Demand for non-essential goods skyrocket on e-commerce platforms; Paytm Mall sees lakhs of requests

As the country remains under a lockdown till 3rd May, the demand for non-essential goods have sky-rocketed with e-commerce platforms such as Paytm Mall witnessing lakhs of requests.

As the country remains under a lockdown till 3rd May, the demand for non-essential goods have sky-rocketed with e-commerce platforms such as Paytm Mall witnessing requests for items such as academic material, mobile phones, trimmers, and laptops. “Citizens who are currently adjusting to life under lockdown, working from home, continuing education, as well as carrying on day to day activities, are running short of supplies that do not fall in the essential category of products,” Paytm Mall said in a statement on Wednesday. Among the most desired items are mobile phones and laptops as most of the employees are working from their homes. Other items include charging cords, phone chargers, headphones, and desktop computers.

Paytm Mall has received over two lakh emails and 3.5 lakh requests in the comments section for items such as laptops, mobile phones, headphones, trimmers, etc as well as white goods since the lockdown, Paytm Mall said. The Paytm subsidiary now seeks government intervention to expand the list of essential items. “The ambit of essential goods should be increased. India is mostly working from home at the moment but many are finding it difficult as they are running low on certain items necessary to effectively operate under lockdown,” Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice President, Paytm Mall, said.

Earlier, Amazon’s India arm had requested the government to allow e-commerce sales for non-essential goods again after the MHA revoked its earlier order allowing the same. Amit Agarwal, Global Senior Vice President and Country Head of Amazon India, listed the benefits of opening up e-commerce channels and said that it offers the safest way to ensure social distancing, saving lives and livelihoods. “We urge the government to allow us to deliver all products (not just essentials) that citizens need over a prolonged period so that they can stay safe, while simultaneously jump-starting MSMEs,” he tweeted on Tuesday. For now, e-commerce channels are only delivering essential goods and daily use items such as atta, and pulses. The government had earlier allowed e-commerce vehicles to ply following which e-commerce companies started to prepare for taking non-essential orders. However, the same was revoked after protests from small traders and trade body CAIT.

 

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