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Bengaluru, The overall <keyword id="921765" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-internet">India Internet</keyword> <keyword id="2185962" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="gross-merchandise-value">gross merchandise value</keyword> (GMV) grew to $65 billion in 2020, and is now creating a large impact on the overall economy with almost 4.6% of <keyword id="10640599" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="total-private-consumption">total private consumption</keyword> coming from <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> Internet, suggests research from <keyword id="6651735" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="homegrown">homegrown</keyword> consulting firm <keyword id="3359665" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="RedSeer">RedSeer</keyword>. "2020 has truly been a landmark year for India's consumer internet economy," said Anil Kumar, Co-founder and CEO of RedSeer. "We expect India Internet to accelerate further in 2021, driven by massive growth in consumer adoption and satisfaction in 2020 across sectors -- with India Internet expected to cross triple digits GMV for the first time in 2021 and eventually become $250 billion scale and 10 per cent of private consumption in 2025." His comments came as RedSeer organised "Ground Zero 4.0" event on Friday where Infosys Co-founder Nandan Nilekani discussed the theme of the event "Scaling Up" and how crucial a strategy it is for startups across all sectors. India's consumer Internet economy showed strong resilience in 2020. The overall gross market transaction value dropped earlier last year due to the pandemic but recovered by the end of the year. The event conducted sessions including a review of the past decade and the year 2020, how to scale retail, healthcare, edtech and how to build homegrown brands for global scale among others. Among homegrown brands, online-first brands gained 30 per cent share of e-commerce which will grow to 45 per cent by 2025, according to RedSeer's research. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) and digitally native brands (DNB) are now driving much of the e-commerce growth in India, it added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/do-not-panic-when-finance-minister-nirmala-sitharaman-reads-out-the-revised-estimates/articleshow/80400869.cms">Do not panic when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reads out the revised estimates</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/youtube-starts-rolling-out-hashtag-landing-pages-heres-how-you-can-use-it/articleshow/80401578.cms">YouTube starts rolling out hashtag landing pages⁠— here’s how you can use it</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/heres-how-indians-are-buying-tesla-facebook-and-apple-shares-through-brokerage-startups/articleshow/80403004.cms">Here’s how Indians are buying Tesla, Facebook, and Apple shares through brokerage startups</a>

India Internet GMV hits $65 billion in 2020,says report

<ul><li>Online <keyword id="1460935" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="festive-sales" source="Orion">festive sales</keyword> are expected to clock $9+ billion GMV during the whole festive month, according to homegrown consulting firm RedSeer’s latest <keyword id="12158683" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ecommerce-festive-season" source="Orion">eCommerce Festive Season</keyword> Report. </li><li> Tier 2+ will continue to drive growth as they are 55-60% of the total shopper base this year.</li></ul> This year’s festive sales is expected to grow 30% y-o-y to Gross Merchandise Value of $4.8 billion during the first week of festive season and potentially clock $9+ bn GMV during whole festive month, according to homegrown consulting firm RedSeer’s latest eCommerce Festive Season Report. This is a 23% increase from last year wherein the players clocked a GMV of $7.4 billion. The growth will be mostly driven by the accelerated online adoption which has been witnessed as an effect of Covid. Secondly, Tier 2+ will continue to drive growth as they are 55-60% of the total shopper base this year, similar or higher than 57% in 2020 festive days. On the other hand, as offline retail and mobility is recovering almost uptoPre-Covid levels, this will impact the online festive sale as customers may opt for offline shopping as well. Further, categories have been evolving differently during these months which will see an impact during the festive sale as well. While mobile will continue to dominate driven by new launches, electronics are expected to see the second highest demand driven by the wide range of selection, easy payment options including EMIs and Buy Now Pay Later among other factors. Additionally, Fashion is also expected to see a steady recovery this festive season with greater outdoor mobility of consumers and steady rebound of fashion and office wear. The report finds that the sellers are very bullish on this year’s sales and are looking to recover the losses suffered due to Covid. Nearly 80% of the sellers agree that festive sales will play a key role in recovery from Covid losses while 70% agreed that the bigger online players have been supportive and positive which led up to the sales event. The overall online GMV is expected to touch $49-52 billion which is around 37% growth from last year primarily driven by strong consumer funnel expansion and the high adoption of online shopping post Covid across the categories. “We believe that the 2021 online festive sales will continue to ride on strong tailwinds of greater consumer digital adoption supported by an increasingly positive macro and consumption sentiment post the Covid second wave has passed. At the same time, we see strong bullishness in sellers towards online festive sales as ~80% of them believe that the festive sales will enable them to drive strong sales growth and make up for the losses during Covid period. Driven by above, we expect strong 30% y-o-y growth in festive sale week in 2021 to reach $4.8 Bn in Gross GMV with growth across categories, and setting the stage for a strong year for eCommerce in 2021,” said MrigankGutgutia, associate partner at RedSeer.

