Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Businesses in the digital age need to reach their targeted audience as fast as possible, but most advertising formats – digital or otherwise – don’t always scale that way and enterprises often miss out on fast and widespread reach-out. The key challenge on a thickly populated Internet is to get discovered in a relevant manner – so that the impact stays long enough to make its point. But to achieve that, one must think beyond banners and display ads and one <keyword id="6404679" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="start-up">start-up</keyword> can help you do things differently. Meet <keyword id="1965714" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-generator-com">e-generator.com</keyword>, a <keyword id="1965718" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="native-advertising-network">native advertising network</keyword> that focuses on <keyword id="165986" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Brand-promotion">brand promotion</keyword> based on relevant <keyword id="45859" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="content">content</keyword> (the company calls it <keyword id="1965720" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Content-based-advertising">content-based advertising</keyword>) and leverages a growing <keyword id="1965722" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Network-of-content-publishers">network of content publishers</keyword> in India to ensure instant discovery and distribution of such content on the World Wide Web. 
 However, there is one marked difference between e-generator and other <keyword id="1965728" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Native-advertising-firms">native advertising firms</keyword>. The Gurgaon-headquartered company is essentially catering to the media/content industry and helping online publishers get the eyeballs. Traffic is driven through a unique <keyword id="1965730" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Audience-exchange-programme">audience exchange programme</keyword> where content from <keyword id="1965731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Member-websites">member websites</keyword> is shared across e-generator’s <keyword id="1965724" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Network-of-publishers">network of publishers</keyword> to increase overall <keyword id="6487074" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Visibility">visibility</keyword>. 
 What’s more, this network grows by default as every client of the firm becomes a publishing partner as well. The company creates ‘teaser’ for every story and adds <keyword id="39862" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Images">images</keyword> to whet readers’ curiosity, and then places <keyword id="1965734" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Content-widgets">content widgets</keyword> on all publishers’ sites – so that media firms/marketers can promote their content through <keyword id="1965742" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Native-ads">native ads</keyword> on the Web. There is also an intelligent software tool to track the performance of each story. 
 Globally, companies like <keyword id="1817861" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Outbrain">Outbrain</keyword> and <keyword id="546472" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Disqus">Disqus</keyword> have already introduced a similar <keyword id="1965743" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Native-ad-concept">native ad concept</keyword>, but e-generator has brought it to India for the first time. Here is a snapshot that captures the start-up’s vision and viability. 
 
Who runs e-generator.com: <keyword id="1965710" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shaan-Bahra">Shaan Bahra</keyword>, a major in Mathematics and an MCA degree-holder. He also trained as a design and multimedia professional and has more than 14 years of industry exposure. Prior to starting this initiative in India, <keyword id="6362169" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shaan">Shaan</keyword> worked with Rediffusion DY&amp;R, as well as several other firms operating in media, graphics, animation and the Internet space. The current initiative took off in December 2012. 
 
What inspired the venture: The fast-growing <keyword id="1617167" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-market-in-India">online market in India</keyword> calls for the latest techniques in digital advertising – so that <keyword id="1965746" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-businesses">online businesses</keyword> get better positioning and ROI. “That was the chief motivation for bringing <keyword id="1751384" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Native-Advertising">native advertising</keyword> to the <keyword id="1965745" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-digital-space">Indian digital space</keyword>,” recalls Shaan. “Next, we had to decide on the industry and we zeroed in on publishers as <keyword id="1965753" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-readers">Indian readers</keyword> are exploring <keyword id="172327" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="digital-content">digital content</keyword> as never before. This is especially important as <keyword id="1929798" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="content-consumption">content consumption</keyword> via <keyword id="141190" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="mobile-Internet">mobile Internet</keyword> is trending right now,” he adds. 
 The Indian venture, however, is similar to the <keyword id="428085" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="start-ups">start-ups</keyword> promoted 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 and known for cloning several successful <keyword id="482854" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="online-business">online business</keyword> models of the US in other markets. “But in our case, it is Moscow-based <keyword id="1965712" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="SMI2-net">SMI2.net</keyword> who has a similar venture up and running in <keyword id="6358826" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword> for more than 7 years,” says Shaan. Inspired by the concept and the huge opportunity the <keyword id="47445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-market">Indian market</keyword> offers, he, along with the parent company<ins cite="mailto:sanghamitra.mandal" datetime="2013-12-06T17:21">,</ins> started the Indian initiative last year. 
 
