Amazon.in & Yes Bank Partners to Expand its Seller Lending Program

Amazon.in has announced the expansion of its Seller Lending Program through a strategic partnership with YES BANK, India’s fifth largest private sector bank. The partnership aims to develop synergistic solutions for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and SMEs across the country. YES BANK will help sellers on Amazon.in to profitably grow their business during the festive season by providing them comprehensive financial solutions ranging from current account, trade services, forex, payment gateway, business lending and loan products. Under the ambit of this program, YES BANK has already commenced relationships with hundreds of sellers on Amazon India with lending lines at various stages of disbursement.

This partnership marks the beginning of YES BANK as the primary corporate banker to Amazon India and will see the development of customized solutions for sellers of different scale & size on Amazon.in. Sellers will have digital access to the payment and lending solutions of YES BANK, ensuring speed in processes as well as personalization. As part of this agreement, Amazon.in sellers benefit by getting additional unsecured financing at competitive rates without much hassle which in turn helps them increase their business on the Amazon portal resulting in a win-win situation for all 3 parties viz. Seller, Amazon India and YES BANK.

Additionally, Amazon India will provide special services and market access to YES BANK’s SME clients enabling thousands of medium and small business owners and start-ups to access millions of loyal customers of Amazon and become part of India’s growth story. 

 Talking about the program, Gopal Pillai, Director and GM, Seller Services, Amazon India said, “Through our constant engagement with sellers, we realized that lack of financial expertise can hinder the growth of small businesses as they scale up which can impact their expansion rate. To help sellers make the most of the festive season, we have partnered with YES BANK under our Seller Lending Program to help them catalyse their growth on our platform by offering them a comprehensive suite of financial solutions. We have made the end to end process quick and easy allowing our sellers to focus on their core business while we take care of providing them with hassle-free financial solutions.”

Speaking on the partnership, Pralay Mondal, Head, Retail Business Banking, YES BANK said, “As a knowledge driven bank, YES BANK understands the specific needs of MSMEs and we are proud to partner with Amazon India to provide comprehensive banking solutions to Amazon sellers. We are also happy to mentor them by offering subject matter expertise, intelligence and innovative financial solutions driven by digitization.”

Earlier this year, Amazon.in had launched its Seller Lending Program to enable SMEs to easily access secured & unsecured loans between 5 lakh rupees to INR 2 crores at very competitive interest rates. The company had partnered with Capital First, a Mumbai-based independent Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) for this program which has seen loans worth crores being dispersed to date. The programme has been expanded to allow a wider gamut of sellers to scale up before the crucial festive shopping season.

Since its launch in June 2013, Amazon.in has been working extensively to launch services that meet different business requirements of its 1.2 lakh seller base and help them grow their business profitably online. From running an extensive education and skilling program for SMEs called Seller University, offering Fulfilment By Amazon (a pay-as-you-go fulfilment service wherein Amazon.in  packs, ships and delivers products to customers, manages returns and does customer service on behalf of the sellers), innovating Easy Ship (an assisted shipping service that makes it easy for sellers to ship products across India), launching Seller Flex (bringing Amazon’s flagship FBA experience to the seller’s doorstep by implementing the FBA technology at sellers’ warehouses), introducing Amazon Tatkal (a service-on-wheels to help SMEs get online within 60 minutes), to  building the largest storage capacity in ecommerce in India for sellers to the tune of 7.5 million cubic feet, Amazon.in has been helping sellers reach millions of customers across the country.

HDFC Bank Opts for Adobe Marketing Cloud to Deliver Personalized Customer Experiences

HDFC Bank, one of India’s leading banking and financial services company and one of the country’s most valuable brands, today announced that it has selected Adobe Marketing Cloud platform to deliver personalized digital experiences to its 37 million customers. This multi-million dollar deal represents one of the biggest implementations of Adobe Campaign globally, and reinforces HDFC Bank’s commitment to taking the lead in providing a truly world-class digital experience for Indian customers.

