 Morning Dispatch |
Macros weigh on ecommerce sales; District CEO on growth plan
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Happy Monday! Inflation and pricier inputs may take some shine off this year's ecommerce festive sales. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ Jungle Ventures’ AI pivot
■ Delhivery Q1 profit falls
■ Fintechs weigh in on MDR return
Rising raw material and packaging costs, fuelled by broader inflation and geopolitical uncertainties, are set to weigh on sales growth during ecommerce companies' mid-year promotional events this year.
Driving the news:
Platforms are likely to rely on zero-cost EMI, bank offers and cashback offers to promote sales, Ashish Dhir, senior director, consumer and retail at market intelligence firm 1Lattice, said. “The banners offering 30%, 50% or 60% off that we saw earlier are unlikely to be as prevalent this time,” he said.
Setting context: ET reported on August 4 that Raksha Bandhan on August 28 is expected to generate 14-15 million orders in a single day for quick commerce platforms, up from 8-9 million a year earlier.
Eternal-owned District expects offline shopping to become its second-biggest business within three years, as it expands beyond dining, movies, and events into a "going out" super app, CEO Rahul Ganjoo told us.
Retail in the lead: Ganjoo said dining will stay the largest category en route to a $3 billion net order value (NOV) target, but retail is growing fast enough to overtake movies.
“Offline shopping is huge, though how much of that is addressable (for us) remains to be seen, since we're primarily focussed on the top six cities. But both dining and shopping are massive offline behaviours we’re trying to capture,” Ganjoo said.
Expansion plans: The company has ruled out expanding into travel for now, saying it does not see a clear competitive advantage in the segment.
On competition: “We have individual competitors in each segment… a few players in dining, a couple in movies and events, though more are entering, some coming from adjacent areas like food delivery. In stores, maybe MagicPin was addressing part of that space, but not quite the way we're approaching it, so there's no like-for-like today,” Ganjoo said.
Building the Flywheel: District is focusing on cross-category engagement, which has nearly doubled in eight months; peak-day usage up to three times normal.
Jungle Ventures is raising India’s share of capital deployment to nearly 70%, up from about 35% in its third fund, as the Singapore-based investor concentrates new bets on artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, its founding partner Amit Anand told ET. India is now its largest market, he said
India takes centre stage:
Delhivery’s June quarter net profit fell significantly, as higher expenses offset a rise in operating revenue.
Financials:
New appointment: Delhivery also announced that chief operating officer (COO) Ajith Pai has resigned after more than a decade-long stint. Chief business officer Vani Venkatesh has been elevated to the deputy CEO role.
Also Read: To focus more on technology, engineering, says Sahil Barua as Delhivery names deputy CEO
PhonePe, Razorpay chiefs on MDR’s possible return: PhonePe cofounder and chief executive Sameer Nigam and Razorpay cofounder and chief executive Harshil Mathur have said Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments will remain free for consumers while backing a sustainable revenue model, adding to industry support for merchant charges on larger businesses.
House panel seeks GPU update: A parliamentary panel has again questioned the government on how it plans to reduce supply chain risks to help India realise its graphics processing unit (GPU) ambitions.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ These AI barons are ready to give away their fortunes (Wired)
■ Moonshot shake-up seeks to win Beijing nod for stock market debut (FT)
■ Trump’s AI protectionism has come for robotics (MIT Technology Review)
Also in the letter:
■ Jungle Ventures’ AI pivot
■ Delhivery Q1 profit falls
■ Fintechs weigh in on MDR return
Mid-year ecommerce sales set to cool as costs heat up
Driving the news:
- Ecommerce majors Amazon and Flipkart launched their Independence Day sale events last Friday.
- Online sales volumes are expected to grow about 10-15%, compared with 20% last year when Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan coincided.
- Demand during this window is typically lifted by Raksha Bandhan gifting, but this year, the festival falls nearly a fortnight after the sales wrap up.
Platforms are likely to rely on zero-cost EMI, bank offers and cashback offers to promote sales, Ashish Dhir, senior director, consumer and retail at market intelligence firm 1Lattice, said. “The banners offering 30%, 50% or 60% off that we saw earlier are unlikely to be as prevalent this time,” he said.
