Coronavirus lockdown 3.0 | E-commerce startups cheer as government eases restrictions

Lockdown extended: All you need to know about what is allowed, what is open and zonal activity

"We welcome the Government’s decision to allow ecommerce in orange and green zones to serve people safely with products that they need and have not been able to access due to the lockdown. Millions of small and medium businesses and traders will now be able to jumpstart their businesses and livelihoods across their workforce," said a spokesperson of Amazon India.

Track this blog for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak

This move will allow many professionals, who are working remotely, get access to products needed for 'work from home'. From books to stationery to electronic items, e-commerce players are hoping to deliver all these products in areas it is allowed to operate.

"India has been working, studying, and staying indoors for quite long now…running low on supplies of several items including laptops, mobile phones as well as accessories and even basic summer wear… (many were) waiting for some relief in lockdown guidelines to buy air conditioners, refrigerators to beat the growing heat," said Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice-President, Paytm Mall.

Snapdeal also said this move will help start a gradual process of economic recovery by enabling lakhs of sellers and MSMEs to cater to the demand of users through online and offline channels.

While opening up of business will help jumpstart the economy which has been suffering a massive slowdown, the concerns around the virus remain. India currently has more than 35,000 cases of Covid19. Ecommerce players have committed to ensuring social distancing while restarting operations to keep their staff and consumers safe.

"Our foremost priority is to ensure the safety of our customers, employees and partners and we will continue to join efforts to fight against the pandemic by serving people in the safety of their homes with products they need and help in social distancing efforts," the Amazon India spokesperson said.

Despite the relaxations being offered by the central government, e-commerce deliveries will continue to be restricted to essential items in red zones. Incidentally all the major metropolitan cities are within the red zone. While small towns and cities are important business centres for these platforms, a bulk of the business still comes from cities like Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and others, where they can deliver only essential items.

Industry insiders also pointed out that even if e-commerce platforms open for business, how much of sales will happen remains a question. Consumption of non-essential items has taken a massive beating because of the overall economic downturn. Pay cuts and job losses have caused anxiety and panic among the middle classes which can be a dampener for these players. Atleast as of now the priority is to restart business, issues around growth and sales can be planned for after that, they said.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak here