Flipkart cuts burn to half that of rival Amazon

E-commerce companies in India have learnt their lesson of burning cash on discounts to get more customers

Despite raising nearly $4 billion from investors such as Softbank and Tencent last year, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace Flipkart is keeping a tight control over its purse strings as it looks to build a sustainable business.

The company has been able to cut its burn to just $17-18 million every month as measures to squeeze sellers for more margins and cut in customer discounts have kicked in, people familiar with the development said. It is also focusing on introducing private labels that yield higher margins and offset losses from other business units, they said. This is happening amid Flipkart’s claims that