer at Marriott’s select properties and the service will be available by invitation to other hotel chains. Several media reports had said that Marriott had tested both Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa to select what was best suited for its hotels. Marriott did not comment specifically on Apple, but said it has “great ...

If things fall in place, then a deal with a major offline retailer might happen by the end of this year, according to a source Amazon might be the most visited shopping site in India, but for Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of the technology giant, it is still Day 1 in what may be the second-most important market for the firm outside the US. Bezos, in a letter to customers, said that Amazon now has customers in 100 per cent serviceable pin-codes in the country and is shipping packages from more than 50 fulfillment locations in 13 states. From talking about how Alexa plays devotional songs in local Indian languages to Amazon India working closely with communities in rural areas, Bezos said that the online marketplace has now become part of the country's culture and has adapted all its services and offerings accordingly. Stressing that Amazon India has captured the top spot for the last two years, Bezos pointed out that Amazon is the most visited site in the cou...

In India, Amazon currently offers some groceries via a service named Pantry. It has also tied up with local vendors in four cities for Amazon Now, which promises two-hour deliveries Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more Inc expects groceries and household products to account for over half of its business in India in the next five years, as it moves to broaden offerings in the segment and foray into areas such as fresh produce. Amit Agarwal, the India head of Amazon, said in an interview on Friday that groceries and goods such as creams, soaps and cleaning products, were already the largest product category on Amazon in terms of number of units sold in India. "I would not speculate on when we would launch AmazonFresh but, absolutely, if you ask me the next five years of vision - from your avocados to your potatoes, and your meat to your ice cream - we'll deliver everything to you in two hours," he said. AmazonFres...

In the four-day sale, the e-commerce giant is expected to run discounts, exchange offers, interest-free EMIs on credit cards and cashback offers on various products Amazon India is gearing up for the next iteration of its ‘Great Indian Sale’, which commences on January 21. During the four-day sale, the e-commerce giant is expected to run discounts, exchange offers, interest free equal monthly installments (EMIs) on credit cards and cashback offers on various products, including smartphones and electronic items. In addition, the e-commerce portal has partnered with HDFC bank for instant cashback of 10 per cent on debit cards, credit cards and EMI transactions. Here are some of the upcoming deals on smartphones: Google Pixel 2 XL The elder sibling in the duo of second-generation Pixel smartphones is among the top flagship device that were launched last year. The phone is expected to be sold at a massive discount during sale and would be available for less than R...

Amazon Great Indian sale starts from August 9 and will go on till August 12. Know latest offers The season of the online sale is back and it's time to lighten your pockets once more. Starting from tomorrow, the sale will go on until August 12. Amazon will be offering discounts on smartphones and mobile accessories. The Amazon Great Indian sale will feature deals offered by thousands of sellers and brands on select products. Users on the Amazon app as well as the web will have access to it. Amazon Great Indian sale  - Smartphone offers In the Amazon Great Indian Sale, customers can get 40 per cent off on mobiles and accessories which would also include up to 35 per cent discount on iPhones. Amazon will be offering discounts on smartphones and mobile accessories, and the list of devices includes Apple’s iPhone 7, 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6, along with OnePlus 3T, Lenovo, Moto, Samsung, Honor, Coolpad devices. There will be discounts of up to 75 percent off on software ...

Flipkart has been and will continue to make acquisitions to increase scale India's top e-commerce firm   Flipkart   has raised $1.4 billion in its biggest fundraising to date as it takes on US tech giant   Amazon.com   Inc for a larger share of the country's burgeoning online retail market. Chinese social media and entertainment firm Tencent Holdings Ltd, the world's biggest software company Microsoft Corp and online marketplace eBay Inc participated in the funding round, Flipkart said in a statement on Monday, which will value the Indian company at $11.6 billion. That is lower than the $15 billion valuation achieved at its last fundraising in 2015, reflecting how competition has intensified in the e-commerce sector as companies vie for a slice of the world's fastest-growing internet services market. Amazon last year said it would invest over $5 billion in India, and has recently expanded into online video and grocery shopping, seeking to expand aggressiv...

Founders forego salary Once a success story of the burgeoning start-up ecosystem, Gurgaon-based online marketplace   Snapdeal   on Wednesday said it would cut more jobs, stop paying its founders and sell its digital wallet FreeCharge. Co-founder Kunal Bahl, in an email to employees on Wednesday, finally accepted tough decisions— including letting go of people and a full pay cut for him— are being taken. It has also put on sale FreeCharge and is in talks with Naspers, the South Africa-based internet group, to sell it for $300 million. “We are combining teams, reducing layers, eliminating non-core projects and strengthening the focus on profitable growth. Sadly, we will also be saying really painful goodbyes to some of our colleagues in this process. This is, by far, the hardest decision we have ever taken,” said Bahl. Though the company refused to divulge the exact number of people to be sacked, sources close to the development said 800 employees would be laid off o...

Amazon India has started a programme that allows people to sell their old products Today Latest News   - Are you tired of stacking old gadgets, books, magazines, et al? E-commerce giant Amazon India has started a pilot programme in Bangalore that allows people to sell their old products. In an attempt to mobilise its user base and to encourage peer-to-peer (P2P) sales, Amazon has launched a programme called 'pick-pack-and-pay. So how does Amazon India's pick-pack-and-pay programme work? Step 1   -   List your product/products. Select what you want to   sell on Amazon . (Post your new or used products online across different categories – mobiles, books, fashion jewellery, tablets, watches, laptops and video games). Upload your photo. Select the essentials of your product (For example:- brand name, model, publishers). Mention the item condition (new/used). Mention your price, address and other details Step 2   - Post your ad Step 3   - Buyers ...