A few brick and mortar retailers in Bangalore have written to the Competition Commission of India, alleging that e-commerce companies are engaging in predatory pricing in India, according to a report in Economic Times. Hari Rastogi, who started the campaign told FirstPost that he is not against e-commerce, but against the pricing policies of a few big online retailers that are selling at a loss to capture the market. Rastogi's own website, Laptopwale, is currently selling laptops at a higher price than listed on Flipkart or Snapdeal. However, it's worth noting that most of them are not in stock in either of those marketplaces. Those that are still available are being sold by several retailers through these marketplaces. For example, Laptopwale is selling a variant of Lenovo 510 for Rs 63,684, while four retailers are selling the same device via Flipkart at much lower rates. In such a case, who is to blame? The seller or the marketplace? Flipkart the marketplace is not responsible for pricing in this case, except that it can get special deals from sellers, or offer a marketing discount. It hasn't been smooth sailing for e-commerce players in India, with several companies in the field shutting shop or merging to cut down on losses (here's a complete list). Some points to note on the claims It needs to be pointed out that India only has a Maximum Retail Price in place to avoid exploitation of consumers by ensuring that retailers won't hike the prices just because there is…
eCommerce
Retailers Complain Against E-Commerce Companies To Competition Commission; But Is It Warranted?
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