New Delhi, Sept 19 (KNN) eBay India has sought an 'exporter' status from the government for its retailers selling their products globally through eCommerce.
Online marketplace eBay India said yesterday that the government should grant 'exporter' status to its retailers selling their products abroad and give them the same benefits as given to domestic exporters.
Managing Director of eBay India Latif Nathani said this while unveiling the online business index report here.
According to Nathani 21 per cent of retail export sellers are asking for such a status while 20 per cent demand customs exemption on retail exports below USD 25,000.
He also urged that recognition be given to this sector as it contributes to the growth of the country and offer benefits in terms of documentation, tax breaks, cheap credit, fiscal incentives and custom benefits.
Significantly, eBay has made a representation to the government to grant custom exemption to SME entrepreneurs. It has also tied-up with Federation of Indian Exports Organisation to help smaller players set up their e-shops.
Speaking about the challenges of logistics in eCommerce Nathani said there were different legislations that increase the costs of the products and shipping. “There is an urgent need to reform the goods movement in the country,” he said.
“Logistics is the lifeblood of the ecommerce shipping parcels from the seller to the end consumer and hence they have demands of their logistic partners. Both domestic and retail export entrepreneurs demand more competitive shipping rates from logistic partners,” he added.
Also speaking on the occasion, logistics has numerous challenges like different taxation laws of different states, transportation, infrastructure, different committees to check consignments at different places, said Secretary General of Federation of Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME), Anil Bhardwaj who jointly unveiled the report with eBay.
"When it comes to logistics, taxation is also a major concern, since the sales tax structure differs in each state. Moreover, there are almost 50 different kinds of permits and legislations that can be levied on trucks carrying shipments, and the state of national highways in many non-metro cities causes further inefficiency," Bhardwaj said.
Overall, small businesses in India employ 60 million people and according to the Online Business Index, the online domestic entrepreneurs surveyed employ an average of 4.8 full time staff and 1.6 part time staff.
This is projected to increase to 5.2 full time staff and 2.1 part time staff over the next 12 months, according to the index.
The Retail Exporters surveyed an average of 5.3 full time staff and 2.2 part time staff. This is projected to generate even more livelihood increasing to 6.1 full time staff and 2.6 part time staff.
“My mother and I started this as an experiment from home and now we employ 9 people, have our own office and have a global base of customers,” said Jewellery trader, Parul Arora who runs an online jewellery store through e-Bay.
The survey records an increase in hiring employees by 8 per cent in the case of domestic e-commerce sellers and 13 per cent in the case of retail export players over the next 12 months. At present small businesses employ 60 million people, reports FISME.
The results of the online business index were compiled using the responses from 703 of eBay India's top sellers, whose annual turnover ranges from USD 60,000 to USD 6.4 million in July 2013. As the largest online market space, eBay India currently has 30,000 sellers and 5 million registered users from 4,306 cities in India.
One of the key findings of the report is that 53 per cent of online sellers (in the domestic and retail export category) only sell their products online, while the rest follow a multi-channel strategy for sales which includes: eBay, offline shop, other shopping websites, own website, social media, shopping comparison websites and mobile apps, in descending order.
As many as 89 per cent of sellers on eBay are 'optimistic' about the year ahead and 59 per cent feel mobile commerce will play a very important role. 34.2 per cent of domestic sellers are in fact marketing to customers on mobile channels. Despite the effects of the economic downturn, 84 per cent of the respondents believe that rising consumer demand will drive growth at impressive rates. Over 15 per cent of domestic e-tailers have recorded a YoY growth rate of 100 per cent.
