As the Corona outbreak has forced consumers to rely on the services of online platforms to fulfil demands, there has been a steep slope of changing consumer behaviour towards purchasing goods right from their homes and this trend is sure to last as the world is now adapting to new practises of strong hygiene and social distancing. 

Due to these, eCommerce businesses can expect a huge surge in demands, customer queries and expectations of faster deliveries. However, restrictions imposed by the lockdown resulted in severe on ground disruptions for logistics services, along with the migration of many labourers back to their hometown forcing the e-commerce players to revisit their operations and reduce dependence on manual tasks. 

For all eCommerce sellers to be able to address these challenges, it is highly necessary to incorporate important tools and technologies that can enable automation of services to ensure no more delays in business operations

To be able to address these requirements, we have compiled the list of some of the most useful tools to help you focus on potential solutions to improve profitability, increase productivity and handle operations during this time enabling a better future for your eCommerce business.

Shopify

Shopify is a leading eCommerce platform with 1M+ brands and businesses across 175 countries running their eCommerce store-fronts on it.

Shopify enables retailers to move their business online to focus on their online growth. 

With plug-and-play themes to choose from, the platform enables businesses in developing store designs, management of products and collections, enablement of marketing campaigns, etc.

Businesses can easily automate manual tasks such as order processing, marketing campaigns, analytics and reporting, customer communication and launch any new feature or integration with third-parties as well. 

With Shopify, your business can incur low development and resource costs along with zero maintenance costs all of which can help scale up profits, proving for this platform to be a topmost technology to onboard in your business. 

Razorpay (Thirdwatch)

Razorpay Thirdwatch provides an in-depth AI/ML based solution for eCommerce companies to tackle Return to origin (RTO) orders and Cash on Delivery (COD) fraud, which allows businesses to increase their operational efficiency and reduce losses.

With surge in demands, cancellations or RTOs increase as well and for businesses to maintain a profitable flow, it becomes crucial to focus on restricting these returned/cancelled orders to cut back on any extra costs of shipping. 

Thirdwatch analyses over 200 parameters about each eCommerce order placed in near real-time to recognize various patterns like address issues, fraud behaviour, suspicious email IDs/phone numbers, impulse purchase behaviour etc 

These checks enable businesses to prioritize genuine orders for fulfilment, management of undeliverable orders, and to flag out suspicious/fraud orders making this platform a highly essential tool for your business.

Yellow Messenger

Yellow Messenger is a leading conversational AI platform that caters to over 250+ enterprises across the globe, handling over a billion conversations quarterly.

The platform allows businesses to directly reach out to their customers via their preferred channels, eliminating the need for aggregators. This is especially crucial in these unprecedented times where digital commerce is on the rise and consumers are looking for an exceptional brand experience.

Yellow Messenger enables enterprises to leverage WhatsApp Business accounts to drive end-to-end eCommerce and support. The advantage here is that with a channel like WhatsApp that has a pre-aggregated audience, you can easily start with a basic WhatsApp Business account with little backend requirements. This enables you to kickstart impactful conversations with your customers without having to wait for all the pieces of the selling ecosystem to fall into place, making it one of the fastest ways to interact with your customers.

In short, conversational AI in conjunction with a communication channel like WhatsApp opens up a low-investment, high-reward channel for direct commerce

ClickPost 

ClickPost is a logistics intelligence platform which helps eCommerce companies rapidly optimize their operations, logistics costs in order to improve customer experience.

With AI-based selection of courier partners and pre-integrations with 100+ courier services, the platform ensures lower logistics costs for businesses with the ability to onboard partners within a day making the entire process seamless. 

Clickpost allows real-time tracking of orders with constant updates via email, texts, etc. to reduce manual efforts and increase accuracy of deliveries all of which lower the rate of RTOs and hence an improved customer experience.

ClickPost helps companies automate their tracking & customer communication to allow better customer experience and enhanced satisfaction making it an extremely useful tool for your business.

Payoneer

Trusted by more than 4 million customers, this cross-border payments platform empowers small businesses, marketplaces and enterprises to grow their global commerce, serving around 200 countries and territories.

Payoneer’s technology, compliance, operations and banking infrastructure empowers businesses by delivering a suite of services that includes cross-border payments, tax solutions and risk management.  

Businesses get the option to instantly connect with customers around US, UK, EU, Japan, Canada, Australia and Mexico with accounts in multiple currencies having the freedom to receive payments in different formats including Credit Card, Debit card, etc, view payment history and receive notifications about key financial transactions, special offers, and other account activities.

Payoneer allows you to tap emerging opportunities and expand to new markets making it a necessary tool for your business.

Shadowfax

One of India’s highly reliable last-mile delivery platforms with a network of more than 25,000 delivery partners, more than 5000 vans active across 65 cities in India,  Shadowfax is a cross-category crowdsourced logistics platform offering tech-driven solutions towards optimizing partner efficiency and providing a cost-effective express logistics solution for eCommerce, restaurants, FMCG, pharma as well as online & offline retailers. 

Shadowfax ensures deliveries even to remote areas with an omnichannel offering specifically designed for essential businesses to help them service the complete city within 24 hours.

The logistics platform allows best-in-class rider serviceability, multi-modal delivery options via vans or bikes, and flexible delivery schedules like hyperlocal in the vicinity, next day in farther areas. Apart from this, Shadowfax has exclusive tie-ups with Indian Railways, airlines and leading trucking operators to maintain an uninterrupted intercity supply of goods

All of these features make the delivery provider a profoundly important technology for your business to have in order to increase business profitability. 

Shiprocket

Shiprocket is India’s leading eCommerce logistics aggregator, serving 40,000 active Direct to Consumer sellers with its lowest shipping costs, widest pin code reach and dedicated customer service. Providing bulk shipping rates with no minimum order requirements.

The company optimizes existing logistics infrastructure using data and AI to offer seamless shipping solutions for every online seller. Shiprocket is partnered with as many as 17 expert courier partners enabling sellers to ship products across 26,000+ pin codes in India and to over 220 countries globally.

With Shiprocket’s Logistics Aggregator Model, Courier Recommendation Engine (CORE), Shipping Rate Calculator and more such services sellers get to choose the right courier partners for each shipment, cost efficiency for the given pickup and delivery pin codes and transparency about the relevant shipping costs for their delivery areas.

Shiprocket provides better coordination with the buyers according to their shipping requirements and ensures a higher chance of delivery by optimizing cost per shipments making it a highly recommended tool for workflow automation for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). 

Unicommerce 

Unicommerce has been simplifying supply chain operations for 10,000+ eCommerce sellers, retailers, and brands by automating their operations across online & offline sales channels.

A one-stop solution for all eCommerce needs, the platform provides integration or has partnership across all domains of the eCommerce ecosystem. The solutions are designed to benefit eCommerce businesses by enabling sustainable operations that result in growth, cost efficiency, and an overall increase in productivity.

Unicommerce enables processes such as multichannel order, inventory and returns management, advanced warehouse management, dropship fulfilment solution, omnichannel selling across 40+ online marketplaces, website platforms, offline stores and much more.

With 30+ pre-integrated Logistics providers, and 10+ ERP & POS systems, Unicommerce provides a single source of various technologically backed solutions to increase productivity for all business operations making it a top requirement for your eCommerce business.

In Conclusion 

These tools and technologies can help you eliminate any more obstructions and lack of services that may put your business at risk.

The effects of Coronavirus have given way to new trends and practices indicating how technology will take over and a restricted approach to manual dependency on things is going to drive the way eCommerce operates henceforth and so it becomes necessary for your business to incorporate high-end services to quickly tackle losses and bring back your productivity and profitability that will ensure a better future for your business.

For queries, request a call back!!

The post eCommerce Essential Technologies & Tools: Increase Productivity of Supply Chain Operations Today appeared first on unicommerce.com.

The introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) will mark a significant move in the field of tax reforms in India. By amalgamating major Central and State taxes into a single tax class, it would abolish double taxation in a simpler way and object the creation of a common national market. GST will replace all indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the Central and state governments.

As GST would be applicable on “supply” of goods or services as against the present concept of tax on the manufacture of goods, sale of goods and provision of services, same will lead to many benefits not only for the consumers in terms of a reduction in the overall tax burden on goods, which is currently estimated to be around 25%-30% but also it will mark significant leads in Trade.

GST will be categorized in two components with State and Centre as separate stakeholders. Components of Dual GST:

Out of 7 Union Territories*, UTGST is applied on only 5 of them, however, SGST can be applied in Union Territories such as New Delhi and Puducherry, since both have their individual legislatures, and can be considered as “States” as per GST process.

E-commerce organizations (Sellers & Marketplaces) are looking forward to the implementation of GST expecting high clarity, and dismissal of state specific rules and multiple Taxes.

*List Of 5 Union Territories considered under GST:

1. Andaman and Nicobar
2. Lakshadweep
3. Dadra and Nagar Haveli
4. Daman and Diu
5. Chandigarh

Sellers and Marketplaces have to meet basic requirements to run business post GST implementation.

Know more about: Plug ‘N’ Play Accounting System Integration

Below are the mandatory requirement from Sellers and marketplaces which will be implemented in Uniware to help sellers in smooth and issue free order processing from 1^st July, 2017:

1- GST Number/ Registration:

All sellers mandatorily require to register under GST. So now even e-commerce sellers whose aggregate turnover does not exceed the threshold limit for registration will still have to compulsorily register to sell online. 

Key Points for Registration:

• If a seller has business with same PAN in different states is now expected to register separately for each of the States where he has a business operation.
• If a seller has two business verticals in a state, he/she may obtain a separate registration for each business vertical.
• If seller has two different businesses with two TIN numbers in the same state, he can have common GST registration for both.

As per this mandatory requirement, seller has to update GST No. in Facility, Billing Party, Customer and vendor for order processing from 1^st July in Uniware. Validation of GSTIN will be done using state code & PAN rules which will be already stored in backend to validate the GSTIN filled by the supplier.

2- HSN Number:

HSN Code stands for Harmonized System Nomenclature. HSN number is mainly used for classifying goods to compute Value Added Tax in India. Now, same classification code (HSN) is adopted for classifying Goods and Service Tax for GST as well.

Under GST, the HSN code would be utilized by a taxable individual for classification of goods , but the format of HSN code will be based on the taxpayer’s turnover. When preparing Tax Invoice for GST, the HSN number must be mentioned on GST Tax invoice and also to be declared while filing the GST returns.

To mention HSN codes for the products will also become mandatory for sellers in Uniware as well. Same information will be saved under item type (products) created in Uniware.

3- Issue of Tax Invoice Under GST: 

Every registered person is required to issue a tax invoice at the time of supply of taxable goods/services and the invoice shall contain following particulars:-

Supply of Goods/Services

1. Description of goods/services;
2. Quantity of goods;
3. Value of goods/services;
4. Tax charged on Value of goods/services; and
5. Such other particulars as may be prescribed.

Further the invoice shall be prepared in triplicate, in case of supply of goods and duplicate in case of supply of services. Uniware will provide all above required changes and number of invoices as per supply of goods through its portal.

Below mentioned is the detailed information for the way of issuing Invoice after GST is implemented, which will be provided by Uniware as well. Invoices generated through Uniware will also have the prescribed format as described above.

Note:  Fetching of Marketplace Invoices:

Unicommerce would not only provide GST ready invoice templates for both B2B and B2C transactions, but also overhaul the architecture to fetch invoices from marketplaces, instead of pushing the invoices to marketplaces, wherever required. For example, Unicommerce is moving to the new version of APIs in case of Flipkart to be able to fetch their invoices, as well as pass on the HSN code to the marketplace etc. to comply with the GST regime.

4- Credit Note:

 Credit note will be reflected in the monthly return in which such notes have been issued.

When a Credit note should be issued:

When a registered dealer issues a tax invoice and in these invoices the tax amount is greater than the tax return filed for that period, seller has to issue credit note to the partner business owner containing such particulars as may be prescribed.

In Uniware as well, credit notes will be provided for Sale Order, Inter-state Gatepass and purchase order returns in the prescribed format set by Government bodies.

For returns filing post July 1, 2017 credit note is required only if GST was applied on the corresponding invoice.

5- Return filing Process Under GST:

 Monthly billing will constitute filing of all below mentioned forms on prescribed dates:

• Form GSTR-1: Upload all invoice-wise details of supplies to registered taxable persons and aggregate value of supplies to unregistered persons made through the e-commerce platform must be provided. (By 10th).
• Form GSTR-2A: The aggregate amount of tax collected by e-commerce operators (Tax collected at Source or TCS)** in the previous month will be auto populated, based on Form GSTR-8*** filed by the e-commerce operators. (On 11th).
• Form GSTR-2: The details of tax collected by the e-commerce operator can be accepted or modified in Form GSTR-2 (On 15th).
• Form GST ITC-1: Any discrepancy in supplies furnished with supplies reported by the e-commerce operator is made available to a supplier. The discrepancy must be rectified in the return for the month in which it is communicated.If not rectified and the value of supplies furnished by the operator is more than the value furnished by the supplier, the differential amount along with interest will be added to the tax liability of the supplier for the succeeding month.(On 21st).

