Amazon.com Inc. merchants are facing significant economic pressure. Earlier this year, the e-commerce giant implemented fee changes, effectively transferring more operating costs onto the small businesses that constitute the majority of its product sellers. Additionally, merchants are grappling with a trend of consumers opting for cheaper products across various categories in the first four months of the year, as reported by Adobe Inc. This shift towards lower-priced items makes it challenging for merchants to increase prices and maintain profitability online.

Duncan Freer, who sells weighted blankets and sleep masks on Amazon, expects his profit margin to slide to 8% from 20% as a result of the new fees. One, imposed in March, charges a levy on shipments sent to the company’s fulfillment centers. That will drive the cost of shipping two pallets of Freer’s products to Amazon to more than $800, up four-fold from what it cost him in October, he said. Amazon reduced the cost of fulfilling each customer order, but Freer said it only partially offsets the new fees.

“Amazon just keeps grabbing more and more,” said the Chicago businessman, whose sales on the marketplace amount to about $500,000 a year. “It’s like a kick in the gut.”

Amazon said the new fees are intended to reflect its own cost of distributing inventory around the US so more items can be delivered in just one day, which helps boost overall sales for online merchants. Some fees actually went down. In January, Amazon cut commissions for sellers of low-cost apparel, a move interpreted by merchants as an effort to blunt competition from Chinese fast-fashion startup Shein.

“When we announced these new fee changes in December, we estimated that sellers will on average see an increase of $0.15 per unit sold, which is significantly less than the average fee increases announced by other fulfillment service providers,” company spokeswoman Mira Dix said in an emailed statement. “As sellers are adapting to these changes we have seen that the actual impact is even lower, and many more sellers are seeing a decrease in the average fees that they are paying to Amazon.”

Still, many merchants say Amazon is mostly benefiting from the higher fees, an assertion reflected in the company’s earnings. Revenue from seller services, which includes the popular Fulfillment by Amazon logistics operation, increased at a faster rate than fulfillment expenses in each of the past seven quarters. Amazon’s seller services revenue of $34.6 billion for the period ended March 30 was up 36.5% from two years earlier, more than triple the pace of growth of its fulfillment costs, which were $22.3 billion in the period.

In last month’s earnings report, the cloud computing division’s strong performance overshadowed the growing tension between Amazon and its sellers. Amazon Web Services in the first quarter contributed more than 60% of the company’s operating income even though it accounts for less than 20% of revenue. But sales in the core e-commerce business grew at a slower pace than the number of units sold, another indication that consumers are watching their budgets.

Amazon’s marketplace model helps the company keep growing through a slowdown by charging fees for advertising and logistics. Antonio Bindi, a Brazilian businessman who has sold home storage and kitchen products on Amazon for five years, said the fee structure is getting increasingly complex. Of particular concern: a levy introduced in April charged when sellers’ inventory runs low. That’s on top of previous storage fees that increase when slow-selling inventory lingers in Amazon warehouses. It’s too much for his 20-person team to manage, so he’s whittling his catalog of 500 products down to 400 to simplify the operation. Five years ago, he said, “Amazon was a platform that would facilitate your business operations and let you focus on what you’re good at, like creating great products. You could just send your products to Amazon, and they’d take care of everything. Now you need an entire department to deal with the complexity. The costs are prohibitive.”

San Francisco seller Neil Ayton sells golf yardage books, yoga gear, and pickleball equipment. One of his most popular products is a yoga stick practitioners use to stretch. It was 59 inches, the longest it could be to avoid higher fee tier. Earlier this year, he noticed Amazon cut the size limit, and suddenly his yoga sticks were one inch too long. Shipping costs for each product jumped from $10 to $26, and Ayton began losing $3 per sale.

Disney Star, the broadcaster for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, announced a record viewership of 510 million for the initial 51 matches. As the Tata IPL 2024 approaches its finals with 17 matches remaining, cricket fever has soared to unprecedented levels, establishing new records both in the sport and in terms of viewership. According to data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), Star Sports, the broadcasting channel for IPL 2024 under Disney Star, has attracted 510 million viewers during the first 51 matches. This figure represents a 5% increase compared to the previous high recorded in 2019 for the same number of matches.