What’s the pitch: First ever native advertising network in India and the first ever <keyword id="1965760" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Audience-exchange-network">audience exchange network</keyword>, helping <keyword id="1965761" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Content-publishers">content publishers</keyword> and brands to grow their audience base. 
 
How it works: According to Shaan, e-generator curates the content gathered from digital providers and serves it on a platter for end-users to ensure a growing base of unique and relevant visitors (those who are keen to read such content). The purpose is not to promote brands who publish news, but to promote the good content and stories published by them. While content consumers on the Web get to explore a variety of topics, there is a lot of backend work going on. “For example, we are constantly expanding our network of publishers and helping them grow in terms of visitors and insight,” says Shaan. “We also share our ad revenues (earned from paid content) with our partner sites.” 
 
Claim to fame: A decent bouquet of publishers to show off. The company claims that within a span of 10 months, it has managed to cover around 80% of the digital publishers in India and still counting. Key <keyword id="63341" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Advertisers">advertisers</keyword> including <keyword id="177241" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="GroupM">GroupM</keyword>, <keyword id="137600" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mindshare">Mindshare</keyword> and <keyword id="1965768" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="DbbMudra">DbbMudra</keyword> have worked with e-generator, and appreciated the quality of traffic and the way it runs the <keyword id="1965770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Advertising-engine">advertising engine</keyword>. 
 
Show me the money: Unlike many others, this start-up has raised around Rs 1 crore in <keyword id="948731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="seed-funding">seed funding</keyword>. Currently, <keyword id="685044" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Revenue-earning">revenue earning</keyword> is through <keyword id="283781" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="PPC">PPC</keyword> (<keyword id="1965772" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pay-per-click">pay per click</keyword>) as the firm delivers committed number of page views to each of its media/content clients. The other aspect is to have the advertisers explore the potential of effective marketing – via content and on news publishers’ platform. “We have already started that with GroupM and Mindshare, and hope to build on that,” says Shaan. The company has not reached break-even yet but hopes to do so by July 2014, going by the market trend. 
 The <keyword id="1965774" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Digital-advertising-market-in-India">digital advertising market in India</keyword> was pegged at $410 million in 2012 and is expected to reach $1.6 billion by 2015, details Shaan. According to him, the major chunk of money lies with the advertisers who want to focus more on promoting brands through content. That’s because when people read about brands (the whole story instead of one-off product ads), they love them and become the custodians of those brands. So a lot of <keyword id="121747" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="marketers">marketers</keyword> have now realised that digital is the place where connect with the <keyword id="1965776" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Target-group">target group</keyword> is most essential. One can connect via <keyword id="144248" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Videos">videos</keyword>, content, images… and people love and share these over <keyword id="23045" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="social-networks">social networks</keyword> – one of the best ways to go <keyword id="54320" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Viral">viral</keyword>. But in the first place, that content must be featured on authentic and validated platforms – for instance, digital publishers of repute. 
 “We are doing just that. When <keyword id="1965779" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Content-search">content search</keyword> happens, we tend to be there at quality and relevant landing pages (of digital publishers). So we expect to work with a large number of marketers very soon,” he adds. 
 
