Mumbai: A webinar hosted by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) on May 1 identified the huge potential that global B2C E-commerce has to boost gem and jewellery exports, especially from the MSME sector, in the post Covid-19 world and identified some of the key policy measures that would be needed to make this happen.
The session, attended by over 800 participants, was addressed by Ms. Rupa Dutta, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India; Mr. Manuj Goyal, Director, Pinkcity Group of Companies; Mr. Anshuman Harjai, India sales leader, Amazon Global Selling; and Mr. Rajesh Neelakanta, ED & CEO, BVC Logistics. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Sabyasachi Ray, ED, GJEPC.
In her opening remarks, Rupa Dutta said that the gem and jewellery export sector has been facing various challenges and that the government was contemplating various policy reforms that would help the sector meet these challenges and the new ones that would arise in the post Covid-19 world.
Giving a context to the seminar, she added, “I am aware about some of the issues pertaining to cross border e-commerce and would like to understand the issues and solutions for reducing transaction costs and increasing ease of doing business.”
Taking forward the discussion, Mr. Manuj Goyal, speaking on behalf of himself and Mr. Sunil Jain, members of an Ad-hoc Trade Advisory Committee set up by GJEPC to study the opportunities and challenges in Cross Border E-Commerce, highlighted the following points
- In post Covid-19 world, E-commerce will increase in importance
- Global Cross Border E-sales can be direct transactions from factory to consumer
- This will help B2B businesses also enter the B2C space, and expand to new geographies without the need for local footprint in the region
- Will result in significant saving in actual OPEX (warehousing, taxation and compliance costs) – currently, for eg at present there are high logistics charges; and bank charges ranging between $15 and $35 for each consignment
- Will leverage E-commerce to compensate for the decline in retail
- Is suited to boost direct exports of goods at the lower end of the price band for eg in the US a shipment worth up to $800 reaches the consumer without any Customs intervention
He also drew attention to out some of the challenges in terms of logistics and the need for policy changes, including:
- Enhancing the speed of transactions to ensure delivery in 72 hours from India to US
- Reducing transaction costs
- Seamless return consignment management
- Development of financial and logistics ecosystem
- Recognition of CB E-Comm as exports and developing a Green Channel
Elaborating on some of these issues, he said, “In the first phase, the SEZs can be allowed to undertake B2C E-commerce because many of the policy and infrastructure elements required are already in place and only some smaller process changes may be needed. Subsequently, the system can be modified and applied to DTA.”
The two other panellists threw light on some of the procedural and practical steps that would be required to get global cross-border E-commerce started. Harjai of Amazon explained, with examples from the company’s programme Amazon Global Selling, the enormous scope of business to end-consumer E-commerce. He outlined how the global E-commerce giant had already put systems in place, like the Fulfilled by Amazon, that made it possible for businesses to service customers globally in the shortest possible time frames. He said that jewellery was already part of the about US$1 billion in cumulative e-commerce export sales from India, and could play an even more important role in the future. As per his projections, e-commerce will account for a very large proportion of all trade by 2030.
The panellists all stressed that a key challenge for India would be to reduce the high custodial charges at various gateway ports, particularly for e-commerce shipments which are generally of low value of up to US$2,000.
They also emphasised the need to develop a framework to implement the common global practise of a 30-day return policy; in India, currently returns are treated as a fresh import and Customs duty is imposed.
Ms. Rupa Dutta while summing up the discussions said that the government was keen on boosting e-commerce, including the Cross Border transactions, and would consult other stakeholders like DPIIT, CBIC, RBI, DGFT, etc for this purpose. She also urged the industry to ensure a transparent electronic audit trail of all e-commerce transactions.