Additionally, the broadcaster has experienced an 18 per cent increase from the previous edition in terms of total watch time, with viewers spending a staggering 356,000 million minutes. Disney Star also witnessed a 19 per cent increase in TVR (television viewership rating) for the first 51 matches, compared to the 2021 season.

As the conclusion of the IPL 2024 league stage approaches, the competition for playoff berths is intensifying, with eight teams competing for the last four positions. Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings are not in contention for the IPL 2024 playoffs race. Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are striving for the top two spots, while Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants are locked in a battle for fourth place with 12 points each.

In a release, Disney Star said, “The Tata IPL 2024 season is reaching its fever pitch, and Star Sports is capturing the electrifying race to the playoffs with unique surround programming. The battle for the top four positions is set to go down to the wire, promising thrilling and exceptionally close matchups, making it one of the most compelling races in IPL history.

Disney Star is airing the Tata IPL 2024 across 14 channels in 10 languages. The marketing campaign for the 17th edition of the tournament, titled “Ajab IPL ke gazab rang,” revolves around the idea that a fan’s allegiance shines through during their team’s journey in the tournament, with each IPL moment resonating uniquely with diverse viewers.

This year, Star Sports has collaborated with Tata Play and Airtel Digital TV to provide IPL matches in 4K resolution and introduced value-added services.

India’s factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), in March 2024 posted 4.9 per cent year-on-year growth, moderating from 5.6 per cent in February 2024 and ending fiscal 2024 on a sober note. The IIP growth was led by a robust expansion in electricity even as manufacturing growth rose to a five-month high, albeit on a very low base.

The growth rate of the mining sector for the month of March 2024 over March 2023 was 1.2 per cent, manufacturing grew 5.2 per cent yoy while the growth rate of electricity for the month of March 2024 was 8.6 per cent more than that in March 2023, as per Government data on Friday. Within the manufacturing sector, the top three positive sectoral contributors to the growth of IIP for the month of March 2024 are ‘basic metals with 7.7 per cent growth, pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products with growth of 16.7 per cent and manufacture of other transport equipment with growth of 25.4 per cent.

Dharmakirti Joshi, Chief Economist, CRISIL notes that the slowdown in March was driven by infrastructure and construction goods, which reflects moderating government capital expenditure at the end of the fiscal. “Among consumer products, while durables slowed, non-durables revived this month, hinting at a moderation in urban demand and a revival in rural demand,” says Joshi.

According to CRISIL, the IIP had increased to 5.7 per cent on-year in February from 4.1 per cent in January, boosted by healthy performance in both consumption and industrial sectors. Meanwhile, January’s reading was revised up from the previous estimate of 3.8 per cent as IIP growth picked up in all three subsectors of manufacturing, mining, and electricity.

Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA sees the dip in IIP growth on expected lines as the leap-year effect faded. Nayar observes that the yoy growth in a majority of the available high-frequency indicators witnessed an uptick in April 2024, including vehicle registrations, generation of GST e-way bills, petrol sales which zoomed to a 22-month high of above 14.1 per cent from above 6.9 per cent, partly owing to increased movement in the run-up to General Elections), output of Coal India and electricity generation to a six-month high of more than 9.6 per cent from more than 8.1 per cent, owing to rise in temperatures. “In contrast, the yoy performance of diesel sales to more than 1.4 per cent from more than 3.1 per cent, cargo traffic at major ports to more than 1.3 per cent from more than 3.6 per cent and finished steel consumption to more than 9.4 per cent from more than 9.6 per cent, albeit remaining quite robust deteriorated in April 2024 relative to March 2024.

Government data also shows cumulative growth rate for the period of April-March 2023-24 over the corresponding period of the previous year at 5.8 per cent. The cumulative growth rate of mining for the period of April-March 2023-24 over the corresponding period of the previous year is 7.5 per cent, manufacturing growth was 5.5 per cent and electricity growth, yoy, for the period of April-March 2023-24 was 7.1 per cent.

Joshi foresees a likely slowdown in gross domestic product (GDP) with growth averaging 4.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, compared with 6.2 per cent in the third. On the positive side, as Joshi points out, rural demand, which was a key drag for consumption last fiscal, could revive this fiscal. While early weather forecasts predict a normal monsoon this year, the lagged impact of the Reserve Bank of India’s rate hikes and regulatory tightening of credit could have a moderating impact, especially for urban consumption,” says Joshi.