Biggest challenge: Positioning the business is going to be the biggest challenge as all publishers are not ready for native advertising or audience exchange. They have to realise that people grow only when they synergise. And the same goes for the advertising space. The stakeholders have to accept the originality of the concept, explore untried methods and look at ROI-driven advertising from a different perspective. 
 <keyword id="1141314" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="global-expansion">Global expansion</keyword> is the other crucial area. The company could be expanding to the Americas, the European and the nascent South African markets in another year or two. The first two markets are quite mature by now but e-generator intends to show them the immense opportunity of content marketing in India that has a huge and fast-growing user base. “That won’t be an easy task, but we still intend to do it to ensure global growth,” concludes Shaan.

This Native Ad Network Uses Creative Tech To Help Content
Go Viral

Is <keyword id="2364818" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-3-0">e-commerce 3.0</keyword> only about business tweaks? Almost all experts will tell you that the new format of <keyword id="35621" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword> is on its way, but nobody is quite sure what it is like. Some pinpoint it as online shopping, largely influenced by social media parameters, while others are betting big on the mobile impact. No doubt these are crucial indicators, but they only provide you a partial glimpse into the business-to-consumer (B2C) part of it. However, we need to take a more incisive look at the fast-evolving strategic context of e-commerce, which is throwing up some surprising trends that may affect the industry in the long run. Let us take a look at the recent happenings in the Indian e-commerce space to identify the most prominent trends and what they signify. 
	 
	 
	 
	1. Calibrated aggression for survival: That’s exactly what the much-anticipated cash-and-stock deal between <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword> has taught us. Competition has been ironed out by strategic <keyword id="42411" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Merger">merger</keyword> in order to survive against global giants like <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>. Flipkart is not new to the game but co-founders Sachin and <keyword id="6364080" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Binny-Bansal">Binny Bansal</keyword> have not gone the LetsBuy way this time, for pretty predictable reasons (for your recap, Letsbuy.com was the electronics e-tailer that was acquired by Flipkart in February 2012 and shut down in May that year). 
	 Before the acquisition, the Myntra brand was way ahead of Flipkart as the <keyword id="2364834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Biggest-India-fashion-e-tailer">biggest India fashion e-tailer</keyword>. While Flipkart required size to survive against the likes of Amazon, the bigger margins enjoyed by fashion e-tailing was an added icing to the cake (after all, fashion is expected to be the largest category in e-commerce over the next five years). So this time around, it was a calibrated aggression on Flipkart’s part and the merger, along with the much-talked-about <keyword id="2364826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Management-autonomy">management autonomy</keyword> enjoyed by <keyword id="705865" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mukesh-Bansal">Mukesh Bansal</keyword>’s Myntra, will continue to work for two specific reasons. 
	 One is local competition, not only from <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>, which is promoted by Berlin-based <keyword id="1965711" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rocket-Internet-GmbH">Rocket Internet GmbH</keyword> (a venture arm of the deep-pocketed Samwer brothers), but also from <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>.com, quite a veteran in the marketplace model. It is too early to assume that Jabong has missed the bus in stamping its dominance in the <keyword id="902070" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-com">e-com</keyword> space and the same applies to Snapdeal, which has recently raised $100 million and could be opting for an IPO in the next 18-24 months. Moreover, if India eases its <keyword id="44528" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="FDI">FDI</keyword> policy further and allows <keyword id="2364830" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Foreign-e-commerce-companies">foreign e-commerce companies</keyword> to sell their products directly to Indian consumers (as of now, only marketplaces are allowed to do this), <keyword id="2364831" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Home-grown-e-commerce-firms">home-grown e-commerce firms</keyword> will require maximum <keyword id="573045" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Customer-loyalty">customer loyalty</keyword> to stay in business and the likes of Myntra will play a key role in ensuring enhanced <keyword id="485911" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="brand-loyalty">brand loyalty</keyword>.
<div style="page-break-after: always;">
	&#xa0;</div>

	The way ahead: Similar mergers may happen soon and we may see some monopolistic polarisation in the e-commerce space. If branding and management autonomy can be retained in the same way it had been done in the <keyword id="2196490" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart-Myntra-deal">Flipkart-Myntra deal</keyword>, a Snapdeal-Jabong deal may very well be a possibility. On the other hand, Amazon may come up with a similar offer for Snapdeal (we don’t rule out <keyword id="161767" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="eBay-India">eBay India</keyword> either) and once again, we may witness the emergence of an e-commerce mega power in India. Also, in most of these deals, unequals could be gunning for merger-of-equals status, thus complicating the merger and acquisition operations. Ultimately, the <keyword id="2364839" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entry-barrier">entry barrier</keyword> will be too high for small or niche e-commerce sites and staying profitable will become a tough proposition. 
	 
	 
	 
	2. SME focus for marketplace growth: A couple of days ago, Flipkart announced tie-ups with two SME (small and medium enterprise) promotion bodies and signed MoUs with the Federation of Indian Micro and <keyword id="6375845" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Small-and-medium-enterprises">Small and Medium Enterprises</keyword> (<keyword id="174192" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="FISME">FISME</keyword>) and the National Centre for Design and Product Development (<keyword id="2348217" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="NCDPD">NCDPD</keyword>). With this move, the Bangalore firm expects to create a powerful affiliation with 50,000 SMEs and artisans by helping them with data analytics, marketing and customer acquisition. The company is also holding talks with several <keyword id="533862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manufacturing-clusters">manufacturing clusters</keyword> in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat in a bid to attract more sellers on board and thus ensure strong growth for its marketplace model. 
	 
	As of now, Flipkart has about 3,000 sellers on board, mostly SMEs, and offers 15 million products across 70-plus categories. The company aims to grow the seller base to 12,000 by the end of the current fiscal, according to Economic Times. Myntra, too, has about 100 sellers on board and plans to increase this number to 1,000 by fiscal-end. However, this is too paltry a number, compared to the largest Chinese <keyword id="2049184" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-marketplace">e-commerce marketplace</keyword> <keyword id="302749" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Alibaba">Alibaba</keyword>.com that has about 20 lakh SMEs on board, but has less than 20,000 in India. 
	 As for other key players in India, here are some mindboggling numbers according to media reports. Snapdeal currently features about 500 categories, 100,000 sellers and more than 5 million products (excluding books and movies); eBay has 1.1 million product listings at any given point <keyword id="54921" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="spread">spread</keyword> across 2,000 categories and 45,000 sellers on board while Amazon has 15 million products from 5,000 sellers across 24 categories. Amazon has already opened two Fufillment Centers in India, enabling home-grown SMEs to get a scalable and robust national platform. Sellers opting for FBA (<keyword id="2023087" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fulfillment-by-Amazon">Fulfillment By Amazon</keyword>) send their products to these ‘fulfillment centers’ and once an order is placed, Amazon packs and ships the order.
<div style="page-break-after: always;">
	&#xa0;</div>

	The way ahead: Right now, no one can possibly predict whether the death of the inventory-led e-commerce model is imminent. But one thing is pretty certain – e-commerce businesses need as many products and categories as possible to enhance customer engagement. However, that won’t be possible without growing their marketplaces and bringing on board a huge number of sellers. Hence, the <keyword id="2364811" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="SME-focus">SME focus</keyword> and <keyword id="6630005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="private-labels">private labels</keyword> are going to dominate e-commerce 3.0. 
	 
	 
	 
