E-commerce operations in India will selectively resume April 20 onwards
After the Home Ministry relaxed lockdown restrictions for e-commerce portals, Realme, Xiaomi and Vivo are now in talks with Flipkart and Amazon to restart online sales from April 2020.
This development comes just a day after the government eased down rules for e-commerce vehicles to ply with necessary permissions. And while the earlier guidelines clearly referred to essential goods, a new clarification now makes it clear that electronic items such as mobile phones, TVs and laptops will be deliverable. However, delivery vans of the e-commerce companies will need permission from authorities to ply on roads.
“We will start our online sales for smartphones and audio accessories products from April 20 through our online partner Flipkart and Realme.com. These products are very important to stay connected. We are trying to get clarity from state governments for our online sales,” Realme’s vice president and India CEO Madhav Sheth told ET.
Similarly, a Xiaomi spokesperson said that details are being discussed with retail partners and an update will be shared soon. Vivo has also not been completely positive that sales will begin but discussions are ongoing.
There have still not been any updates from Oppo, OnePlus, and Samsung regarding the same. Online sales stand to gain revenues as much of the offline retail sector remains closed, however, the initial demand will come from buyers that have an urgent need driven by defects, repairs or other factors.
After the Home Ministry relaxed lockdown restrictions for e-commerce portals, Realme, Xiaomi and Vivo are now in talks with Flipkart and Amazon to restart online sales from April 2020. This development comes just a day after the government eased down rules for e-commerce vehicles to ply with necessary permissions. And…
