Traders from Indian Town Attempt to Get Blacklisted by Amazon

• Traders from Ulhasnagar from Mumbai, India are trying to get rid of competition from Amazon by placing fake orders in bulk.
• The traders hope to get the entire town get banned from sales to get rid of competition from the e-commerce giant.
• This is not the first time such a feat has been attempted in the country.

With India’s biggest festival of lights Diwali just a few days away, traders from Ulhasnagar are trying to get the entire town blacklisted by Amazon. Ulhasnagar is a small town located in Mumbai and the traders from the area revealed that their sales are hurt due to the e-commerce giant’s presence.

The traders placed orders in bulk at Amazon and canceled them midway. Once a large number of canceled orders are placed by a location, it gets banned automatically. According to Amazon, it is a common trend in rural and semi-urban areas. With these incidents occurring around the festive season, the e-commerce company investigates before confirming orders.

September to November are the prime months for shopping in India and retailers are having a hard time in India with many reporting to have lost up to 35-45 percent of their annual revenue. The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) representing 25,000 offline phone retailers revealed that they lost up to 30% in sales last year due to e-commerce websites. With websites like Flipkart, Amazon and others offering discounts that are too appealing for offline stores to keep up with.

Amazon and other e-commerce websites have also been called out for unfair pricing strategies which allows them to offer such discounts. Arvinder Khurana of All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) stated “There seems to be a violation on the Press Note 3 by the online marketplaces or they have worked around rules. Discounting on online exclusive models and mega advertising by Flipkart and Amazon created the consumer perception that online is the cheapest.”

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