You Can Now Place Orders For 'Non-Essential' Items Online

Gearing up to resume full operations on 20 April, e-commerce companies have started accepting orders on products that were deemed 'non-essential' for the nationwide lockdown.

As per Ministry of Home Affairs' order issued on 15 April, e-commerce firms like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and others were allowed to sell smartphones, personal computers, electronics items, apparel, furniture, home decor among other things starting 20 April. This comes as a relief to these mega online retailers that make a major source of their income from these products.

While the buy orders on these items can be placed this weekend, the shipments will be made from 20 April onwards only.

According to an Economic Times report, these websites have been seeing a surge in new seller signups, possibly from local retail shops whose sales have been halted due to the lockdown.

Up till now, shipments and sales were only allowed for essential items like groceries, medicines and other household items. However, the lockdown has also seen a surge in the number of people having to work-from-home causing a consequential need for gadgets and laptops to do their office work efficiently.