News Roundup: 10 Stories You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [13July – 18July]

This week Snapdeal Relaunched Shopo as a mobile only marketplace with Zero Commission model to sell new as well as used goods without paying commission fee on sales. It was acquired by Snapdeal,  two years back.

Shopclues Also In Trouble For Selling Drugs Online Without Prescriptions

According to recent reports, the Maharashtra state government has filed an FIR against Clues Network which is the parent company of Shopclues, for selling drugs online without a prescription from the doctors. Shopclues was found selling termination of pregnancy (MTP) pills and Seldinafil Citrate (Viagra) tablets.

Times Internet Launched A New Money Management App – SmartSpends

This Android based App will enable users to organize their finances while they keep a tab on their expenses on every segment. It also help users to explore ways of saving more money on card payments.

Akosha Rebranded Itself As Helpchat

Helpchat is a messenger based personal assistant platform that helps user to get things done in through chat messages in  the areas like – Mobile/ DTH Recharge & info, Tech Support, Travel, Holiday Guidance, Shopping , product search, stylist support, Beauty , Entertainment, Gifts, Laundry – on demand, Nearby local shops, Home services – painting, cleaning, plumber, electrician etc

Flipkart To Launch Online Ticket Booking Service

Company is in advanced talks for the partnership and according to recent reports, it is likely to launch an online ticket booking services in September. It is the same month, when company will go app-only.

InMobi Launched A New Ad Discovery Platform, Miip

Miip is a new ad discovery platform, which creates a discovery zone for consumers within their favorite apps as they switch between different apps. The platform presents a curated collection of product feeds, apps and related content based on consumers’ buying and viewing patterns.

Jabong Caught Increasing Prices For Its “Buy 1 Get 2 Free” Scheme

The fuss behind the so called amazing offers, the real deal behind these has been solved pretty well by products like Buyhatke that are solving and helping customers sort the dilemma concerning online shopping.

Snapdeal Invested $200 Mn To Build Its SME Ecosystem

Company has announced an investment of $200 Mn to strengthen its supply chain, train sellers and assist them with capital over a period of three years. Snapdeal seeks to host 1Mn sellers on its platform over the given time frame.

Uber Partners With Zaakpay To Restart Credit Card Payments In India

This new partnership will enable Uber to restart local card payments. Also, the new solution is in keeping with the RBI’s two-factor guidelines and requires a one-time password to be keyed in to make the payment.

VOIP Services Like WhatsApp, Viber, Skype calls may no longer be free

In a recent paper submitted by DoT, VOIP services which are hooked to applications like WhatsApp, Skype and Viber should not be free. However, instant messaging and international calls through these services are recommended to stay free.

Lets have a look at the other developments of the week:

BigBazaar Customers Can Now Pay Using Mobikwik Wallet

Users can pay through their mobile by sharing their registered MobiKwik mobile number and a one-time-password (OTP) for verifying the transaction. Mobikwik also plans to tie-up with other Future Group entities like Central, Brand Factory, Home Town and e-Zone in the coming quarter.

Paytm Partners With Capital Float

Paytm has tied up with the online loan provider to offer business loans to SMEs. The initiative is to increase the sellers on its platform to 100,000, from the current 50,000, by the end of this year.  Paytm will also invest INR 640 Cr in its “Go Big” platform that will fund initial expenses of merchants who come on board.

Amitabh Bachchan Is The New Brand Ambassador of FirstCry

To bring huge credibility to the brand, Amitabh Bachchan has been chosen as the brand ambassador of kids focussed brand, Firstcry. The e-retailer that supplies products for pregnant women also, has mandated Lowe Lintas for the advertising campaign which will include six films  and will run for the next three months. It will be released by the end of this week.

Quikr Rebrands: Introduces New Logo

Quikr, a cross- category business classifieds, launched its new logo. It has also come up with its new slogan “Aasan hai badalna”. The company’s new logo and brand identity were crafted by Alok Nanda & Company. Commenting on the launch of the new logo, Alok Nanda, CEO of Alok Nanda & Company said,”The ‘Q’ in Quikr is a designer’s dream and has been fashioned to suggest positive change in its users’ lives.”

Zomato Has Launches Custom App For Corporates

The Zomato Order App will be customized for corporates for their employees to order food. The app will consider an employee’s permissible spending limit and will pay the bill, which will be settled with the company at the end of the month. Those employees who do not have authorised limits can get same discounts and pay through standard card options.

Myntra Hires Ambarish Kenghe As Its New Senior VP And Head Of Product

Myntra has appointed Ambarish Kenghe as its new Senior Vice President and Head of Product. He will report to CEO Mukesh Bansal to scale up Myntra’s product roadmap, leveraging the smartphone revolution in India. An IIT Kanpur alumni has also been a key member in the development of Google TV.

Karnataka Government Has Launched Its Mobile Governance App

The centre for E-governance has started its mobile governance platform to give startups an opportunity to reach out to larger customer base. The application which has been downloaded by about 150,000 users, already has some private startups like Ola, Meru, Practo, VakilSearch and Intoit.

Ola Has Hired Sundeep Sahni As Its New VP-New Initiatives

Ola has appointed the co-founder of Lazada Indonesia, Sundeep Sahni as the Vice President of New Initiatives. Before Lazada, Sundeep was with Watheeqa Capital Company and Credit Suisse.

Zomato’s Chief product officer Namita Gupta Had Quit The Company

Before Zomato, Namita used to head Facebook’s Global Games Partner Engineering in the Bay Area. Last year only, she had  joined Zomato as its chief product officer.

Car Rental Company, Zoomcar To Launch Door-Step Services

This service will be launched by the end of 2015. Under this service, Zoomcar executive will drop the car at the customers’ choice of location, be it office, home or any other place and pick it up once they return from the drive.

Flipkart Launched An Adoption Assistance Programme

This programme will allow six months of paid leave for women. Whereas, Men can avail upto six weeks of paid leave within the first six months of adoption. However, both men and women will get flexible working hours for the next four months.

Flipkart Has Launched A Financial Assistance Programme For Its Merchants

This programme is named – ‘Growth Capital Initiative’, it is launched to help companies secure capital for expanding their business online. Under this project, Flipkart has partnered with Bajaj Finserv, Axis bank, NeoGrowth, Lendingkart and Capital First.

Flipkart opens a warehouse at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh

This new center will enable the company to pull out delivery of products faster and also to meet the increased demand of consumers. With this 30,000 sq.ft. facility, Flipkart’s total warehouse strength stood at 14 across India, reported PTI.