Ecommerce Giants Woo Sellers With AI, Jar’s Troubles & More

Will Sellers Embrace AI Blitz?

The AI war in the Indian ecommerce space is now moving into the seller realm. Online marketplaces are using AI tools to automate catalogues, forecast demand, improve advertising and retain sellers. But why are marketplaces building AI stacks to woo sellers?

Retention With AI: The AI-led strategy could become a new growth lever as customer acquisition costs rise and competition for online shoppers intensifies. By improving catalogue quality, product discovery, pricing and fulfilment decisions, marketplaces hope to increase seller efficiency and, ultimately, platform revenues.

Ecommerce’s AI Blitz: As part of this, Amazon India has launched an AI-powered assistant, which allows sellers to use plain English or Hinglish to manage onboarding, catalogue creation, inventory, business insights and international expansion. Then, there is Meesho’s AI system, which now handles up to 3 Lakh seller calls a day, supports onboarding, catalogue creation and participation in sales events. 

There is also Flipkart, which operates an AI-ready commerce platform to help retailers with demand forecasting, pricing intelligence and trend analysis.

The Question Of Returns: While sellers are bullish on AI, they also caution that the technology should only remain a copilot. For many, brand identity, customer empathy and product quality cannot be reduced to clicks or conversions. Adoption also remains uneven as pricing and discounts continue to drive purchases. 

As marketplaces strip out human intervention in ad allocations, can AI adoption truly level the playing field for smaller merchants? Let’s find out…

From The Editor’s Desk

Jar’s Legal Troubles

• The Karnataka HC has quashed three Sessions Court orders, which directed the release of gold and silver and defreezing of bank accounts linked to the wealthtech startup. 
• The HC ruled that the Police do not need permission from a Magistrate to debit-freeze a bank account as a preventive measure. The Court also noted that the absence of direct supervision for digital gold does not put such transactions beyond criminal law.
• Earlier this year, Karnataka CID searched premises linked to Jar as part of a probe into potential violations related to the platform’s gold business. Subsequently, the startup approached a Sessions Court, which ruled in favour of Jar. 

Corpus Labs Eyes Funding

• Former Peak XV Partners analyst Saksham Mittal’s wealthtech startup is in talks to raise pre-seed funding from Stellaris Venture Partners. There is no clarity on the size and terms of the round.
• Corpus is still in stealth mode and its website went live recently. Corpus offers a financial analysis platform for reviewing a user’s mutual fund portfolio. However, the startup does not allow customers to execute investments or other transactions via its platform. 
• Corpus is entering the crowded Indian wealthtech market, which is projected to become a $95 Bn opportunity by FY30 on the back of a new generation of digital-first investors. 

Atomberg Gears Up For IPO

• The consumer appliance startup’s board last week passed a special resolution to raise up to ₹450 Cr via its proposed public issue. The proposed IPO will comprise a combination of fresh issue os shares and an OFS component.
• Additionally, the startup’s board also approved raising up to ₹90 Cr via a pre-IPO placement. This amount will be reduced from the fresh issue if the listing materialises. This comes weeks after Atomberg turned into a public entity.
• Founded in 2012, Atomberg sells a range of appliances such as fans, mixer grinders, water purifiers, among others. Having raised $126 Mn to date, the startup clocked a top line of ₹958.4 Cr in FY25 against a net loss of ₹117 Cr.

July’s UPI Rundown

• PhonePe and Google Pay continued their UPI dominance in July. While the former processed 1,086 Cr transactions worth ₹14.4 Lakh Cr, the latter recorded 765 Cr transactions totalling ₹10 Lakh Cr. However, both marginally lost market share in July.
• Sachin Bansal-led Navi saw its market share further improving to 4% from 3.7% in June, while Paytm, Flipkart’s super.money, WhatsApp and CRED retained their June market shares.
• Overall, UPI processed 2.366 Cr transactions in July, up 4% from 2,272 Cr in the preceding month. Meanwhile, the total transaction value rose 3% month-on-month to ₹29.88 Lakh Cr during the month under review.

Flipkart Hits A Marketing Snag

• The ecommerce major has invited the ire of netizens after it used the visual language of newspaper obituaries to promote the final day of its Freedom Sale. The creative quickly triggered criticism, with many calling it insensitive and inappropriate.
• While some industry insiders questioned whether dark humour would move consumers toward interest and purchase, others described the campaign as elementary subversion and weaker than Flipkart’s earlier unconventional campaigns.
• From YesMadam’s fake employee resignation narrative to the Poonam Pandey cervical cancer stunt, similar marketing campaigns show the trade-off clearly. While controversy can deliver reach quickly, it can sometimes overpower the cause, product or brand.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Farm Watt Is Building India’s Biomass Supply Chain

India burns millions of tonnes of crop residue every year while bioenergy plants struggle to secure consistent feedstock. Farm Watt Innovations is building the missing bridge between farms and fuel by aggregating waste and supplying plants with a reliable biomass stream.

Turning Waste Into Stock: Founded in 2023, Farm Watt operates at the intersection of agriculture and renewable energy. It collects crop residue that might otherwise be burned, then converts it into usable biomass for compressed biogas (CBG) and other bioenergy facilities.

The Aggregation Layer: Farm Watt runs decentralised biomass hubs where crop residue is collected, baled, stored, quality-checked and transported. Its network currently spans 15 hubs across six states, with plans to expand into Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

A Circular Play: The startup is not limiting itself to CBG feedstock. It plans to expand into bio-pellets and biochar, while eventually developing its own portfolio of CBG and bioenergy plants. This could allow Farm Watt to capture more value across the biomass chain instead of remaining only an aggregator.

Going forward, the IAN-backed startup plans to scale its aggregator network, enhance its tech stack and ramp up hiring. So, can Farm Watt turn India’s crop-residue problem into fuel?

Infographic Of The Day

Aman Gupta’s latest bet, OFF/BEAT, already has people curious. But beyond the viral curiosity lies a much bigger story: Gupta’s growing investment empire built across some of India’s most exciting startups…

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