“A lower fiscal impulse this year is further expected to dial down the capex support to growth in fiscal 2025 as government targets reducing fiscal deficit to 5.1 per cent of GDP from 5.8 per cent of GDP previous fiscal. A pickup in private capex is critical to sustain the investment momentum,” suggests Joshi.

Due to these factors, CRISIL expects gross domestic product growth to moderate to 6.8 per cent in fiscal 2025 over 7.6 per cent estimated for the past year.

On the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, celebrated with traditional zeal across India, the focus on the price of gold has intensified, particularly in Delhi where gold prices surged to Rs 71,240 per 10 grams of 24k gold on Friday.

This marked a noticeable increase compared to April 22, 2023, when the price stood at Rs 59,845 for the same quantity of gold. Kishore Narne, the Commodity head and executive director at Motilal Oswal group, attributed the significant gains in both gold and silver prices to geopolitical tensions and Central Bank purchases. He noted a 13 percent increase in gold prices and an 11 percent rise in silver prices Year-to-Date (YTD).

Narne highlighted that while there have been occasional price corrections in the gold market, the overall trend has been upward, with gold demonstrating a 10 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the past 15 years.

Akshaya Tritiya, also known as Akti or Akha Teej, holds great cultural significance for Hindus and Jains, symbolizing prosperity, wealth, and new beginnings. Traditionally, it is believed that any investment or purchase made on this day will bring prosperity and good fortune, leading to a surge in gold purchases.

Air India Express, under the Tata Group, is steadily resuming full operations post-strike, aiming for regularity in two days despite initial disruptions.

In a welcome development for Air India Express, operations showed signs of improvement on Friday following the cessation of a cabin crew strike that had caused significant flight disruptions. The strike, initiated by a faction of cabin crew members on Tuesday night, led to the cancellation of over 170 flights. However, relief came as the strike was officially called off on Thursday evening, accompanied by the withdrawal of termination letters issued to 25 striking cabin crew members.

With the strike concluded, Air India Express, a part of the Tata Group, is gradually restoring normalcy to its operations. The airline, which typically conducts approximately 380 flights daily, had to curtail its services due to the strike. Nevertheless, an official stated that they anticipate a return to regular operations within the next two days.

A key aspect of the recovery process involves facilitating the return of striking cabin crew members to their duties. The airline is extending support to these individuals in obtaining the necessary fitness certificates required for resuming work, according to the official.

Moreover, the airline anticipates an improvement in its international flight operations, particularly in the evenings, as more cabin crew members become available. Typically, Air India Express operates an average of 120 international flights and 260 domestic services each day, although there may be variations in flight frequency on certain days.

The impact of the strike on Air India Express’s operations was substantial, leading to the cancellation of 85 flights on Thursday alone, constituting approximately 23% of its total daily capacity. Following the resolution of the strike, the airline pledged to swiftly restore its flight schedule and expressed regret to passengers affected by the disruptions.

The strike had been triggered by grievances related to alleged mismanagement within the airline and concerns regarding equitable treatment of staff.

Air India Express, currently undergoing the merger process with AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India), boasts a workforce of around 6,000 employees, including over 2,000 cabin crew members.

The conclusion of the strike and the subsequent return of cabin crew members to their duties represent positive developments for Air India Express and its passengers. As operations gradually normalize, the airline aims to mitigate the impact of the recent disruptions and reaffirm its commitment to providing efficient and reliable air travel services.

With a focus on resolving internal issues and enhancing workforce satisfaction, Air India Express seeks to maintain its position as a leading player in the aviation industry while navigating through challenges and ensuring passenger satisfaction remains paramount.

As Air India Express moves forward from the strike-related setbacks, it underscores the importance of effective communication and conflict resolution within the organization. The airline’s efforts to address employee concerns and restore normalcy to its operations reflect a commitment to passenger satisfaction and operational excellence.

With the support of its dedicated workforce and management, Air India Express remains poised to overcome challenges, adapt to evolving circumstances, and continue serving as a vital link in the global aviation network.

The event will spread over 30 lakhs sq. ft of display area and is expected to attract over 1200 exhibitors and over 80,000 business visitors from India and abroad including the USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, UAE, South Korea, Singapore, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Romania and Czech Republic.