In partnership with Adobe, HDFC Bank has developed a comprehensive email marketing solution based on Adobe Campaign that will span multiple outbound channels including email, SMS, social and mobile apps.

“The ongoing digital revolution has opened up an array of opportunities as well as challenges for companies across the world. This is especially true for the BFSI sector in India, where more and more customers are relying on the power of the internet for all their banking requirements. At HDFC Bank, we are making strategic investments in driving a company-wide digital transformation to deliver on the fast evolving needs of our customers today. The implementation of this solution provides us with a comprehensive view our customers’ engagements with our campaigns, allowing us to share relevant, personalised marketing content with them, which enhances the customers’ experience with us with a real time response. As one of India’s leading brands, it’s important to us to maintain the trust and relationship we have built with our customers by continuing to improve and innovate,” said Kartik Jain, EVP, Head Marketing and Customer Analytics at HDFC Bank.  

As part of this partnership, HDFC Bank will replace its current engine for outbound campaigns with an all new solution based on Adobe Campaign that will help the Bank create multi-wave campaigns that will deliver an improved and personalized experience for its customers. This implementation will augment HDFC Bank’s marketing efforts by helping plan, automate, orchestrate, and measure marketing communications across channels. The company will also take advantage of optimized costs, extensive reporting and Marketing Resource Management capabilities that this implementation will deliver.“We are confident that our alliance with Adobe will help us deliver a truly compelling experience for our customers and support business results”, said Kartik Jain. With this new technology, HDFC Bank will be equipped to handle tremendous volumes of 37 million customer enquiries and 400 million emails a month. 

"In today’s digital era, consumers have a low tolerance for irrelevant or meaningless marketing material. A laser sharp focus on delivering the right message at the right time for customers is key to the success of any brand. We are excited about partnering with yet another industry leader and leading brand like HDFC Bank to drive their digital transformation agenda and help them engage with their customers in a multi-screen, digital world,” said Kulmeet Bawa, Managing Director, South Asia, Adobe.

Government IT Spending in India to Reach US$7.2 Billion in 2016

The government in India is on pace to spend $7.2 billion US Dollars (USD) on IT products and services in 2016, an increase of 2.4 percent over 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. This forecast includes spending on internal services, software, IT services, data center, devices and telecom services. Government comprises state and local governments and national government.

IT services (which includes consulting, software support, business process outsourcing, IT outsourcing, implementation, and hardware support) is expected to grow 9.3 percent in 2016 to reach $1.8 billion $US – with the business process outsourcing sub-segment growing 21 percent.

Telecom services will be a $1.6 billion in US market, with the mobile network services sub-segment recording the fastest growth with 5.2 percent in 2016 to reach $909 million.

“Government spending on software will total $885 million in 2016, a 4.5 percent increase from 2015,” said Moutusi Sau, principal research analyst at Gartner. “The software market will be led by growth in applications.”

Internal services will growth 5.8 percent in 2016 to reach $1.5 billion. Internal services refer to salaries and benefits paid to the information services staff of an organization. The information services staff includes all employees that plan, develop, implement and maintain information systems.

“The e-governance initiatives to simplify digital channels and data-driven initiatives are driving investments in the government and are anticipated to grow through 2020. The ‘Digital India’ initiatives are making government processes streamlined and integrating the data repositories,” said Sau.

Further information on government sector IT spending is available in the Gartner report, Forecast: Enterprise IT Spending for the Government and Education Markets, Worldwide, 2014-2020, 2Q16 Update. The forecasts provide total enterprise IT spending, including internal spending and multiple lines of detail for spending on hardware, software, IT services, and telecommunications for vertical industries and 43 countries within seven geographies.

India’s First Free Tech Suite of Custom Solutions for SME Automation

G7CR Technologies (www.g7cr.in) has announced the launch of its Business Enablement and Automation Program (BEAP) for SMEs, the world’s first free suite of custom solutions for SME automation. The ITaaS based solution is aimed at enabling SMEs turn digital disruption into competitive advantage by offering business process automation in an innovative business model giving them the experience of customized as well as standardised low-cost end to end managed solutions scalable to their growing business needs.