	3. VAS for better customer loyalty: In spite of a Mumbai firm delivering pizza on an experimental basis, civil/commercial drones à la <keyword id="2364850" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon-Prime-Air-drones">Amazon Prime Air drones</keyword> are still not a reality in India (neither they are commercially ready in the US). However, Amazon, eBay, Flipkart and Snapdeal are trying their best to ensure ‘fastest possible’ delivery in the country. While <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword> offers same-day and guaranteed one-day delivery, eBay is testing a 9-hour delivery model in Mumbai. 
	 Only recently, Flipkart has launched its annual subscription service called <keyword id="2230132" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart-First">Flipkart First</keyword>, offering a number of benefits including <keyword id="1591575" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="free-shipping">free shipping</keyword> for any purchase, free in-a-day guaranteed delivery, <keyword id="2364858" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Discounted-same-day-delivery">discounted same-day delivery</keyword>, 24×7 <keyword id="2364859" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Priority-customer-service">priority customer service</keyword> and more. This is similar to the lucrative logistics part of Amazon’s Prime subscription (currently not available in India), but Amazon offers a bigger service bouquet for its Prime subscribers, including access to songs, movies, TV shows and books. Flipkart, or any other Indian e-tailer for that matter, is yet to launch such extensive customer engagement programme, but the bait has been thrown by Flipkart and to some extent, by Snapdeal, which also offers free same-day delivery in certain regions and hopes to expand this service next year. 
	 
	The way ahead: Some experts feel that e-com businesses will soon curtail services like <keyword id="1972252" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Express-delivery">express delivery</keyword> and free shipping in order to generate more cash. High transportation costs and other logistics issues have been cited as the main culprits. But keeping in mind that <keyword id="758541" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon-Prime">Amazon Prime</keyword> works more as a <keyword id="1426078" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="loyalty-programme">loyalty programme</keyword> and less as a revenue-churner, fixing fickle customer loyalty may lie in developing these services. Now that Flipkart is going to market <keyword id="2364868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Affordable-tablets">affordable tablets</keyword> under its <keyword id="2338688" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="DigiFlip">DigiFlip</keyword> label, the Indian e-commerce giant can very well experiment with some Prime-like services and craft user experience based on ‘All things Flipkart’ just as Amazon does with its affordable <keyword id="785825" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kindle-Fire">Kindle Fire</keyword>. If that happens and other companies follow suit, e-commerce 3.0 in India will evolve into an inclusive and exciting user experience. For now, let us wait and watch. 
	 
	Images: Thinkstock/Getty Images

Life After
Flipkart-Myntra Deal: Will These 3 Trends Rule E-commerce In India?

<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

Indian E-com Players
Are Raising Big Money; These 5 Takeaways Can Help You Understand What’s
Changing

<keyword id="1956517" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Paisa-Swipe">Paisa Swipe</keyword>, India’s No.1 <keyword id="2003312" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mobile-lockscreen">mobile lockscreen</keyword> ad and <keyword id="1659188" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="content-discovery">content discovery</keyword> network, has raised $350K from US-based angel investors, sources told Business Insider India. The eight-month-old start-up will use the <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> to launch its <keyword id="1335034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Windows-app">Windows app</keyword> by March 2014. In October last year, the start-up launched its <keyword id="956764" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Android-app">Android app</keyword> (http://bit.ly/1cqWVim) in beta and one can download it for free from <keyword id="963171" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google-Play">Google Play</keyword>. 
 Last we checked, total downloads at Google Play stood at 35,000 and the rating was 4.2 out of 5. According to <keyword id="170488" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="co-founder">co-founder</keyword> and India head <keyword id="1956519" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Revanth-Mittapalli">Revanth Mittapalli</keyword>, the app is currently seeing 1,000 downloads a day, has crossed 20 million ad impressions and is witnessing at least 600,000 ad impressions per day. The company is also eyeing expansion in five more countries in order to grow its user base. 
 The <keyword id="940588" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="mobile-ad-network">mobile ad network</keyword> was founded in May 2013 by a global team of three with expertise in the mobile business. CEO <keyword id="1956515" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jian-Tam">Jian Tam</keyword> has extensive experience in digital marketing and prior to Paisa Swipe, he had played a key role in setting up two other companies. Director <keyword id="1956516" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chris-Marshall">Chris Marshall</keyword> has studied in London School of Economics and specialises in the wireless space. Earlier, he held leadership roles at three companies and one of them, AePONA, was sold to Intel. Revanth Mittapalli is the India head with focus on digital marketing and four years of industry experience. The start-up has headquarters in Hyderabad and New York. 
 
