Large-format retailers, both online and offline, have once again approached the government to include items such as cooking utensils, small home appliances, electronics and other accessories in its list of essential goods that should be allowed to be sold during the ongoing lockdown. In a meeting yesterday with the government’s empowered group for supply chain […]

Alphabet‘s Google on Thursday published reports for 131 countries showing whether visits to shops, parks and workplaces dropped in March, when many governments issued stay-at-home orders to rein in the spread of the novel coronavirus. Google’s analysis of location data from billions of users’ phones is the largest public dataset available to help health authorities […]

Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Food delivery firms reassure customers on safety What’s the news?India’s food delivery apps have started aggressive outreach about safety measures, including hygiene. Why it matters? The rapid spread of the Covid-19 has made customers sceptical about the safety of food delivery platforms. Some have expressed concern about the health of delivery partners […]

Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Online food ordering firm Zomato said all proceeds from its Gold membership subscriptions in April will go into a fund created to support restaurant workers hit by the Covid-19 lockdown. “The ongoing lockdown is affecting certain members of our society more severely than the rest. In this hour, we must chip in […]

Thousands of merchants whose non-essential item orders were cancelled on Amazon India and Flipkart have to wait longer to get their payments cleared. The development comes even as these e-tailers start initiating refunds to thousands of customers who had to scrap their orders of non-essentials made before the lockdown, two people aware of the matter […]

Pizza chain Domino’s has partnered with packaged consumer goods maker ITC Foods to deliver groceries through a service called ‘Domino’s Essentials’, it said on Thursday, amidst the 21-day countrywide lockdown. A statement by Jubilant FoodWorks (JFL), which operates Domino’s Pizza, said the service will be rolled out in Bengaluru, Noida, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. […]

SoftBank-backed Oyo has written to hotel owners invoking the ‘force majeure’ clause in their agreements, with the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacting business at the hotels. ET has seen a copy of the letter dated March 28. Oyo said in the letter that since hotel revenues have dwindled and are unlikely to improve in the next […]

Illustration: Rahul Awasthi How to keep customers engaged in times of lockdown? Some e-commerce businesses deemed non-essential or with limited items on the essentials list have found several ways of staying in touch. Myntra, Bookmyshow, FirstCry and Nykaa are using informational content, gaming, and entertainment on their apps to connect with customers. This is aimed […]

Illustration: Rahul Awasthi The rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus has made customers sceptical about the safety of food delivery platforms. In India, one user tweeted, “Can anyone give us the assurance that the online food delivery platform will be 100% safe? If someone is harmed, who will be responsible?” The country’s top two delivery […]

India’s nodal cyber security agency has warned users of video-conferencing app Zoom that it is prone to cyberattacks. This came following instances of leaked passwords and hackers hijacking video calls midway through conferences. “Insecure usage of the platform may allow cyber criminals to access sensitive information such as meeting details and conversations,” Indian Computer Emergency […]