Leveraging Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, G7CR would provide software development, migration, adaption, implementation and 24X7 support for SMEs at no cost, while the client would pay only on the cost per click basis for cloud usage, at actuals. BEAP provides an ideal way for an SME to obtain a custom developed business automation application or existing standard solution depending on their specific needs from G7CR at affordable price points.

With capital investment on non-core functions such as IT, being eliminated completely, automation will enable SMEs shift focus more on their CORE business functions while becoming more productive and competitive. G7CR provides solutions across industries as well as the entire stack of industry-agnostic horizontal services to meet the needs of SMEs.

“G7CR’s delivery excellence coupled with innovative and scalable solutions for IT led innovation is working as the backbone for SMEs such as Clinikk (http://clinikk.com) with its mission of providing accessible, affordable and high quality supervised care as the healthcare buddy for physicians and patients alike,” said Suraj Baliga, Founder, Clinikk Healthcare.

 “Lack of financing coupled with fast paced digital disruption are proving to be major constraints for most SME’s today as they try to scale up and become increasingly competent,” said Christopher Richard, MD and Chief Software Architect, G7CR Technologies. “The IT-as-a-Service offering for SMEs would help accelerate their growth while freeing up vital resources such as financing for core business functions”, he added.

OPPO Replaces Apple to Top 2 in Terms of Sales Value: GKF Report

OPPO Mobiles, an evolving global technology brand, has for the very first time overtaken Apple to reserve a spot for itself in the Top 2smartphones in India by value in August 2016 as per GFK data. The brand has also clocked in a growth of 16% in comparison to the previous month.

This feat comes right after the launch of the Selfie Expert OPPO F1s in August. The Selfie Expert F1s came with a 16MP front camera and Beautify function apart from a 0.22s lightning fast fingerprint unlock and good battery endurance - a combination of powerful features desired by the young Indian consumers.

Sky Li, OPPO Global VP, MD of International Mobile Business and President of OPPO India,said, “India is a priority market for us. We have caught the trend that users, especially young generations like taking photos and selfies by phones. That’s why we have invested a lot in offering the consumers high quality camera phones with a strong focus on front camera.  Going forward we will continue investing inphotography technology, design and offering the best consumer experience.”

Besides providing high quality products, OPPO’s fast growth can also be attributed to the aggressive expansion of offline channel strategy and successful marketing campaigns targeted towards reaching out the young consumers. In the Indian market, OPPO has been expanding its offline presence by targeting 35,000 Point of Sales and 180 after sales service centres for giving its consumers a better experience.

By associating with popular platforms like Bollywood, Cricket and Entertainment, OPPO has been able to gain higher recognition in the Indian market. Taking their connection with the youth a notch higher, OPPO has planned something special this Diwali on Oct, 6^th to kick start the festivities and give consumers the perfect Diwali gift!

Samsung Smart Utsav Announces Exciting Prizes, Freebies this Festive Season in India

Samsung India has announced the launch of ‘Smart Utsav’, a unique range of exciting festival offers for consumers to celebrate the true spirit of festivities. The attractive offers will boost consumer sentiments and will last till 5th November 2016 across the country.

Samsung Smart Utsav will give consumers a host of offers across different product categories such as Televisions and Home Appliances. This year’s festive campaign focuses on maximising consumer engagement across platforms. Customers will get multiple gifts on the purchase of select models of Samsung TVs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, washing machines or air conditioners. The list of freebies include an LED TV and Home Theatre Systems. The exciting offers also includes additional warranty, Power Banks, Galaxy J2 smartphone, easy EMI schemes and cashback. Over and above individual product category offers, Samsung has also announced a CE Bumper Offer in which 500 winners stand a chance to win a grand prize of a Panel TV, Refrigerator, Washing Machine or Microwave Oven.