So what’s unique about this start-up? As mentioned in our earlier <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-Mobile-AdNetwork-Lets-You-Control-What-You-See-Pays-For-Ad-Viewing/articleshow/26583316.cms">coverage</a>, Paisa Swipe not only connects brands, content and consumers, but also pays mobile users for viewing the ads. All you need to do is log in and provide more information about your interest areas. Now every time you turn on your phone, an advertisement appears on your lockscreen, related to your interests. The ‘earning’ part is also easy. If you like the content, simply ‘swipe’ it to learn more and you will get paid by the Paisa Swipe advertisers. 
 As of now, each member gets up to 60 paise per ad display, but the monthly earning cannot exceed Rs 300. But people can earn even more and win <keyword id="2003297" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Referral-prizes">referral prizes</keyword> if their friends sign up. These include cool prizes such as movie tickets, electronics, vacation packages and more. When the ‘encashment’ point (Rs 50) is reached, one can use the amount to cash out at <keyword id="1105324" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freecharge-in">Freecharge.in</keyword>, which offers recharge services for mobile, DTH and data cards. You can also donate to charity with the money you earn here. 
 In spite of overall positive response, Paisa Swipe has also drawn flak for copycating <keyword id="5565" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="South-Korea">South Korea</keyword>’s <keyword id="2003304" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cash-Slide">Cash Slide</keyword> that runs a similar app. However, we must not forget two things in this context. 
 Blindly cloning a successful business does not guarantee success. Instead, much depends on the contextualisation of the concept and finally, the execution. Berlin-based <keyword id="1965711" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rocket-Internet-GmbH">Rocket Internet GmbH</keyword>, a venture arm of the Samwer brothers and known for cloning several successful online business models of the US in other markets, could be a case in point here. Although Rocket-backed start-ups at home and abroad are famous for their fast and furious cash burn, none is close to profitability yet and some ventures like Gurgaon-based 21Diamonds had been shut down. In contrast, Paisa Swipe has kept a close tab on the market pulse and is evolving accordingly – crucial factors that lead to success. Much of it will also depend on growing the user base and tying up with big brands. Once that is done, it will be interesting to watch if the US angels-backed <keyword id="1948071" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-start-up">Indian start-up</keyword> can make successful foray into global markets.

Mobile Ad Network Paisa Swipe Raises
Funding From US Angels, To Launch Windows App

What <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> does today, the rest must follow, it seems. Or at least <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>.com, the poster boy of <keyword id="1705292" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-e-commerce">Indian e-commerce</keyword>, thinks so. Only a week ago, Amazon.in launched its guaranteed <keyword id="1972238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="One-day-delivery-service-in-India">one-day delivery service in India</keyword> for an additional charge of Rs 99 per order. But currently, the new service is available only in select cities. The <keyword id="801442" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce-giant">e-commerce giant</keyword> also offers an assured <keyword id="1972249" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Two-day-delivery">two-day delivery</keyword> for Rs 79 per order but for a limited period, this option is available at Rs 49 per order. 
 Keeping the holiday season in mind (and therefore, the need for <keyword id="1972252" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Express-delivery">express delivery</keyword> as most people buy late and want it delivered fast), that’s definitely a huge initiative to enhance <keyword id="1766716" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="customer-engagement">customer engagement</keyword>. So it was not surprising when Flipkart came up with the same kind of offering a couple of days ago, which it calls <keyword id="1972262" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="In-a-day-Guarantee">In-a-day Guarantee</keyword>. But will that kick off a huge <keyword id="1972233" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Logistics-war">logistics war</keyword> in the long run? Before we get into that part, let us have a look at what Flipkart is offering. 
 