Online festive sales to clock a GMV of $4.8 Billion in 2021, with a 30% growth YOY: RedSeer

New Delhi, Dec 3 () SoftBank-backed Grofers reported widening of its loss to Rs 448 crore in 2018-19 financial year, while its income rose by over 56 per cent from the previous fiscal, according to regulatory documents filed by the company.
 The company had posted a net loss of Rs 258.3 crore for the year ended March 2018, as per documents filed with the Corporate Affairs Ministry and sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler.
 Grofers, which competes with the likes of BigBasket as well as grocery verticals of e-commerce majors such as Flipkart and Amazon, saw its total income grow by over 56 per cent to Rs 83.62 crore in 2018-19 from Rs 53.47 crore in the previous financial year.
 When contacted, Grofers CEO and co-founder Albinder Dhindsa said, "Grofers GMV (gross merchandise value) grew by 300 per cent to reach Rs 2,500 crore in FY 2018-19 and we are on track to double it to Rs 5,000 crore in FY 2019-20". 
 "We are now the largest grocery e-commerce company in India and are preparing to bring the next 100m customers online by penetrating into hitherto untapped socio-economic segments," he added.
Grofers' numbers indicate the revenue it earned through retail margin/commission from brands and sellers. 
 In May, the company had announced a fund raise of over USD 200 million from new investor KTB, and existing investors Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital.
 In September, Grofers had said it aims to cross the USD 1 billion revenue mark by the end of the year, helped by strong growth in both its online and offline businesses.
 The company, which started operations as an online grocery platform, earlier this year said it is working with brick-and-mortar stores in Delhi-NCR to convert them into its own branded outlets. 
 The company has been pursuing profitability by consolidating its presence in the cities of operations and is also gearing up to hit the capital market with an initial public offering (IPO) in the next few years. SR RVK

Grofers loss widens to Rs 448 cr in FY19, co says on track to double GMV to Rs 5k cr in FY20

Since the announcement of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=demonetisation&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">demonetization</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=paytm&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Paytm</a> has been raking in money like never before. One of the biggest beneficiaries of demonetization has been <keyword id="6357120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword> as people have moved to cashless payments owing to cash crunch. 
 
Within 12 days, Paytm has witnessed over 7 million transactions worth Rs 120 crore a day. 
 
The mobile wallet is now four months ahead of its target and crossed $5 billion <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=gmv&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">GMV sales</a>. 
 
Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), which is an industry term for estimating the total worth of goods sold through a digital platform, for Paytm was $3 billion last year. 
 
"Paytm is registering over 7 million transactions worth Rs 120 crore in a day as millions of consumers and merchants across the country try mobile payments on the Paytm payment platform for the first time," said Sudhanshu Gupta, Vice President, Paytm. 
 
