e-commerce
Future Group to now tie up with an e-commerce site
MUMBAI: A day after lashing out at e-commerce sites such as Flipkart for undercutting prices, Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani said that he would announce his ‘exclusive e-commerce partner’ soon, according to media reports.
As per the reports, Biyani agreed that he met Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in Delhi last week, hinting that he might partner with Amazon to sell its private labels.
“We discussed many things like the macro environment, the prime minister and so on,” Biyani told a leading business newspaper talking about his meeting with Bezos.
“We can learn a lot of things from e-commerce players regarding their supply chain and logistics, sourcing and so on,” Biyani added.
The buzz is also that Biyani is expected to meet other e-commerce players for a tie-up.
The group would first take its fashion products online, followed by FMCG, general merchandise, food and others, he further said.
The reports also add, “While tying up with e-commerce portal is a ‘brand strategy’ Biyani said, the group’s own omni channel strategy, set to go live after Diwali, is a retail strategy or extension of his physical stores. He said the group’s omni channel strategy will work simultaneously along with retailing on e-commerce partner.”
As part of the omni strategy, the group’s electronics format, Ezone, is expected to go online first, followed by premium food chain Foodhall and hypermarket chain Big Bazaar, a group executive further revealed.
Biyani recently came out strongly against the strategy of e-com firms, accusing them of predatory pricing backed with foreign funding.
Media reports quoted him saying, “Laws in this country do not allow sales below cost price. This is anti-competitive. We (at Big Bazaar and other retail brands) never sell below cost price.”
The future group also launched ad blitz, lashing out at the e-commerce portals with taglines like, “No deal can win the trust of a billion people, you have to earn it.”
His comments came after Flipkart announced that it clocked record sales of $100 million (Rs 610 crore) in just 10 hours of its Big Billion Day sale on 6 October. Rival Snapdeal also claimed to have matched it with its chief saying the portal saw sales of over Rs 1 crore per minute.
But the Flipkart Big Billion Day was far from perfect, the e-commerce portal later apologised for the glitches encountered admitting its ‘failure’ in living upto the expectations of its customers. Acknowledging that it was not adequately prepared for the sheer scale of the event, Flipkart promised to come better prepared next time.
Targeting the e-retailer after it released the apology letter, Future group released another ad with the tagline ‘You can’t take a nation for granted even for a day.’
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) too has expressed concerns over huge discounts being offered by e-commerce firms. It has asked the Commerce and Industry Ministry to take steps to monitor and regulate online businesses.
e-commerce
Instamart gold dig event at Hussain Sagar goes viral
Hyderabad activation ties to gold price lock offer ahead of Akshaya Tritiya
MUMBAI: All that glitters isn’t just gold, it’s also great marketing. A quirky on-ground activation by Instamart at Hussain Sagar Lake has turned into a viral spectacle, with videos of people digging for gold coins flooding social media feeds this week. The campaign, executed in collaboration with Moms, transformed a patch of the city’s iconic lakefront into what online users quickly dubbed a “mini gold rush”. Armed with spades, participants dug through a mud-filled pit in search of hidden gold coins, an activity that drew crowds, cameras and plenty of commentary online, ranging from amused disbelief to outright fascination.
At the heart of the frenzy was a promotional push for Instamart’s ‘Gold Price Lock’ feature, which allows users to secure prevailing gold rates between April 10 and April 16 and complete their purchase later during Akshaya Tritiya, a period traditionally associated with high gold buying. The mechanic cleverly blended physical participation with digital conversion, turning curiosity into a potential transaction.
Branded as ‘Gold Diggers’, the activation leaned into gamified engagement. Those who struck lucky walked away with coins, those who didn’t were nudged with a simple message: lock the price now, buy later. The result was a steady stream of footfall and a surge in user-generated content, as onlookers and participants alike documented the spectacle.
The timing is significant. India remains one of the world’s largest consumers of gold, with demand peaking around Akshaya Tritiya. Data from the World Gold Council suggests the festival alone accounts for roughly 25–30 tonnes of gold purchases annually, making it a high-stakes window for brands looking to tap into consumer sentiment.
As the ‘Gold Price Lock’ feature remains live until April 16, the campaign has already done its job turning a simple product feature into a citywide moment. Because sometimes, the quickest way to get people talking about gold isn’t to sell it, it’s to make them dig for it.
