Ecommerce Business and Investments

THE IDEA: An AI-powered healthcare platform to consult doctors online

EUREKA MOMENT: Towards the end of 2016, Ashutosh Lawania and Prasad Kompalli, former senior executives at Myntra, decided to build a company from scratch. They’d helped turn Myntra into a powerful e-commerce consumer brand, but saw that the same was missing in healthcare. In February 2017, mfine was set up as a healthcare platform. While starting up was not new to them, setting up mfine was a learning experience. “Convincing people to join us at a time when mfine was just an idea on paper wasn’t easy,” says Kompalli.


EARLY DAYS: Conversations with hospitals showed them that the consumer experience had to change. “Hospitals need an easy interface with limited typing so we came up with a health keypad that collects data from reports without the user having to type. We ran a beta program and the results were promising,” he says.

CHALLENGES:

Breaking into the healthcare ecosystem as people without a medical or health industry background was a challenge. “Catching the early adopters was difficult. However, people take to availability and convenience soon.”

WHERE I AM NOW:

mfine takes 100-120 cases a day. With audio, video and chat support, it has partnered with 20 hospitals in Bengaluru and has 70 doctors across 10 specialities. In May, it raised a series A round of $4.2 million. It is looking at chronic disease management and IOT in healthcare.


PRASAD KOMPALLI | Co-founder, mfine

Being thrifty is easier than you thought. Inculcate these daily practices to save money in the long run
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While you

may already be familiar with money-saving tactics such as investing right, there are more creative ways to save money every day. After all, when it comes to money matters, every cent does add up, literally. Bank of America’s recent Better Money Habits Millennial Report found that 73 per cent of millennials (ages 23-37) said their generation overspends on unnecessary indulgences. In addition, 35 per cent of millennials reported not saving enough, while 17 per cent said they spend more than they should. There are many under-theradar ways to save more money each day.


Automate small amounts of money

You may already pay your bills and add to your savings through automatic transfers, but once you start automating smaller amounts, they will add up to bigger ones. “Automate weekly savings for small amounts you won’t miss, even as little as $10 or $20 per week. These small amounts will build quickly over time and you will learn to live without those extra funds,” says Andrea Woroch, a nationally-recognised consumer expert. She also recommended putting the money toward an online savings account that offers a higher interest rate than savings account at traditional banks.

Create a 48-hour rule and remove stored card numbers

The speed and simplicity of online shopping make it easy to fall into the habit of impulse buying clothes and other items. “To prevent impulse purchases, wait 48 hours after identifying something you’d like to purchase,” Chris Whitlow, CEO of workplace financial education company Edukate, says.

This will separate your need spends from your want spends. Similarly, having your credit card numbers stored online may be efficient, but it’s also dangerous as far as spending money is concerned. Plus, the more time you have to think about a purchase, the more likely you’ll make a better financial decision.

Use financial planning apps

There’s nothing like some accountability to keep you on track when you’re trying to reach a certain goal. Use financial planning apps. They provide an almost effortless way to save money each day, as they can connect directly with your accounts to track spending and alert you to problem areas without needing to log your spending each day yourself. Some apps also help you create a budget, as well as alert you when you’re spending too much in one category.

Log every expense

Seeing where your money is going every day can make you aware of unnecessary purchases that you may be making. Plus, cutting out those extra daily purchases can help you put aside more money for the future and avoid unnecessary purchases.

Go through recurring expenses

Byron Ellis, a certified financial planner with United Capital Financial Life Management and founder of Doing Money Right, suggests going through your credit card statements from the last six months. “Grab some paper or make a spreadsheet and list any recurring expenses that you might be able to cut. Also list any high expenses that you might be able to reduce,” he says.


Priyanka Chopra inculcated the habit of saving money as a child. “I used to save my pocket money,” she says


Uday Kotak believes that a lot more savers are moving money away from gold and real estate into banks, mutual funds, insurance and equities


Businessman Mark Cuban looks at his annual budgets for everything, “I look to see where I can save the most money from toothpaste to soup”

HDFC Bank’s Deputy Managing Director Paresh Sukthankar has resigned after having worked with the bank for 24 years since its inception in 1994. He will step down from his position after 90 days (three months) for now, HDFC Bank said on Friday in statement.

Paresh Sukthankar was promoted to the post of Deputy Managing Director from Executive Director in March 2017. “The Board of the Bank places on record its sincere appreciation for the contribution made by Mr. Sukthankar in  his long association with the Bank and wishes him the very best in his future endeavors,” HDFC Bank said in the filing.

HDFC Bank watchers were all praise for Paresh Sukthankar’s role at India’s largest private sector lender. “He was instrumental in taking up the reins after Aditya Puri,” Sanjeev Bhasin, EVP-Markets, IIFL said to CNBC TV18.