The company is currently doing more transactions than the combined average daily usage of credit and debit cards in India, he added. 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=digital+wallets&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Mobile wallet</a> companies including Paytm have seen manifold growth in transactions and new users coming on board with people turning to digital platforms as serpentine queues outside ATMs continuing to hassle cash-strapped public. 
 
"Offline transactions now contribute to over 65 per cent of the overall business from 15 per cent about six months ago. We are also working on expanding our merchant network by 150,000 additional merchants," he said. 
 
Paytm has over 150 million mobile wallet users currently. 
 
Mobile payment transaction value in India is also likely to register over 150 per cent CAGR and cross Rs 2,000 trillion by FY 2021-22 from just over Rs 8 trillion as of FY 2015-16, the study titled Indian M-wallet market said.

Thanks to demonetization, Paytm is making Rs 120 crore per day; achieves target before deadline, crosses $5 billion GMV

Come Valentine’s Day and people (read men) are in a tearing hurry to buy the most offbeat and perfect gifts for their loved ones at the very last moment. But most of us fail to think out of the box and the outcome is a pile of all-too-predictable <keyword id="464407" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="gift-items">gift items</keyword> that tend to infest our homes on each and every occasion – be it Valentine’s Day or Christmas, Holi or Diwali. If you want to find the most suitable gifts without the least hassle, try <keyword id="2059416" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Wishpicker">Wishpicker</keyword>, a 9-month-old, Noida-based start-up that curates and aggregates gift items &amp; gift ideas from reputed merchants and helps you find the most relevant gifts as per your choice/preference – so that you won’t have to hunt for another shop – online or offline. But unlike other gift sites, this one does not sell gifts. Once you find something suitable and decide to buy it, you will be redirected to the merchant site for making the purchase. 
 Wishpicker uses an <keyword id="2059433" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Automated-machine-learning-system">automated machine learning system</keyword> for its <keyword id="2059417" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gift-recommendation-engine">gift recommendation engine</keyword> – so that it can identify usage patterns and come up with most <keyword id="2059425" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Relevant-gift-ideas">relevant gift ideas</keyword> based on age, relationship, occasion and other parameters. As a result, the start-up is able to maintain a conversion rate that is much higher than plain vanilla e-commerce stores. And the gift suggestions can be really exotic at times – right from buying a piece of land on the moon to getting your sweetheart’s face printed on a flower petal. Want to know more about Wishpicker and its offerings? Here is a snapshot that captures the start-up’s vision and viability. 
 
Who runs Wishpicker (www.wishpicker.com): A team of nine young enthusiasts led by co-founders Prateek Rathore and Apurv Bansal. While Prateek is a <keyword id="163598" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="computer-engineer">computer engineer</keyword> from IIT Delhi, Apurv is a <keyword id="6405797" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="civil-engineer">civil engineer</keyword> from the same institution and was Prateek’s batchmate. Prateek also holds a post-graduate degree in Management from the <keyword id="2059415" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="IE-Business-School-in-Spain">IE Business School in Spain</keyword>. The duo later roped in Tejendra Singh, a B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Patna, as a core technology member. 
 Earlier, Apurv had worked as a consultant but finally left his high-paying corporate job at <keyword id="122749" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bain-Company">Bain &amp; Company</keyword> in Mumbai to start Wishpicker when Prateek returned to India after finishing his management studies. The duo started working on the concept in early 2013 and Wishpicker.com went live in June last year. “Initially, we were operating from the terrace of Prateek’s parents’ flat in Delhi. But we shifted to Noida when the team grew,” recalls Apurv. 
 
What inspired the venture: Personal misadventures. Both Apurv and Prateek faced great difficulties when it came to finding the right kind of gifts for friends and families. “We were at a loss about what to buy and searching for gifts online simply stumped us. We were overwhelmed by the number of options available across the sites. Also, each site claimed it was selling the ‘best gift’ but that personal touch was somewhat missing,” reflects Apurv. “That’s when we realised that a lot of people face the same problem and we should do something about it. Wishpicker is here so that buying gifts turns out to be a happy experience instead of a harrowing one,” he adds. 
 