**tax collected by e-commerce operators (Marketplaces) – Every e-commerce operator should collect tax @ 2% of net value of taxable supplies, out of payments to suppliers (sellers) supplying goods or services through their portals.

***GSTR-8– Form GSTR-8 will be filed by every e-Commerce operator (marketplace), who is required to collect tax at source (TCS) under GST electronically through the https://www.gst.gov.in/.

 6- Compensation Cess-

A new cess with the name “GST Compensation Cess” for first 5 years on some specified items will be implemented which will be credited to the GST Compensation Fund. The need for this cess rise to compensate the manufacturing states, as GST is a destination cum consumption based tax, so in order to compensate states from this kind of probable loss this will be implemented along with CGST, SGST and IGST.

Refer below link to know the Compensation Cess rates defined by government as defined in Central Board of Excise and Customs: CBEC-Compensation Cess

Uniware will reflect this cess as on the Invoices as well.

7-Tax Calculation as per consumption of Goods supplied by Supplier Under GST:

Refer below table reflecting the tax to be calculated as per location of supplier and place of Supply, we have tried to cover all possible conditions containing all the calculations:

Note: Go Live date for these changes will be (Jul 1, 2017) in Uniware and if prepaid order is received on Jun 30 invoice is printed on Jul 1, GST will not be applied in this scenario. However, if same order will be COD, then GST will be applied.

8- Impact of GST on Warehouse Management Processes:

GST regime will not only affect the e-commerce operators and the sellers but will also have important effects on warehousing management processes.

As per current tax regime, there is no uniformity and ease in tax implementation across various warehouse management, logistics and supply chain management processes. Effect of taxation at every step of these processes majorly affect the utilization of available resources. In present scenario, the location of warehouse is generally chosen to evade the taxes and reduce the logistics costs.

With GST, warehousing processes will also become uniform with the introduction of common market for Goods and services, breaking the state barriers and borders. This will lead to reduction in number of warehouses, and more organized warehouses enhancing the overall efficiency.

Unicommecre’s warehouse management system, Uniware is also ready to handle all warehouse processes such as inbound, outbound etc. as per new GST rules. All such changes will reflect in intra state/ interstate transfer documents, such as Gatepass.

To sum up, the below table describes the compliance requirements for GST regime and how Uniware will help the sellers in incorporating the changes at their end:

Conclusion:

Taxation on e-commerce transactions in the current regime is confusing as different states have different levies of tax and there is no clarity on Taxes levied on goods and services. The GST regime will now bring uniformity in the taxation process for e-commerce platforms and sellers.

• Seamless availability of input credit will result in reduced cost of operations for suppliers such as warehousing, logistics, marketplace commission, etc. as they will now be able to take the credit of tax paid on inputs, which was until now adding up to their cost.
• Unified common national market in India for the goods and services, regardless of whether they are sold at physical stores or online. GST will bring greater access to the customers across the nation for sellers.
• Prevent cascading of taxes as Input Tax Credit will be available on goods and services at every stage of supply.
• Simplified and automated procedures for various processes such as registration, returns, refunds, tax payments, etc.

As a supplier, it is important to plan for the GST regime. Awareness of the compliance requirements under GST like registration for GST number, documentation, filing of returns etc., planning and preparation for entering into GST module of taxation will ensure that suppliers can capitalize on the new era of e-commerce in India.

Discover Unicommerce’s Success Story with Leading Brands –

• Mamaearth Attained 99.99% Order Fulfillment Rate
• Dhani Healthcare Streamlined Operations Across 166 Facilities
• Urban Company Achieved 8X Growth in Sales Volume
• Plum Goodness Streamlined Inventory Operations with 69% Growth Rate in Sales
• Marico Achieved 100% Growth in Sales
• Bulbul Simplified Selling Across 200+ Vendors
• Chumbak Lifestyle Boost Sales Across 58+ Retail Stores
• TCNS Achieved 9X Growth in Sales
• Hamilton Housewares Attained 96%+ Pick Accuracy Rate
• Vidiwell Health Achieved 230% Sales Order Growth

The post Comprehensive Guide To GST Readiness For E-commerce Sellers in India appeared first on unicommerce.com.