Things look quite simple when you are shopping at Flipkart and want to avail the guaranteed delivery service. Just place your order by 6 pm and pay Rs 90 more per order to get an assured next-day delivery. As of now, the service is available in 7 cities – Delhi, Noida, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. 
 However, Flipkart’s In-a-day Guarantee is only available for products sold by <keyword id="1556044" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="WS-retail">WS Retail</keyword>. If a product is not delivered within the stipulated time, the amount charged for shipping is refunded to the buyer’s <keyword id="1972269" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart-Wallet">Flipkart Wallet</keyword>. One can see the expected <keyword id="1716610" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="delivery-date">delivery date</keyword> at the time of placing the order. 
 For a delayed cash-on-delivery (COD) order, the <keyword id="1972293" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Delivery-charge">delivery charge</keyword> will be collected as part of the order, but will be automatically refunded to one’s Wallet within 24 hours. 
 “Our <keyword id="1972286" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Money-back-guarantee">money-back guarantee</keyword> has got you covered in case our <keyword id="1972288" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Courier-partner">courier partner</keyword> is unable to initiate the In-a-day Guarantee delivery within the promised date. We will refund your delivery charge within 24 hours. We will also remit twice that amount to your Wallet for future purchases on Flipkart. This amount is non-refundable,” the website says. 
 In a release, Flipkart’s senior vice-president (marketing) <keyword id="843670" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ravi-Vora">Ravi Vora</keyword> said that the company already has a lot of customers requesting urgent deliveries. “But given the large volumes that we handle, it wasn’t feasible to address them on a case-to-case basis. We have now built the capability into our supply chain and can now offer it as a guaranteed feature.” 
 
What it means in the long run: More <keyword id="1550883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="cash-burn">cash burn</keyword>? For one, it means tougher competition for all <keyword id="1153782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce-businesses">e-commerce businesses</keyword> in terms of delivery and customer engagement – a veritable <keyword id="108235" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="logistics">logistics</keyword> war. And that poses an extremely crucial question – will e-commerce firms across India find it necessary to build <keyword id="1972294" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="In-house-logistics">in-house logistics</keyword> or pan-India supply chains, and burn a lot more cash in the process? Or will they tie up with last-mile delivery-warehousing solutions providers like Delhivery.com (or big logistics firms) in a bid to contain costs? Both options will play a crucial role in an e-com venture’s lifecycle. 
 Building a large and efficient logistics infrastructure equal to Amazon will certainly result into a lot of cash-burning – an option most of the firms would want to avoid, at least till the time they break even and have a sustainable business model in place. Things are different for Flipkart, though, as it is the most heavily funded e-commerce business in India and has raised around $360 million in the recently concluded fifth round – the single largest amount to be raised by any Indian internet firm. The last round took the total <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> to over $540 million for the company and its valuation reportedly stands at $1.6 billion, post money. But even then, the company has not been able to come up with any clear-cut USP that makes it stand apart from close competitors like <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword>, <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword> or <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>. 
 On the other hand, Myntra, arguably <keyword id="1972321" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indias-largest-standalone-fashion-e-tailer">India’s largest standalone fashion e-tailer</keyword>, could be quietly building up a <keyword id="730831" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="cash-pile">cash pile</keyword> as Tech czar <keyword id="6419840" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword>’s family office, PremjiInvest, is reportedly in talks to lead a $50 million round. Premji’s entry clearly marks the growing interest of <keyword id="1972322" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bulge-bracket-Indian-investors">bulge bracket Indian investors</keyword> into the <keyword id="1972323" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Domestic-e-commerce">domestic e-commerce</keyword> market and the subsequent competition in terms of <keyword id="1972335" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Customer-acquisition">customer acquisition</keyword> and engagement. 
 Interestingly, Jabong holds a double edge in this field. Its global promoter, Germany-based <keyword id="1965711" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rocket-Internet-GmbH">Rocket Internet GmbH</keyword> (run by the Samwer brothers), is deep-pocketed and burning cash has not been an issue till date. But more importantly, it has been providing third-party logistics services for some time now and already knows about the secret sauce. 
 Snapdeal is not lagging behind either. It has already launched value-added tools such as <keyword id="1972338" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="SafeShip">SafeShip</keyword> and <keyword id="1972339" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="TrustPay">TrustPay</keyword> to ensure rapid order fulfilment and <keyword id="1972257" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Speedy-delivery">speedy delivery</keyword>. So we won’t be surprised if it turns out to be the next company to jump onto the ‘<keyword id="1969736" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="one-day-delivery">one-day delivery</keyword>’ bandwagon. Just like Flipkart, funding should not be a problem here as the Japanese Internet major <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword>, eBay and a clutch of <keyword id="34499" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="private-equity">private equity</keyword> investors are looking to pump in $150-200 million of fresh funds into the domestic online marketplace, according to a Times of India report. 
 “Burning cash for scaling up is essential for e-commerce firms to survive and Indian companies are only on the threshold,” said <keyword id="1981" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rahul-Khanna">Rahul Khanna</keyword>, managing director of <keyword id="218907" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Canaan-Partners-India">Canaan Partners India</keyword> in an earlier interaction. “But thankfully, most companies have realised by now that it’s a cash-intensive business and are doing what is required,” he observed. Going by that, e-com firms will require the kind of money they are raising now – to remain operational and profitable. 
 
