Online retailers have stocked up to meet any exigencies arising out of any supply-side issues due to the roll-out of GST. The e-commerce players have also been working with their suppliers and distributors to ensure that everyone in the chain becomes compliant with the new tax rules.

Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder, Grofers, told BusinessLine: “We have partnered with major brands and suppliers to stock up extra stocks in order to resolve any upcoming availability concerns, for the customers.

“Most of our supplier network, which constitutes around 93 per cent of our overall sales, is also ready and compliant. While we expect some initial hiccups, the over investment in stock and the fact that our systems were built internally, give us comfort that we should be able to resolve things quickly. So far, there have been no major supply issues. We expect there to be some availability issues in general trade, but modern trade seems to be mostly doing fine.”

Amazon India has launched ‘A-Z GST Guide’ programme that has been training and enabling sellers to get ready for GST, through tutorials, blogs free online training sessions and paid professional support through third-party service providers.

“We also recently set up 16 ‘GST Cafés’ across 11 cities to provide in-person assistance to sellers and help them understand the nuances of GST and transition seamlessly through the entire process.” said an Amazon India Spokesperson .

The online players, though, are not yet ready to commit if the GST will be a net saver for them. “We will have to see over the next few months what our potential combined saving will be from both output and input sides. We expect to pass along the savings on brand and product side to the customer; so that shouldn’t have an impact on us. But we will get to know some of the savings in day-to-day business only over the next few months,” Dhindsa said.

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