What’s the pitch: The name reveals the business pitch, according to the co-founders. As the site is helping people ‘pick’ the right gifts for their loved ones (that’s what you wish, don’t you?), Wishpicker is just the right name for it. And the ‘intelligent’ gift recommendation engine offers a never-before curated experience of gift-buying, helping you become a better gift giver who is both thoughtful and creative. “At Wishpicker, you will find a <keyword id="2059442" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Readymade-gifting-inventory">readymade gifting inventory</keyword> from across the Internet and you can customise your search for best-ever recommendations. That’s our USP for driving business,” explains Apurv. 
 
How it works: What we like about this site is the all-too-simple user interface in spite of a complex backend. For one, you need not register or log in and can start gift hunting right away, from a wide range of gift items, <keyword id="858869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="gift-vouchers">gift vouchers</keyword>, <keyword id="2059445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Experiential-gifts">experiential gifts</keyword>, etc., provided by some of the best companies and brands. Gifts can be broadly searched based on age, occasion and recipient’s relationship with the giver. You can further fine-tune the search by setting up various other parameters such as personality, budget, type of gift, product category and so on. Gift recommendations are also made based on the likes and interests of the recipient on Facebook. This is a real-life reflection of his/her personality and helps you select gifts that the recipient will actually ‘like’ and cherish. Wishpicker has already tied up with 20 or so merchants/e-commerce partners, including <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, <keyword id="2059448" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="HappilyUnmarried">HappilyUnmarried</keyword> and <keyword id="640104" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ferns-n-Petals">Ferns N Petals</keyword>, among others. It is now planning to increase the number of tie-ups. 
 
As gifts are curated from some of the best brands, users can access the very best that is available across the Web. What’s more, you get all at one place, essentially making Wishpicker a one-stop shop for the best gift ideas. The recommendation engine, based on automated machine learning, has been internally developed by the Wishpicker team and is constantly worked upon to ensure a never-before user experience. 
 
Claim to fame: Stickiness, traction and conversion. Wishpicker wishes to be a Google for gifts and seems to be making decent progress in these three key areas, as per the numbers divulged by the company. 
 
Show me the money: <keyword id="6399165" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="revenue-generation">Revenue generation</keyword> happens through commission per sale. According to the co-founders, the site sees more than 150,000 unique visitors per month and it is growing at 80% month on month. The annual <keyword id="2059458" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="GMV-run-rate">GMV run rate</keyword> is now Rs 1.5 crore and this is expected to double in the next 2-3 months, given the current growth rate. 
 Wishpicker is self-funded till date but will be raising its first round of <keyword id="6364511" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="angel-funding">angel funding</keyword> by the second quarter of CY2014. “We put together a <keyword id="572926" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="seed-capital">seed capital</keyword> of Rs 15 lakh and we are now looking to raise under a million dollar for the next round of development,” says Apurv. The money raised will be mostly used for enhancing the technology platform and venturing further into the global market. 
 “The problem we are trying to solve – deciding what to gift and how to find it easily – is globally relevant. Moreover, we have an extremely scalable model as our platform is totally Cloud-based. So we are planning to go global in a big way soon after cracking the <keyword id="47445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-market">Indian market</keyword>,” details Apurv. Even now, Wishpicker has a significant presence in the US, the UK and the Middle East as people from these countries send gifts to India. But in the next phase of global expansion in the third quarter of this calendar year, the UK market will be the primary focus of the start-up. 
 
Biggest challenge: There are loads of gifting sites in India but most of them work like normal e-commerce sites, instead of aggregating and curating gift information, powered by an intelligent recommendation engine. “For gifting sites, the <keyword id="5189" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="competition">competition</keyword> evolves around stickiness – it is essential to ensure that one finds the right gift for the right occasion and comes back often. But a site with a limited inventory cannot assure that and that’s where we are ahead,” affirms Apurv. 
 