However, he added that HDFC Bank has become too big a bank for one person to have a big impact. “But in the short run it will be a negative because since inception of the bank he’s been the driving force behind the bank,” he said.

“He has definitely contributed as much as Aditya Puri. In the last few years Aditya Puri, because of ailing health, was not as much involved as Paresh Sukthankar. So in the short run it will definitely be a setback at least for the present running of the bank,” Sanjeev Bhasin added.

Another analyst too said it would not impact the bank too much, especially since HDFC Bank is used to seeing some high profile exits. “HDFC Bank is not very new to this. Puri (Aditya Puri, CEO) is still going to be there for the next two years. I don’t think it’s a major setback,” Suresh Ganapathy, Banking Analyst, Macquarie told CNBC TV18.

Vacancy at Axis Bank

HDFC Bank did not tell the reason behind the move, but Paresh Sukthankar’s resignation comes amid the ongoing search for a new CEO at rival Axis Bank. This led some experts to guess if he could be the next boss at Axis Bank when its present CEO Shikha Sharma remits office in December.

“If you read between the lines, the circular clearly says a 90 days’ notice — so you are talking about August, September, October — that’s the three-month notice… And Shikha (Shikha Sharma, CEO, Axis Bank) goes off in December. This exactly ties in with his resignation and perhaps the new guy likely to join Axis Bank. So, that’s my guess,” Suresh Ganapathy said.

Paresh Sukthankar is an alumni of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute (Mumbai) and also holds degree in the Advanced Management Program (AMP) from the prestigious Harvard Business School.

Meanwhile, HDFC Bank reported 18.17 percent increase on-year in the net profit for Q1 of FY19 at Rs 4,601.44 crore. However, the private lender missed the expectations of the analysts due to an increase in provisions which surged 4.5 percent in April-June quarter to Rs 1,629.37 crore. The provisions surged 5.7 percent on a sequential basis in Q1. Compared with Rs 1,343.2 crore in the year-ago period, loan loss provision  was Rs 1,432.2 crore.

With rising internet penetration and data usage on mobile phones, India offers a whopping $50 billion (nearly Rs 3.5 lakh crore) opportunity in the e-commerce space, says a joint report by Bain and Company, Google and Omidyar Network. As digital literacy and awareness increases, e-commerce sector will offer more opportunities. By driving awareness, transactions among the existing and the next set of Internet users and consumers, there is a potential to untap over $50 billion opportunity. The joint reports carries inputs of about 3,400 respondents.

In the year 2017, e-commerce sector in the country recorded $20 billion in sales. However, this figure comes much below to the  $459 billion in the US and $935 billion in China, the rate of online spending growth was the highest among the major economies.

Even though country’s e-commerce market is for sure at a much lower base than the US or China, and only contributes 2 percent of the overall retail, the penetration is such low that the segment is only expected to grow at much higher pace in the coming years.

Out of the 390 million active users on Internet in the country, those who transacted online are meager 40 percent that amounts to 160 million. Among these, 90 percent or 140 million belonged to comparatively affluent backgrounds.

However, there are few issues which need to be resolved so that the actual potential of the sector can be explored.  First of all more and more people from the rural background need to come on board. Secondly, more women need to use internet. Thirdly, problem of high user drop-outs need to be resolved.

Nearly two years after the announcement of demonetisation, the government on Friday said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has completed the verification of demonetised notes and that the number of demonetised notes deposited was not more than issued, TV news channels reported citing news agency Cogencis.

The government also said that the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 that became redundant after the noteban were verified and then destroyed by the central bank. Last year, an RBI report said that 99% of total demonetised notes came back into the banking system.

While it is not yet clear where the buzz of withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes originated from, the government has reiterated that there is no proposal to withdraw the high-value notes issued after demonetisation. Last year, Arun Jaitley also told the Parliament in a written reply that there was no proposal to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes.

In March this year, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu demanded to ban on high-value notes, saying that it will help prevent corruption in elections. Chandrababu Naidu, who was an ally of the NDA-led government, criticised the decision to introduced Rs 2,000 notes in the system, another high-value note in behalf of Rs 1,000.

In April, some states faced cash crunch as ATMs ran dry, which government said was due to an “unusual spurt in demand” due to the financial year end and festivities. The cash crunch was blamed on the inadequate number of Rs 2,000 notes and that ATM cassettes were not configured to dispense smaller Rs 200 notes.

Festivals are probably the best time to buy a new smartphone these days! Almost all the e-commerce players offer lucrative deals and discounts on mobile phones during the festive season.


Festivals are probably the best time to buy a new smartphone these days! Almost all the e-commerce players offer lucrative deals and discounts on mobile phones during the festive season. To celebrate India’s 72nd Independence Day, smartphone manufacturer Vivo is doing something similar. As part of Independence Day celebrations on August 15, Chinese phone maker Vivo is selling its flagship phone model – Vivo Nex costing Rs 44,990 for just Rs 1,947.

