News Roundup: 8 Stories You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [27July – 1 August]

Flipkart is said to be testing a programme for its hyperlocal grocery business and hence has tied up with the neighbourhood merchants, Bangalore-based B2B online platform and service provider for hyperlocal logistics services. With this, it has also launched 20 Self Pick-Up Stores named  ‘experience zones’ and are being launched in 10 cities for customers to collect their shipments at their own convenient time. Company plans to launch these centres in conjunction with its logistics arm Ekart.

Lets have a look at all the important developments of the week:

Redbus Launches Services In Singapore & Malaysia

The services are launched under the domain www.redbus.sg. With this, the travelers will now be able to book inter-city bus tickets between Singapore & Malaysia and between cities within Malaysia.

Amazon.com Announces “Launchpad Store” For Startups

“Amazon Launchpad” will help entrepreneurs to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and the end-consumers. It will also help the startups to gain the necessary exposure and chances are that this might help them score funding with the investors.

Cardekho Launches CarBay In Malaysia & Thailand

CarBay will provide information on cars in Malaysia and Thailand. Site offers information on all car models offered in the country and will enable car buyers to search for different car brands. It will also offer information on financing options and roadside assistance information.

Ola To Go App Only From Next Month

Considering Ola’s 99% of bookings coming through the app, company has decided to accept booking requests only through the mobile medium from the coming month.

Flipkart’s Delivery Boys Go On Strike

Flipkart, has been allegedly denying basic facilities to its delivery boys. It has been reported that at least 400 delivery boys employed in Flipkart and Myntra ceased working since the start of the week.

In Order To Generate Advertisment Revenue, Housing.com PlansTo Close Down Some Business Units

After the recent upheaval in top management positions, company plans to close four out of the seven business units in order to reduce costs and focus on innovation and revenue generating businesses.

Lets have a look at other developments of the week:

Snapdeal Has Appointed Amit Maheshwari As The CEO Of Exclusively.com

Exclusively.com is an online fashion portal which was acquired by Snapdeal earlier this year. Before his appointment as CEO, Maheshwari used to serve as senior vice president-fashion at Snapdeal.

Uber Rolls Out Cash Payments In Pune

Uber riders can now pay in cash to the driver. Just few weeks back, company started cash payments  as a pilot project beginning with Hyderabad and Nairobi in Africa.

Citibank India & Mastercard Has launched Global Wallets For Indians

This global digital wallet is called Citi MasterPass for the lender’s Indian card customers, where users will be able to shop from more than 250,000 ecommerce merchants based in India and around the globe.

Amazon India Appoints A New Head For Seller Services

Amit Deshpande will be replaced by Gopal Pillai, general manager, consumer electronics, at Amazon.com Inc. Deshpande served as Amazon India’s seller business and was also a  part of the team that launched the company’s business in India in June 2013. Deshpande will now take up a new role at Amazon’s parent firm in the US.

PayU ropes in Ex-CEAT Marketing GM

PayU, an online payment company has appointed Prabhakar Tiwari as its CMO. Tiwari is a veteran in the field of marketing and brand building with renowned brands such as CEAT Tyres, Parachute Oil and Danone, Prabhakar brings in his rich experience and fresh approach to spearhead the PR and Marketing activities for PayU.

ShopClues Launches Bulk Factory For SMEs Along With Addition Of New Fashion Brands On Its Portal

Under company’s new campaign “The Bulk Factory”, merchants/SME’s can buy products in wholesale quantities and at wholesale rates. The objective of this campaign is to further strengthen the platform as the sourcing destination of merchants, SMEs and resellers. Along with these efforts made towards merchant’s benefaction, company is also enriching its customer experience  by bringing on board names like Numero Uno, Raymond, Ritu Kumar, ColorPlus and more.

Ola Joins Hand With Myntra To Offer Free Makeover To Ola App Users

User of Ola App will be offered  free makeovers curated by personal style advisors. ‘LookGood Express’–dedicated cabs from Ola, armed with all goodies to offer a complete makeover to customers across Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata on August 2nd. Users can request a free makeover at their doorstep, just like they would request a cab, by clicking on the ‘LookGood’ icon that will be live on Ola’s app between 11 AM and 4.30 PM on August 2nd.

Fashionara Launches India’s First Fashion App For ‘Flash Sales’

Fashionara.com has announced the launch of its android app for flash sales of the brands listed on its platform. The company plans to launch iOS version in coming weeks.

Mobikwik Launches Cash Pick Up Service For Mobile Wallet Users

This service will allow users to recharge their wallet instantly. It is presently available in Delhi-NCR will soon be available across all major cities in the country.

Mobile Payment App Momoe Launches Cashless Payment In Bangalore

Momoe is increasing its users convenience by providing cashless payment in Bangalore. The company has partnered with 1000+ auto drivers to make this move more convenient for its commuters.

Mukund Mohan Quits Microsoft Ventures

Mohan joined Microsoft ventures three years back in the capacity of the Director of the organisation. During his tenure, he guided the early-stage companies at the accelerator program, engaged with the startup ecosystem and helped the team that invested in startups via seed stage fund.

Mumbai Airport Launches Mobile Boarding Pass Facility

Mobile phone boarding pass facility has been announced for Vistara’s customers travelling out of Mumbai’s T2 terminal to New Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Goa.

Big Basket To Start Two-Wheeler Deliveries

Big Basket will set up 50 ‘Dark Stores’ across six cities, containing 1000-1500 SKUs from where deliveries can be done quickly on two wheelers to nearby addresses. These services will first start off for Gurgaon in the next two weeks.

Urban Ladder Launches Its Apple Watch App

This app will enable users to browse through weekly bestseller products, see prices, add products to their carts or wish lists. Also, there is a button to enable users to see details on their phones.

CarDekho Schedules CarBuddy Launch On This Diwali

This app will offer assistance to drivers in car repairs and also ensure that a mechanic reaches them in a few minutes. The app will reach in India’s big cities, in the next three months. Pilot app will be first launched for andriod phones.