He, however, thinks the biggest challenge is to build the right team. “Without a great team, your business is bound to fail. When running a start-up, you will never be short of work, and will constantly feel the need for more people. But the key is not to hire in a hurry and make sure that the candidate is not only talented and hardworking, but also gels well with the culture of the company. Because a wrong hire will push you two steps behind,” he reflects. 
 
Tips for budding entrepreneurs: There is no perfect time to start your own business. If you believe that you are solving a problem that’s affecting a large number of people and have the confidence that you can execute it with perfection, you should just go for it. Age, capital and experience are more of psychological constraints. Once you begin, everything else will fall in place.

Want To Buy Your Beloved Land
On The Moon? This Start-up Helps You Find The Perfect Gift

<keyword id="1489410" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce-in-India">E-commerce in India</keyword> is once again grabbing the headlines and this time, for all the right reasons. Bangalore-based <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword>, arguably India’s largest standalone <keyword id="1127700" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="fashion-e-tailer">fashion e-tailer</keyword>, has recently closed a <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> round worth $50 million from an investor consortium led by <keyword id="1430452" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="PremjiInvest">PremjiInvest</keyword>, the family office of the <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> chairman <keyword id="6419840" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword>. Myntra is also in talks with a clutch of investors to raise an additional $40 million at a higher <keyword id="51393" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="valuation">valuation</keyword>, according to an Economic Times report. So far, the <keyword id="2049121" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-firm">e-commerce firm</keyword> has raised $125 million in risk capital funding. Another fashion e-tailer that is also raising <keyword id="57924" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="big-money">big money</keyword> is Gurgaon-based <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>.com, which is backed by Berlin-based <keyword id="1965711" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rocket-Internet-GmbH">Rocket Internet GmbH</keyword> – a venture arm of the Samwer brothers. The e-commerce firm is reportedly raising a fresh round of equity funding worth $100 million, of which it has already received $27.5 million from the British <keyword id="2049123" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Development-finance-institution">development finance institution</keyword> <keyword id="1613067" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="CDC-Group-Plc">CDC Group Plc</keyword>. 
 All this is good news for the cash-strapped Indian e-commerce segment. So we have taken a close look at the recent fundraising by the <keyword id="2049116" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-e-commerce-players">Indian e-commerce players</keyword> and identified five key trends that seem to be prevailing. Will they rule the <keyword id="2049126" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fundraising-scenario">fundraising scenario</keyword> and determine the parameters of growth throughout 2014? Let us have a quick look. 
 
Growing big is the key priority E-commerce start-ups in India are finally coming of age and looking beyond the quickest possible exits. When Myntra closed $50 million in funding a couple of days ago, the company was immediately approached by its bigger rival <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> who had reportedly come up with an acquisition offer worth $200 million. According to a TechCrunch report, e-commerce giant <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> had also approached Myntra but the details of the proposed deal are not yet available. 
 Although rumours were rife that Myntra could be considering either of the deals as part of a bigger strategy, the e-tailer has decided to stay off the <keyword id="1949341" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Exit-route">exit route</keyword>. In fact, its ongoing talks for an additional round of funding worth $40 million clearly indicate that the company has in place some well-thought-out <keyword id="414633" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-plans">growth plans</keyword> and big ones at that. The only other reason for back-to-back funding is to raise the valuation but at this point, Myntra doesn’t look like it is on the block. Neither has it decided to quit in a hurry like <keyword id="6359128" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Redbus">redBus</keyword>.in did last year. <keyword id="2049136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indias-largest-bus-ticketing-firm">India’s largest bus ticketing firm</keyword> was acquired by the <keyword id="1643008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ibibo-Group">ibibo Group</keyword> for around $125 million but the sale cut short a successful <keyword id="530125" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="entrepreneurial-journey">entrepreneurial journey</keyword> that could have become a $500 million business in terms of revenue and could have achieved a $1 billion valuation. 
 As for Jabong, the very fact that it is backed by Rocket Internet may tell the industry insiders a different story. Rocket is known in the market for its fast and furious build-and-sell business module, and the start-ups are essentially replicas of successful US businesses. But the kind of funding Jabong is raising right now shows that the company is in no hurry to down the shutters in India even though two of its four co-founders have recently left the company. Jabong started its India operations in 2012 and competes with key e-com players such as Flipkart, Myntra, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword>, among others. 
 
