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D2C Pulse is a newsletter written by the team at GlobalBees, curating happenings in the direct-to-consumer ecosystem of India.

Sale season is on with Amazon’s Great Freedom Festival Sale till August 8, Flipkart’s Big Savings Days Sale till August 9 and Myntra’s ‘Right To Fashion Sale’ till August 8.

There’s a flurry of activity across the country, not just with customers going after great discounts but also with brands pushing orders out at a frenetic pace.

However, if you look waaaay back, it was Mr. Biyani who looked beyond Diwali sales to make Independence Day and Republic Day major sale events and made August a full-blown sale month. Marketing campaigns like ‘Sabse Sasta Din at Big Bazaar’, which was usually a five-day blow-out sale period that coincided with Republic Day and Independence Day, were started by his team.

On that note, Inc42's July 2023 list of standout startups is a refreshing surprise as many of these game-changers grabbed attention with less than $500K in investments, yet impressively transformed it into remarkable profits. Dive into their inspiring journeys that prove big success can come from small beginnings!

🗞️Marketplace Updates

• The Soaring Star: Zomato, has witnessed a remarkable surge in its shares - hitting an all-time high. Brokerages have raised their price targets, signalling confidence in the company's profitable growth prospects. The interesting part “Blinkit's GOV (gross order value) is very close to Zomato's GOV in some of the large cities where we have an overlapping presence“, as per Deepinder Goyal . Blinkit recorded its highest-ever GOV and transacting customers in the months of June and July, after recovering from the business disruption caused by a delivery workers' strike in its biggest market, Delhi-NCR.

• The Ultimate Upgrade: Walmart has successfully acquired Tiger Global's significant $1.4 billion stake in Flipkart, solidifying its position in India's thriving e-commerce market. This strategic purchase demonstrates Walmart's commitment to furthering its presence in the region by Flipkart's substantial growth potential. As the e-commerce battle intensifies, all eyes are on Walmart's expansion plans and its impact on India's digital economy.

• Amazon is now enabling customers to their Rs. 2,000 notes while making cash-on-delivery orders. This move aims to aid individuals facing challenges with note exchange or depositing them in banks. Here's a simple guide to exchange Rs. 2,000 notes using the Amazon Pay wallet.

• Spot It, Got It: Myntra teamed up with the beloved Archie gang stars, Khushi Kapoor and Vedang Raina to introduce its trendsetting FWD campaign for GenZ, featuring the game-changing 'Spot it, Get it' photo-search feature on the Myntra app!

  By onboarding Khushi Kapoor and Vedang Raina as the faces of FWD, Myntra aims to strengthen its bond with Zoomers further strengthening FWD as the go-to destination for the latest trends and fashion experiences.

🍕D2C Bites

• Going Green: Cricketer Ajinkya Rahane champions the cause of a dairy-alternatives startup, Oatey, leading the charge towards a healthier and sustainable future! The startup has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the Indian cricketer whilst also roping him as the brand ambassador. The funding will go towards raising awareness about the plant-based dairy alternatives brand. It will also be deployed to make key hires, expand into the offline channel and launch new products. The powerful alliance represents shared values of promoting healthier living and sustainable choices.🌱

• The Meteoric Rise: Honasa Consumer Ltd, the parent entity of beauty ecommerce unicorn, Mamaearth, has received the green light from SEBI to launch its highly-anticipated Initial Public Offering (IPO), paving the way for investors to be part of its remarkable success story. Mamaearth's IPO promises an exhilarating opportunity to be part of the revolution in the booming D2C market. After receiving SEBI’s nod, the startup now has 12 months to file its red herring prospectus (RHP) and take the company public. 🚀

• Fuel for Success: Dunzo, with the backing of retail giant Reliance, embarks on an new journey - exploring the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) route, promising new horizons for the delivery and commerce ecosystem. The startup has onboarded 1,500 local merchants in a week and is aiming for 20,000 merchants from food, pharma, grocery and other sectors in the next 45 days. According to Dunzo's cofounder Dalvir Suri, some merchants have already experienced a 3X increase in orders in two weeks. 💼

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Reads and Recommendations 📚

• An Expert’s Guide to access 15 of the best free social media management tools.

• Guess the latest ad-network in town. Uber! The company’s ad network gained approximately 55,000 advertisers this quarter

• Move aside Nike and Adidas, Luxury brands like Prada and Burberry are stepping into the sports arena

• Google has updated its product ratings policies on automated AI content. Violation of these policies may result in content disapproval, warnings, or account suspensions.

  Just This One Time!

  The good folks at ellementry decided to do a 40% OFF on their bestsellers- just this one time.

  Yeah, grab handcrafted and sustainable ellementry homeware at these crazy discounts. The sale is on till August 8th so that gives you just another day. Don’t click here else you’ll spend the next 10 ten minutes on a Monday morning shopping.

  That’s all for this week! Bye!

Stay tuned for more.

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