Fitness wearables provider GOQii has taken online marketplace Flipkart to court over deep discounting, and received a stay order, preventing Flipkart from, in the interim, allowing the sale of products. This case is significant because of multiple issues: firstly, it comes in the backdrop of India defining its ecommerce policy, where it sought to regulate marketplaces more deeply, and allow trademark owners the ability to monitor the sale of their products, and even prevent sale, on marketplaces. Secondly, the fact that Flipkart, as alleged in the case, has control over third party seller pricing, which GOQii has said it can demonstrate via emails and WhatsApp messages exchanged, can impact Flipkart's situation as a marketplace with no control over inventory and pricing, and be an indication of violation of India's FDI policy. MediaNama spoke with Vishal Gondal, founder of GOQii, on why the company has an issue with deep discounts, and how they impact GOQii's business: MediaNama: Conventional logic would suggest that as a manufacturer, when you produce a product, and you get paid by distributors or retailers, who then sell it to customers, you don't lose any money when it comes to discounting. So why are you worried about deep discounting? How does it impact your business? Vishal Gondal: Perception of a consumer is derived by what they perceive the product price is, and what they've paid for it. For example, if you're looking at a GOQii Vital, you'll largely find it available at Rs 1999-2100 Rupees, and it's not…