Only <keyword id="2049143" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Core-expertise">core expertise</keyword> matters Internet giant <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> has already given us a case in point when it sold <keyword id="487941" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Motorola-Mobility">Motorola Mobility</keyword> to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, less than two years after paying $12.5 billion to acquire it. The deal is not a total financial loss as Google has managed to keep patents worth billions of dollars and expects to turn Lenovo into a manufacturing unit for its <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> OS. But selling <keyword id="11148" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Motorola">Motorola</keyword> is a sure indication that Google should have focused more on its <keyword id="1430489" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Core-Competencies">core competencies</keyword> – search, software and selling ads – instead of developing hardware. 
 You will find a similar case here as Jabong has reportedly sold its <keyword id="2049146" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="logistics-arm">logistics arm</keyword> <keyword id="2049145" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="JaVAS">JaVAS</keyword> (Jabong Value Added Services) to Gurgaon-based QuickDel Logistics as part of its business restructuring and funding exercise. Jabong <keyword id="170488" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="co-founder">co-founder</keyword> <keyword id="536011" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Praveen-Sinha">Praveen Sinha</keyword> has also confirmed to the media that JaVAS is now an independent entity. 
 However, that brings us back to the basic question. Should companies try and provide end-to-end solutions to ensure a complete customer experience or should they focus on core competencies and leave the rest to the experts in those fields? We particularly raise this question as many Indian e-commerce firms are currently focusing on <keyword id="2049154" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Proprietary-payment-gateways">proprietary payment gateways</keyword> and customised logistics services in a bid to propel their services to the next level. However, such services can actually make you lose money unless a company is catering to a customer base as vast as <keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> or Amazon. 
 After JaVAS, the writing is definitely on the wall. The bells and whistles can always come in later, but the key focus must be core competencies. Of late, even <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> seems to be falling in this trap – its newest hardware products have ‘n’ number of <keyword id="2049161" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Incremental-features">incremental features</keyword> but real innovations seem to be eluding the iconic company. 
 
Investors showing better <keyword id="170907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="risk-appetite">risk appetite</keyword> India’s e-commerce market is projected to grow sevenfold to $22 billion in the next five years, and investors, both national and global, want to have a piece of the pie. According to <keyword id="1981" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rahul-Khanna">Rahul Khanna</keyword>, managing director of the <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firm <keyword id="218905" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Canaan-Partners">Canaan Partners</keyword> (India), e-commerce players in India (and everywhere else for that matter) require very deep pockets to scale up to the level of breaking even and hitting profitability. In this space, sales margins are typically low; volume is high, and logistics &amp; back office <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> only become viable when companies are catering to a very <keyword id="2049169" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Large-customer-base">large customer base</keyword>. Consequently, <keyword id="2049171" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Follow-on-rounds">follow-on rounds</keyword> are extremely crucial for sustainable growth. Now that big institutional investors like PremjiInvest and UK-based development <keyword id="25455" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="finance">finance</keyword> institution CDC Group are entering the arena, the much-needed <keyword id="2000080" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cash-burning">cash burning</keyword> is sure to propel growth to the desired level. 
 “E-commerce is fast maturing in India and that’s the main reason <keyword id="363248" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Global-Investments">global investments</keyword> are flowing in,” says another analyst. “When big players like Amazon show interest (the e-commerce giant has reportedly approached Myntra), investors are quick to sense the tremendous <keyword id="452394" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-potential">growth potential</keyword> lying here,” she adds. 
 
