As curbs ease, e-comm cos start taking orders for non-essentials

Following the issuance of guidelines for the fourth lockdown phase by the Home Ministry and individual states, e-commerce companies including Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and Limeroad have started taking orders for non-essential items, too, with a chunk of the orders coming from red-zone classified areas. To begin with, e-commerce platforms saw orders for mobile phones, garments, home goods like pressure cookers, food processors, bedsheets, towels and mops, among other such non-essential items, which were not being delivered to a large part of the country earlier.

A senior Flipkart official said that the company would start taking orders in most states soon after discussing resumption with its sellers. “In accordance with the latest Government guidelines and directives, we will continue to work with local authorities while serving customers, sellers through our safe supply chain,” a company spokesperson said.