Yes, you read it right! The phone will be available at just Rs 1,947 via an online flash sale. The Independence day offer will be available from August 7 to 9 (beginning on August 6 midnight). The offer will be available on the web portal of Vivo – shop.vivo.com/in.

Commemorating India’s 72nd year of independence, the company is also giving a wide range offers like discounts, coupon deals and cashback offers on a select range of Vivo smartphones and accessories during the sale.

In a statement, Vivo said, “To commemorate India’s 72nd Independence, the company is also giving away Vivo accessories such as earphones, and USB charging cables at just Rs 72 with additional cashback offers. The flash sale for both the smartphones and accessories will commence at 12 noon for all three days and will last till stocks last.”

About Vivo Nex:

The smartphone phone comes with a 6.59-inch full HD+ bezel-less display with an in-display fingerprint sensor and powerful internal hardware including a Snapdragon 845 processor. The Vivo Nex comes with 8 GB RAM, 128 GB on-board storage, 12+5-megapixel dual camera setup on the rear and an 8-megapixel front camera.

This smartphone is running on Vivo’s FunTouch OS 4.0 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. The smartphone has a power capacity of 4,000 mAh battery with type-C charging.

E-commerce plan is badly conceived, best to scrap it
Prove unfair discounting by Amazon/Flipkart, a ban on bulk purchase illogical, special rights for founders retrograde.

Given how Flipkart has been around for more than 10 years now and Amazon for at least five, the government’s e-commerce policy is almost an afterthought. And, since e-tailing seems to be coming along nicely—India now has some 30-35 million online shoppers—and the payments piece, too, is gaining momentum, there is no real need for a full-fledged policy except one to ensure the safeguards are all in place. Instead of doing this, however, the draft e-commerce policy introduces some ideas that are not only retrograde, but even run counter to established fair play and equity. Existing brick and mortar retailers, for instance, are right in saying FDI into e-commerce players has been given a back-door entry. The way to set this right is by allowing 100% FDI in multi-brand retail. Instead, the government is looking to tighten controls over the e-commerce space under the guise of accelerating the pace of the digital economy “by providing a facilitative eco-system for spurring digital innovation”.

At the heart of the draft policy is an agenda that seeks to protect home-grown entrepreneurs. However, too much control will only put paid to whatever initiatives the local businessmen have taken; let’s face it, without the capital, all of which is coming from overseas, no entrepreneur can build a business. So, if the Companies Act is amended to let Indian founders retain control even if they have a small shareholding, it won’t work, apart from it being antithetical to corporate democracy—shareholder rights are proportionate to their equity share. Why would a Walmart pay top dollar and invest billions in Flipkart if it can’t call the shots? The new policy smacks of hypocrisy because this has happened while the government looked the other way when e-commerce players blatantly breached the rules that disallow FDI in an enterprise that engages in B2C sales, pretending to be mere marketplaces when they are, in effect, the sellers. By this logic, even Walmart should be allowed to set up front-end stores in India because it is mostly selling brands made by third-party manufacturers. Multi-brand retail should be thrown open to 100% FDI; the paranoia that small stores will be killed is overdone with little evidence so far that this is happening even with organised retailing having taken off.

If the government is concerned about the steep discounts offered by foreign e-tailers and feels this is unfair price-distortion, it needs to prove this unfair discounting and then act upon it. Trying to fix this by asking related-party sellers like a Cloudtail or a WS Retail to not buy in bulk is unfair since bulk purchases are at the heart of any retail operation, whether offline or online. It is also more than a bit hypocritical for the government to argue that Flipkart/Amazon’s deep discounting is predatory while RJio’s massive discounts are kosher. In the absence of being able to prove that the discounts are unfair, the government has to accept that online shopping has taken off simply because the prices are so attractive, and what the government perceives as price distortions are actually a reflection of the effective demand for a product at a particular price. Price controls will only choke demand, hurt sales and manufacturing and create fewer employment opportunities. Retail is a sector that can generate thousands of jobs across levels. The government’s role is only to ensure that data privacy and data storage rules are respected and that the e-tailers pay their taxes, among others. Critically, it must keep a very close watch on the payments space to make sure consumers are protected against frauds. Any other kind of interference will only backfire. The main reason why India’s IT industry has flourished—and the local boys have become the big stars—is because the government left it alone. There is a lesson here for the government.