Commenting on the festive offers, Rajeev Bhutani, Vice President, Samsung India Electronics said, “As consumers prepare themselves for the upcoming festive season, it’s an exciting time for us to be a part of their lives and celebrations. This time, once again Samsung wish to double the joy of festive season by giving compelling choices to our customers and a chance to win their favourite product. We received a phenomenal response last year during the festive season, and are confident that this year will further add to the joy and celebrations.”

Exciting offers for Indian Consumers

Consumers looking for the perfect viewing experience from Samsung’s range of SUHD, Curved UHD and Smart TV range will get assured gifts ranging from free home theatre system worth up to Rs 48,990, free two year warranty and easy EMI options. Also on purchase of the Joy Beat and LED range of Televisions, consumers get assured gifts ranging from free Power Bank, Free speakers, Free DVD Player, and free two year warranty on select models.

Similarly, those looking to purchase from the home appliances range of Refrigerators, Washing Machines, and Microwave Ovens will get a range of benefits including free Galaxy J2 (2016), 80 cm (32”) LED TV, easy EMIs, cash back, 10 Pc Borosil dinner set and 5 Year Warranty on Convection range of Microwave ovens.

On purchase of Air conditioners, consumers get a chance to win a free AC worth Rs 40000, free AC installation, cash back up to Rs 5000 or 2 free AC Services. In Tamil Nadu, AC installation at Rs 499 only.

CE Bumper Offer

This festive season, Samsung has also announced a CE Bumper Offer in which 500 winners stand a chance to win a Panel TV, Refrigerator, Washing Machine or Microwave Oven on purchase of Samsung products. In order to participate, on purchase of Samsung consumer durable product, customer has to send an SMS message to 56677. The results would be declared in 5 intervals during the offer period. The winners would be announced on 26th September, 6th October, 18th October, 27th October and 14th November, 2016 on Samsung website www.samsung.com/in/offer/diwali-2016.

Samsung India launched innovative products in the Consumer Electronics category this year ranging from ACs with DURAFIN technology, Refrigerators with Digital Inverter technology, ADDWash and ACTIVWash washing machines and 44 new models of televisions ranging from SUHD, Curved, Smart and Joy Beat range of Televisions.

Accenture & Google Form Alliance to Create Industry Solutions for Enterprise Clients

Accenture has announced an alliance with Google to bring to market industry-specific solutions that will help clients use cloud, mobility, and analytics to advance their digital transformation agenda and improve business performance. Accenture will apply its broad industry expertise and capabilities to help enterprise clients improve the value of Google technologies within their organizations.

“The Google alliance supports our digital and cloud strategy, and will help clients benefit from innovative and industry-specific cloud and mobile solutions built on the full stack of Google technologies,” said Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer, Accenture. “Whether our clients need to innovate faster, create new services or increase the value from their existing technology investments, cloud should be the starting point for their digital transformations. Together with Google, Accenture will help clients take advantage of game changing solutions that help solve real business needs.”

“Our alliance with Accenture is designed to help enterprises transform and take advantage of the latest technologies from Google Cloud,” said Diane Greene, senior vice president of Google Cloud. “Google’s ongoing product advances, incorporated into joint customer solutions - from mobility and analytics, to machine learning and productivity apps - combined with Accenture’s deep industry knowledge, means we can rapidly address the critical business needs of our customers.”

Google and Accenture will work together to deliver solutions to customers in a number of industries including retail, healthcare, consumer products, energy, finance, and others. The solutions will combine products from across Google Cloud including Android, apps, analytics, augmented reality, big data, IoT and machine learning. Accenture and Google will provide dedicated resources from each company with capability in cloud solutions architecture, mobility and app development to help bring these solutions to large enterprise clients.

Accenture’s technology leadership and long-term relationships with the world’s leading brands—94 of the Global Fortune 100 companies are clients – will be a key asset as the alliance looks to accelerate enterprise adoption of cloud. Accenture has integrated the Google Cloud Platform into the Accenture Cloud Platform – a multi-cloud management platform that enables organizations to centrally manage their enterprise cloud resources, public and private, and automate and accelerate the delivery of cloud solutions.