Setting context: ET reported on August 4 that Raksha Bandhan on August 28 is expected to generate 14-15 million orders in a single day for quick commerce platforms, up from 8-9 million a year earlier.
Shopping could become District’s second-largest business in three years: CEO Rahul Ganjoo
Eternal-owned District expects offline shopping to become its second-biggest business within three years, as it expands beyond dining, movies, and events into a "going out" super app, CEO Rahul Ganjoo told us.
Retail in the lead: Ganjoo said dining will stay the largest category en route to a $3 billion net order value (NOV) target, but retail is growing fast enough to overtake movies.
“Offline shopping is huge, though how much of that is addressable (for us) remains to be seen, since we're primarily focussed on the top six cities. But both dining and shopping are massive offline behaviours we’re trying to capture,” Ganjoo said.
Expansion plans: The company has ruled out expanding into travel for now, saying it does not see a clear competitive advantage in the segment.
On competition: “We have individual competitors in each segment… a few players in dining, a couple in movies and events, though more are entering, some coming from adjacent areas like food delivery. In stores, maybe MagicPin was addressing part of that space, but not quite the way we're approaching it, so there's no like-for-like today,” Ganjoo said.
Building the Flywheel: District is focusing on cross-category engagement, which has nearly doubled in eight months; peak-day usage up to three times normal.
- In Q1FY27, NOV rose 60% YoY to Rs 3,218 crore, though adjusted Ebitda loss widened to Rs 65 crore.
- Eternal attributed the growth to seasonality while flagging that movies and events keep the business lumpy.
Jungle pivots to AI and manufacturing in $300 million India plan
Jungle Ventures is raising India’s share of capital deployment to nearly 70%, up from about 35% in its third fund, as the Singapore-based investor concentrates new bets on artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, its founding partner Amit Anand told ET. India is now its largest market, he said
India takes centre stage:
- The firm expects to deploy $200-300 million in India every two years and has begun investing from its next fund, still being raised.
- Jungle manages about $1.5 billion and prefers $400-million main funds, backing 20 companies over two to two-and-a-half years.
- Its India portfolio spans more than 30 companies, including Livspace, Moglix, Turtlemint, Leap and Atomberg, with a combined value exceeding $8.5 billion.
- Anand sees the larger AI opportunity in software and services for mid-sized businesses, rather than frontier models or consumer companies merely adding AI features.
- Demand in semiconductors, defence and aerospace could help Indian engineering companies originate technology for global markets instead of localising US models.
- Jungle prefers not to sell at IPOs. It retained its entire Turtlemint stake during its June listing, while Atomberg is preparing a Rs 1,500-2,000-crore public issue.
Delhivery Q1 profit falls 64%; logistics firm raises ecomm shipment growth projection
Delhivery’s June quarter net profit fell significantly, as higher expenses offset a rise in operating revenue.
Financials:
- Net profit: Down 64% year-on-year at Rs 32 crore.
- Operating revenue: Up 27% at Rs 2,931 crore.
New appointment: Delhivery also announced that chief operating officer (COO) Ajith Pai has resigned after more than a decade-long stint. Chief business officer Vani Venkatesh has been elevated to the deputy CEO role.
Also Read: To focus more on technology, engineering, says Sahil Barua as Delhivery names deputy CEO
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
PhonePe, Razorpay chiefs on MDR’s possible return: PhonePe cofounder and chief executive Sameer Nigam and Razorpay cofounder and chief executive Harshil Mathur have said Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments will remain free for consumers while backing a sustainable revenue model, adding to industry support for merchant charges on larger businesses.
House panel seeks GPU update: A parliamentary panel has again questioned the government on how it plans to reduce supply chain risks to help India realise its graphics processing unit (GPU) ambitions.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ These AI barons are ready to give away their fortunes (Wired)
■ Moonshot shake-up seeks to win Beijing nod for stock market debut (FT)
■ Trump’s AI protectionism has come for robotics (MIT Technology Review)
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