Cleanliness in train toilets and even coaches has always been a major issue especially for those who commute frequently by Indian Railways. In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State of Railways Rajen Gohain recently stated that Indian Railways is taking several steps in order to keep the coaches including toilets in a clean condition. The minister, however, also said that complaints regarding cleanliness in coaches and foul smell from train toilets are received from time to time. He also stated that the foul smell in bio-toilets is mostly due to improper use by railway passengers. At present, a third party survey for assessment of cleanliness of 210 crucial trains is being carried out. In order to maintain cleanliness in coaches as well as toilets, Indian Railways says it is taking the following corrective measures:

1) Cleaning of train coaches as well as toilets at both ends including mechanized cleaning.

2) Indian Railways has provided On Board Housekeeping Service (OBHS) for cleaning of toilets, doorways, aisles and passenger compartments in more than 1000 pairs of trains including Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express and other important long distance trains.

3) ‘Clean My Coach’ scheme was introduced, under which, for any cleaning requirement in the coach in trains having OBHS service, passenger can send an SMS on a specified mobile number. Passengers also have an alternative option of using an android app or webpage for logging the request.

4) Indian Railways has upgraded the ‘Clean My Coach’ service to ‘Coach Mitra’ facility, which has been introduced in around 900 pairs of trains. It is a single window interface to register coach related requirements of passengers.

5) Indian Railways introduced Clean Train Station (CTS) scheme for limited mechanized cleaning attention to selected trains including cleaning of toilets during their scheduled stoppages en route at nominated railway stations.

6) In addition to air-conditioned coaches, provision for dustbins is also being made in sleeper class coaches of trains. In toilets of sleeper class coaches, provision of mugs with chains has also been made.

7) Indian Railways is also taking measures in order to improve ventilation in bio-toilets and to provide dustbin inside train toilets. Also, the national transporter is creating awareness for proper use of bio-toilets.

What is Flipkart Plus? This Amazon Prime-like service is set to arrive – What users must know

E-commerce major Flipkart was recently acquired by Walmart as the US-based company has been on the lookout for effective ammunition to take on Amazon. The e-commerce company has now made an announcement that it will launch Flipkart Plus – its new loyalty programme – on August 15. Flipkart Plus will be a direct counter to Amazon Prime services. However, the most important difference between the two is that Flipkart Plus won’t charge any fee.

Amazon introduced its Prime services in 2016 that initially offered free one-day, two-day deliveries. It was expanded later with Amazon Prime Video and Prime Music. Flipkart is now set to give a head-on blow to Amazon by introducing Flipkart Plus at no extra cost, unlike the monthly and yearly subscriptions required for Prime membership. Amazon charges Rs 129 per month and Rs 999 per year for Prime in India.

While there is no extra cost meted out with Flipkart Plus, the benefits entail the reward points system. In addition to fast deliveries, of course, Flipkart Plus will ensure that members get upgraded customer support and early access to major sale events on the e-commerce platform. This is similar to the early access deals specially available to the Prime members on Amazon. Meanwhile, the Flipkart customers who don’t upgrade will still be able to collect ‘Plus Coins’ for each order, in addition to the Flipkart Plus members, which they can use to get discounts and cashbacks on further purchases. The Flipkart Plus membership can be bought by anyone when it commences on August 15.

An incredible flying car has been developed to bring regular road traffic to the skies. This winged wheeler is called The AeroMobil 2.5, which has a maximum speed in the car of 160 km/h and in airplane mode it can reach over 200 km/h.

Canadian-based aviation firm Opener has unveiled its new BlackFly single-seat aircraft, which it bills as a personal aerial vehicle and the world's first ultra light, all-electric fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

Designed by Pierpaolo Lazzarini from Italian company Jet Capsule, the I.F.O is a proposed two seat drone/copter vehicle that looks scarily like a UFO. The drone vehicle is composed of a main central capsule cockpit that measures two meters in diameter and is surrounded by a carbon fiber disk with an overall dimension of 4.70 meters.

Lilium, the German aviation company developing a jet capable of vertical takeoff and landing, has announced $90 million in new funding. The electric jet engines are highly efficient and ultra-low noise, allowing it to operate in densely populated urban areas, while also covering longer distances at high speed with zero emissions

Boston-based Transcend Air Corporation announced the development of the Vy 400, a six-seat, vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and the proposed launch of a new airline service that will deliver business travelers directly to and from major city centers. The $3.5M Vy features a tilt-wing, fly-by-wire design that flies three times faster than traditional helicopters and has a range of 450 miles. It's claimed the aircraft will make the journey from New York to Boston in just 36 minutes.

The company that created a hover bike for the Dubai police department has unveiled a flying car.
The 5-seater vertical take-off and landing air taxi has been dubbed the 'Formula Project' concept and Russia-based Hoversurf says their machines are "ready to use in the real world".

The Kitty Hawk Flyer is an all-electric aircraft. The craft, backed by Google owner Larry Page, is a single-seat flying vehicle that does not require a pilot's license to operate.

British luxury brand Aston Martin is presenting the Volante Vision Concept, a luxury concept aircraft with vertical take-off and landing capabilities.