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The coronavirus scare in China may affect business on the Indian e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart, as per a report in the Economic Times. This is quite understandable since the two

main categories of products sold on both, smartphones and electronics goods and appliances, are all mostly sourced from China. Unfortunately, South Korea, which is the base for brands like

LG and Samsung, is facing a larger crisis due to the deadly virus and cannot be relied upon for supplies either. For the record, some of the private labels under which the goods are sold on

include MarQ, AmazonBasics and Solimo. 

If the sellers on these platforms do end up sourcing the products from other geographies, the costs could be higher and there may be increase in prices for the customers.

Though the panic button has not been pressed yet, if the situation does not dramatically improve in China in the next 3-4 weeks, then by the middle of April, 2020, the shortages will start

telling on the product listings on both Amazon and Flipkart.     

Apart from these difficulties, many Chinese companies may postpone their new smartphone launches due to the travel restrictions in place. New models and exclusive arrangements have been huge

attractions for Amazon and Flipkart. Postponements and cancellations of new launches can definitely impact their businesses. 

As mentioned, there may be no immediate effect on the e-commerce platforms since the inventories may last. Since there have been hardly any shipments out of China the past month or so, the

impact will start to show up next month when the current stocks get sold out and fresh ones haven’t arrived yet.

Experts and sellers are of the opinion that the difference in the landed prices when imported from China and from other sources including from within India could be as high as 25%.

The larger question then would be how much of this increase in the cost the marketplaces will be able to absorb.