The Aditya Birla Group will shut down its two-year-old online fashion portal abof.com on December 31



The Aditya Birla Group will shut down its two-year-old online fashion portal abof.com on December 31. The company was unable to figure out a way to “make money” as most shoppers tap online sellers that offer maximum discounts. The employees could be accommodated at other group companies such as Madura Garments or Pantaloons or quit and receive four-and-half months’ salary as compensation. Abof’s exit comes even as Flipkart and Amazon have lined up festive offers with discounts ranging from 40% to 90% as they seek volume and market domination — at the expense of profit. Indian e-tailers are expected to burn cash worth $400 million in discounts and offers in the September-December period.