Forget the buzz you are creating; it’s result time now Analysts, who have followed the course of events over the past few weeks, also point out another interesting trend. Be it Myntra or Jabong or other up-and-coming e-commerce businesses, it’s their <keyword id="2049173" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Growth-quotient">growth quotient</keyword> that has attracted <keyword id="2049174" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Big-funding">big funding</keyword>. In other words, start-ups who are delivering in a big way will get the valuable <keyword id="2049175" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Growth-dollars">growth dollars</keyword> as investors are now looking beyond the buzz and focusing on <keyword id="1730239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="business-fundamentals">business fundamentals</keyword> and results. 
 Companies must have the numbers – in terms of customer base, <keyword id="169826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="growth-figures">growth figures</keyword> and brand leadership – to justify the big money they are raising. For instance, Myntra expects to more than double its <keyword id="657194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="gross-sales">gross sales</keyword> to over $250 million by March 2015 and the fashion e-tailer’s <keyword id="2049176" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Monthly-gross-sales">monthly gross sales</keyword> could touch $20-25 million by April this year. Myntra is expected to end the current fiscal with more than $100 million in gross sales and it is targeting $1 billion in <keyword id="6399113" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="GMV">GMV</keyword> by 2016-2017. Flipkart, which raised $360 million last year at a valuation of about $1.6 billion, is also projecting a GMV of $1 billion by 2015. 
 Jabong, too, has aggressive growth plans and the latest round will be used to strengthen its <keyword id="2049177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Supply-chain-infrastructure">supply chain infrastructure</keyword> and enhance its <keyword id="2049178" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Technology-platform">technology platform</keyword>. According to industry sources, Jabong might have generated <keyword id="2049180" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gross-merchandise-sales">gross merchandise sales</keyword> of $100-150 million for the fiscal 2012-13. Other key investments in the Indian e-commerce space since 2013 included online marketplace Snapdeal raising about Rs 300 crore and baby care portal <keyword id="1615917" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="FirstCry">Firstcry</keyword> bagging Rs 92 crore. 
 
Inventory, <keyword id="6630005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="private-labels">private labels</keyword> are adding value 
With the lone exception of Snapdeal that runs a 100% marketplace, most of the big e-commerce entities in India are flourishing on a hybrid model – a strategic mix of inventory, private label and marketplace. In fact, Jabong has been doing all three for some time now, although a bit discreetly, and it could be now pushing hard to extract every penny from each of these categories. 
 
Myntra, on the other hand, focuses on both inventory and private label, with the share of private labels rising rapidly. A couple of years ago, the e-tailer acquired Exclusively.in Inc., the company behind the private label brand Shersingh.com and the fashion site Exclusively.in, in a cash-cum-equity deal. Myntra is reportedly eyeing more private labels to add to its portfolio as the margins are pretty high in this segment and add substantially to the profits. 
 
Bottom line: Is it a <keyword id="2049185" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Volatile-situation">volatile situation</keyword>? In one of her latest blogs in <keyword id="6359301" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneur">Entrepreneur</keyword>.com, entrepreneur-writer Erika Trautman has nicely summed it up. “No matter how great the idea, if your start-up doesn’t create hard and fast results with analytics, targeted business solutions and mobile integration, it won’t survive in 2014. Launching a start-up can’t just be about how cool your product is. No business can subsist off just buzz and Press. This year, start-ups must focus on business fundamentals and start emphasising partnerships that generate results.” 
 
Can the Indian e-commerce players innovate, scale up and deliver (as the takeaways so amply illustrate) to justify the trust investors are now putting in them? Will there be new ventures to take up the gauntlet? Let us wait and watch. 
 
Image: Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images

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