Flipkart Collaborates with Online Tax and Accounting Platform, Clear Tax

The Walmart-backed e-commerce company, Flipkart, is bringing new changes to facilitate its sellers, which are listed on its platform. The e-tailer has recently collaborated with the online portal, Cleartax, to offer specialised services to its sellers, according to a media report.

 This move has been counted as an initiative by Flipkart to assist its sellers, which largely comprises micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Further, the e-tailer wants to aid its wide seller base in running their online business, without facing a hassle. In essence, Cleartax renders accounting and taxation services to the customers.   

The initiative is part of Flipkart’s efforts to help its seller base, mostly comprising micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to reap the benefits of e-commerce by making it easier for them to ply their business online, Flipkart has said in a statement, as reported by daily news, Mint.

 Another way to Entice Sellers

 As competition is getting stiffer in the e-commerce sector, Flipkart has deployed this business tactic to attract sellers to help widen its seller base. Following the partnership, sellers will be offered various financial services such as registration of GST (Goods and Services Tax), registering their enterprises, filing IT returns, apprehending GST software, preparing and maintaining accounts, and so on. 

More so, sellers will be provided with a “GST Health Check” in which they can check their IT returns, check their past returns and lastly, see if they are complying with GST norms.

“Our aim is to make selling on our platform as easy and hassle-free for sellers as possible," Head of Marketplace at Flipkart, Nishant Gupta said, as reported by the daily news, Mint.

Prior to collaborating with Clear Tax, Flipkart had introduced “Growth Capital” programme for its sellers. Under this programme, sellers on the e-tailer’s platform will be offered loans at economical rates.

To help avail low-rate loans to its sellers, Flipkart collaborated with 10 banks and NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Companies) that could approve loans within 24 hours and deposit money in a seller’s account in the next 48 hours, as reported by daily news, Business Insider.

The company has introduced these two changes soon after proclaiming to reduce the seller’s commission so as to entice new sellers.  

Increasing Competition in the E-commerce Sector

Similar to other industries, the e-commerce segment is changing over time, expanding its reach in the nation and further, attracting new players. In the present time, Reliance Company’s CEO, Mukesh Ambani heralded his plans to foray in the e-commerce sector by launching Reliance Retail.

This has impacted other e-commerce companies in the domain. According to Business Insider’s reports, products from global brands under the Reliance umbrella have reportedly begun disappearing from Flipkart as well as Amazon.

Newly modified e-commerce policy has also not helped e-commerce companies in local operations. So, the moves made by Flipkart allude its tactic to become a seller-friendly platform by addressing sellers’ problems and trying to keep its seller base intact in the adverse conditions.