Will logistics tie-ups work out? Most e-commerce companies in India heavily depend on <keyword id="1972254" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Logistics-partners">logistics partners</keyword> and outsource the <keyword id="1972327" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Delivery-operations">delivery operations</keyword> instead of investing in a huge supply chain spread over the country. According to industry experts, it is difficult for <keyword id="1073727" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-tailers">e-tailers</keyword> to handle logistics as an add-on since it requires a certain kind of bandwidth. That’s why even big e-tailers like Myntra or Snapdeal are not focusing on in-house logistics infrastructure right now. 
 Consequently, <keyword id="1474532" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="logistics-companies">logistics companies</keyword> have got a huge fillip. Although the new e-tailing segment had very little contribution to their top lines two years ago, it accounts for a huge chunk of money flowing in. As a result, key players like <keyword id="138522" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gati">Gati</keyword>, <keyword id="6359949" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Blue-Dart">Blue Dart</keyword> Express and <keyword id="3966267" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="DTDC">DTDC</keyword> are now going deeper into the country, focusing on tier II and tier III cities and the rural landscape. 
 “One of the weakest links in the e-tailing industry is the last mile of <keyword id="1972328" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Delivery-chain">delivery chain</keyword>. So <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> by the <keyword id="628157" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="logistics-industry">logistics industry</keyword> are expected to grow 3-4 times in the next five years,” Ashvin Vellody, partner at <keyword id="50041" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="KPMG">KPMG</keyword> told The Economic Times. 
 The <keyword id="1972331" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Organised-logistics-sector">organised logistics sector</keyword> is likely to <keyword id="47916" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="invest">invest</keyword> at least Rs 500 crore in the next five years and revenues for logistics companies from e-tailing alone are estimated to grow 70 times to $2.6 billion by 2020, according to KPMG. 
 
That is, indeed, a win-win situation for both the segments and especially benefits the e-commerce firms yet to enter the big league. However, the majority of the e-com businesses in India will have to look sharp and find their niche in the coming months if they want to take on the local and the global behemoths in real earnest. 
 
Image: Times of India

You Searched For "Rocket Internet GmbH" and got 5 results

This Native Ad Network Uses Creative Tech To Help Content Go Viral

Sanghamitra Mandal

Life After Flipkart-Myntra Deal: Will These 3 Trends Rule E-commerce In India?

Sanghamitra Mandal

Indian E-com Players Are Raising Big Money; These 5 Takeaways Can Help You Understand What’s Changing

Sanghamitra Mandal

Mobile Ad Network Paisa Swipe Raises Funding From US Angels, To Launch Windows App

Sanghamitra Mandal

Flipkart Does An Amazon, Offers One-day Delivery; Will It Trigger A Logistics War?

Sanghamitra Mandal

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides