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<ul><li>American online retail firm <keyword id="6357395" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> has bought a 5.5% stake in <keyword id="4225623" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paytm-Mall">Paytm Mall</keyword>. </li><li>Vijay Shekhar Sharma owned Paytm Mall hopes to turn profitable in the next two years. </li><li>However, this isn’t eBay first bet on Indian e-commerce, its previous two – <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> – failed to work out for the company.</li></ul>American e-commerce giant eBay has <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/ebay-logs-into-paytm-mall-with-5-5-stake-eyes-pie-of-online-retail-1563420493902.html">bought</a> a 5.5% stake in Paytm Mall, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s new e-commerce vertical. While the details of the transaction remain undisclosed, <a href="https://yourstory.com/2019/07/paytm-mall-funding-ebay-ecommerce-india-vijay-shekhar-sharma">reports</a> say that the American firm is pumping in about $170 million into Paytm Mall at a valuation of $3 billion. Paytm Mall, the e-commerce subsidiary of One97 communications which owns Paytm, aims to turn profitable in the next two years. The company said that it reduced its monthly spends by ₹400 million, is targeting an EBITDA breakeven by 2021-22. EBIDTA is earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortization. The company ended the last financial year with a Gross Merchandising Value (GMV) of ₹130 billion and is now aiming for ₹170 billion GMV by 2022. However, what’s interesting is eBay’s India growth trajectory. It had entered the Indian market in 2004, much before e-commerce really took off in the country. However, it has struggled to gain ground. eBay’s first invested in Indian e-commerce was in <a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/ebay-takes-61-million-hit-snapdeal-writes-investment-76169">Snapdeal</a> which resulted in a $61 million loss. After the disappointment, eBay moved to the Indian e-commerce success story Flipkart, where eBay sold its India operations to Flipkart in 2017. However, within a year, Flipkart shut down the operations of eBay. When the Indian retail unicorn was acquired by global giant Walmart, eBay sold its stake in Flipkart for $1.1 billion.

eBay is trying to get third-time lucky with Paytm Mall after burning hands with Flipkart and Snapdeal

<keyword id="212412" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tencent">Tencent</keyword>, <keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword>, and <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> have made investments aggregating to $1.4 billion in <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, India’s leading online marketplace. The latest funding round from the three global technology giants, at a post-transaction valuation of $11.6 billion, adds to an existing group of marquee investors that include Tiger Global Management, Naspers Group, Accel Partners and DST Global. 
 
Flipkart announced the feat in a blog post. 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Proud to announce the largest investment in <a href="https://twitter.com/Flipkart">@Flipkart</a> history ! <a href="https://t.co/ktwy39H3WW">https://t.co/ktwy39H3WW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TencentCorp">@TencentCorp</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/eBay">@eBay</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Microsoft">@Microsoft</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlipkartBigWin?src=hash">#FlipkartBigWin</a>
	— binnybansal (@binnybansal) <a href="https://twitter.com/binnybansal/status/851364335268057088">April 10, </a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	&#xa0;</blockquote>
Tencent, a leading provider of internet value-added services in China, joins as a strategic investor, bringing experience in linking social networking and e-commerce. Tencent will lend significant expertise to Flipkart as it furthers its leadership position across the e-commerce market in India. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-an-angel-investor-whose-midas-touch-with-crypto-currency-is-redefining-the-future-of-start-up-investments/articleshow/58062121.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: An Angel investor whose Midas touch with Crypto-currency is redefining the future of start-up investments</a> 
 
“This strategic partnership enables Tencent to participate in the exciting opportunities in e-commerce and payments in India. We look forward to helping Flipkart to deliver compelling experiences to users throughout India, and to contribute to the development of the internet ecosystem there,” said Martin Lau, Tencent President. 
 
<keyword id="161767" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay-India">eBay India</keyword> is now part of the <keyword id="3515858" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="flipkart-group">Flipkart Group</keyword> 
 
The investment by eBay is accompanied by a strategic commercial agreement with Flipkart. In exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay is making a cash investment in and selling it's eBay.in business to Flipkart. eBay.in will continue to operate as an independent entity as a part of Flipkart. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-ace-angel-investor-sanjay-mehtas-true-life-experiences-that-makes-his-investments-in-startups-fool-proof/articleshow/58061818.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: Ace Angel Investor Sanjay Mehta’s true-life experiences that make his investments in startups fool-proof</a> 
 
<keyword id="2969294" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart-eBay">Flipkart eBay</keyword> “The combination of eBay’s position as a leading global e-commerce company and Flipkart’s market stature will allow us to accelerate and maximize the opportunity for both companies in India,” said <keyword id="375695" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Devin-Wenig">Devin Wenig</keyword>, President, and CEO of eBay Inc. 
 
Flipkart and eBay have also signed an exclusive cross-border trade agreement, as a result of which customers of Flipkart will gain access to the wide array of global inventory on eBay, while eBay’s customers will have access to unique Indian inventory provided by Flipkart sellers. Thus, sellers on Flipkart will now have an opportunity to expand their sales globally. 
 On its ten-year odyssey, the Flipkart Group has grown to encompass <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword> and Jabong, India’s leading online fashion destinations, and PhonePe — the leading UPI-based app that provides a cashless and seamless payment experience. Flipkart’s success has also emboldened a generation of Indian startups and entrepreneurial ventures, fanning the zeal of entrepreneurs and attracting big investments in the sector.

Flipkart announces raising $1.4 billion from Tencent, eBay & Microsoft, and acquires eBay India

<keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> has completed the process of acquiring the Indian arm of <keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> and now eBay.in will be a Flipkart Group company. Flipkart announced it will buy eBay.in in April this year when it raised $ 1.4 billion from global technology majors eBay, Tencent and Microsoft. In exchange of an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay had made a cash investment of $500 million and sold its eBay.in business to Flipkart. "Effective immediately, Flipkart will own and operate eBay.in, which will remain an independent entity as part of Flipkart," Flipkart said in a statement. "As a result, Flipkart customers will get expanded product choices with the wide array of global inventory available on eBay while eBay customers will have access to a more unique Indian inventory from Flipkart sellers," the statement said. "Our coming together directly benefits Indian customers and sellers for whom we want to provide the best possible e- commerce experience. This is a step in that direction," Flipkart CEO <keyword id="6379357" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kalyan-Krishnamurthy">Kalyan Krishnamurthy</keyword> said.

Flipkart acquires eBay India; all formalities completed

<ul><li><keyword id="6357395" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> was an early mover in India’s <keyword id="35621" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword> space, investing $50 million in Baazee.com in 2004. </li><li>It was unable to make much of a dent in the market and its Indian operations were eventually sold to <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> last year. </li><li>As part of its second attempt, eBay will focus on <keyword id="6744826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cross-border-retail">cross-border retail</keyword>, and is reportedly considering a merger with ShopClues. </li></ul>Just when you thought India’s e-commerce sector couldn’t get any more crowded, eBay is said to be planning a <keyword id="6635306" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="relaunch">relaunch</keyword> in the country. The US-based e-commerce company, which is primarily known as a consumer-to-consumer service, will part ways with Flipkart next month. Flipkart will shut the eBay.in portal on 14 August, and replace it with a platform for the sale of used and refurbished goods through its local subsidiary, F1 Info Solutions and Services. As part of its second attempt to break into India, eBay will focus on cross-border retail - the purchase and sale of goods between businesses in countries that are close to one another. It will not make a solitary go of it, however. According to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/ebay-in-talks-with-etailers-including-shopclues-for-a-fresh-bid-in-india/articleshow/65157378.cms">media reports</a>, the company is planning to merge with a local e-commerce platform. It has held talks with ShopClues, an online marketplace established in 2011, in this regard. The Gurugram-based ShopClues is reportedly in negotiations with a number of companies for a potential sale. Early mover, early failure eBay was an early mover in India’s e-commerce space, investing $50 million in Baazee.com, an auction site, in 2004 - a year in which the concept of online shopping was relatively new. The deal was a landmark one, but unfortunately, it didn’t pan out according to the eBay’s expectations. The concept of auctions didn’t catch on with the Indian public, who preferred their discounted prices upfront, which led to low volumes. In addition, the rapid turnover of senior managers and cumbersome regulation didn’t help either. Hence, it was unable to make much of a dent in the market and lost out to other players. In April 2017, eBay’s India operations were sold to Flipkart after the latter completed a $1.4 billion fundraising round from eBay along with Tencent and Microsoft. eBay took an equity stake in Flipkart in exchange for a $500 million investment and a 100% stake in its Indian operations. The company, remained an independent entity, eventually reaching a customer base of 4 million users. However, after the dissolution of the eBay-Flipkart partnership, its customers will likely migrate to Flipkart’s new portal. eBay will have its work cut out for it in the short term, which is why it’s keeping its ambitions modest. Cross-border trade is a small piece of the e-commerce market. eBay’s immediate priorities will be to find a local partner and get foreign and local businesses onboard.

Take two: eBay is taking another stab at the Indian market

The deal between <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and <keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> India will be finalised by the latter half of the 2017. EBay invested $500 million in Flipkart. India is not the first market that eBay is exiting. Devin Wenig, CEO at eBay, said, "We-'re committed to winning in India through this partnership.” EBay will close the deal and upon deal close, it will no longer report active buyer GMV and related financials for eBay India. "We do not expect the GMV or financial impact to be material to our overall 2017 results. However, we do expect to remove approximately 4 million buyers from our active buyer reporting,” said Scott Schenkel, chief financial officer at eBay. Recently, eBay along with Microsoft and <keyword id="212412" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tencent">Tencent</keyword> pumped in $1.4 billion into Flipkart. The deal included sale of eBay.in to Flipkart and an exclusive cross-border trade agreement. eBay had entered the Indian market in 2004 but failed to capitalise on its first-mover advantage and eventually lost out to Flipkart and Amazon. eBay had picked up a significant stake in Delhi-based online retailer <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> in 2013, a part of which it still holds.

Flipkart-eBay India deal to close in second half of the year

Online shoppers in India are catching up to the hype that is the highly-anticipated <keyword id="14520" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Black-Friday">Black Friday</keyword> sale. The sale, which is happening on the 24th of November is forcing online stores such as eBay, Flipkart, Jabong, Nykaa and <keyword id="6354743" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword> to offer crazy deals store-wide even though Thanksgiving is not widely celebrated in the Indian subcontinent. 
	
	
	
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 How popular are the online stores during Black Friday? ●The number of searches for the term ‘Black Friday’ increased by 31.56% between November 2014 and November 2015. The following year, the search volume went up another 29.97%. This means, during the month of November online shoppers are on the lookout for this event. ●Searches for Amazon India skyrocketed to a total of 103.02% since Black Friday 2014. The search for Books and electronics topped the list of most sought-after items on the site. ●Indians boosted searches for Paytm, the country’s largest e-commerce website, by 42.59% in the same duration (2015 to 2016). For the years before (2014 to 2015), the forage for Paytm on <keyword id="6355629" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> also saw a spike of 70.96%. What to expect this year during Black Friday 2017 ●Popularity of Black Friday will go up to an 28.02% this year. Since there are more than 500 thousand search in the year 2016. With our data Google saw at least a 100 thousand more searches each year making it more likable to surge in search number this year. ●Paytm will have a boost of an extra 14.22 % this year. Black Friday is definitely becoming more popular in India year-on- year with more online retailers in India taking this as an opportunity to push more sales or must have items. The study focuses on the growth of Black Friday through Google search and interest in November 2014, 2015 and November 2016. All numbers were pulled using Google keyword planner and and SimilarWeb by combining searches related to Black Friday and retailers celebrating the event in India by black-friday.sale.

Black Friday is turning into a online festival for Indian customers

<keyword id="3749718" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="softbank-vision-fund">SoftBank Vision Fund</keyword> has become one of the largest shareholders in <keyword id="6354742" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> as it just raked in a significant amount of investment in the company. This investment in Flipkart is a mix of primary and secondary capital. The investment comes after <keyword id="541988" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Snapdeal">Snapdeal</keyword> cancelled the acquisition deal with Flipkart. Flipkart has also raised capital from three other companies - Tencent, eBay and Microsoft. Now, Flipkart will have in excess of $4 billion of cash on balance sheet. India has a thriving Internet market with close to 500 million Internet users and as per market research, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow at a five-year CAGR in excess of 30 percent. “This is a monumental deal for Flipkart and India. <keyword id="163404" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="SoftBank">SoftBank</keyword>’s proven track record of partnering with transformative technology leaders has earned it the reputation of being a visionary investor. We’re excited to welcome the Vision Fund as a long-term partner as we continue to build our business with a focus on serving the needs of all Indians, and driving the next phase of technology adoption in India,” said <keyword id="6364080" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="binny-bansal">Binny Bansal</keyword> and <keyword id="225032" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sachin-bansal">Sachin Bansal</keyword>, co-founders, Flipkart.

Flipkart bags huge investment from SoftBank Vision Fund; it has over $4 billion in cash now

With the median age of 27, India has the largest number of youngsters and the <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> chief says that they’re born digital with a growing insatiable need for the internet. When it comes to the internet, the growing tribe of emerging businesses on the internet can’t be ignored. <keyword id="198577" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anandan">Anandan</keyword> feels that the country is beginning to see innovative companies coming up in the country through applied innovation. Innovation comes from necessity and he thinks that we’re now seeing start-up founders from tier-2 and tier-3 cities that are committed to developing the country, who will take the Indian story forward. 
 <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword> caught up with <keyword id="249393" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajan-Anandan">Rajan Anandan</keyword>, VP, Google SE Asia &amp; India to understand how the internet landscape has changed for small businesses in the past few months. 
 
“Since the past 12 years that I’ve been in India, I’ve seen the quality of ideas and the founding team improve 100x. This is just the beginning of the start-up movement in India; there’s a long way to go. In 2020, I think the quality is just going to get better with more founders coming from tier-2 and tier-3 cities who solve real problems of real India. Problems like Agriculture, Education, Healthcare, Financial Inclusion and Clean Energy in the country remain unsolved and start-ups need to step in these areas to create real impact,” Rajan Anandan says about the emerging companies that will get India on the Innovation map. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-heres-what-google-vp-rajan-anandan-said-about-jios-impact-on-the-telecom-sector/articleshow/58132345.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: Here’s what Google VP Rajan Anandan said about Jio’s Impact on the Telecom Sector</a> 
 
One interesting consumer insight that Google has seen is the rise of the lighter version of Apps and websites in India, even with start-ups as they realize that is it the fastest way to scale-up. 
 
India has about 51 million small businesses and they account for about 37% of India’s GDP but only 30% of them have any form of web presence. Google has committed to getting 20 million SMEs online which make up for 40% of SMEs. 
 “A small business that gets on the internet earns revenue and profit twice as fast as they’re able to access new markets and new customers. To create an ecosystem, locally-relevant apps will be coming from India itself. To encourage that, we have committed to skill two million <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> mobile developers over three years in India. We’ve partnered with 40 Indian universities that already have 200,000 students enrolled in this program, currently,” says Anandan, on Google’s contribution to the growing SME movement. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-raises-its-biggest-round-at-a-lesser-valuation-and-acquires-ebay-but-is-it-enough-to-steer-off-amazon/articleshow/58128005.cms">ALSO READ: Flipkart raises its biggest round at a lesser valuation and acquires eBay but, is it enough to steer off Amazon?</a> 
 The company also supports the startup ecosystem through various initiatives. In fact, Google was first to partner with <keyword id="6372077" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nasscom">NASSCOM</keyword> three years back for the 10,000 start-ups initiative: 
 Several initiatives have been undertaken by the company to help both early stage and mid stage <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> with programs like the Google Launchpad, Google Launchpad Accelerator, and +GCP program. • The <keyword id="3258662" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-for-Entrepreneurs">Google for Entrepreneurs</keyword> team, that partners with startup communities around the world to help them grow, implement new programs, and connect to other leading startup organizations around the world 
		• The outreach programs focus on educating and empowering individuals, teams, and entrepreneurial communities. 
		• Google announced a program to help startups with $20k of cloud credits in India to help startups scale without having to worry about technology infrastructure support 
		 
		<keyword id="4074129" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Capital-G">Capital G</keyword> is a late-stage investment arm by Google that is investing in mid to large sized startups through <keyword id="1817280" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-Capital">Google Capital</keyword> and have already made investments in Indian startups like: 
	
		 Commonfloor 
		 Practo 
		 Freshdesk 
		 Cardekho 
		 Cuemath 
		 
		Launchpad Accelerator Program:
	
		 
		In India, the most recognized program is the Launchpad Accelerator Program, which provides late-stage startups (mobile apps) with mentoring and resources to successfully scale in their local economies. 
	 
	
		In the last year, 13 Indian Startups have participated in this program and next seven are now undertaking the program. 
	 The program entails an intensive two-week Accelerator kickoff in Google’s <keyword id="6439698" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="mountain">Mountain</keyword> View headquarters, Google engineers from different product areas, as well as experts from other companies, to provide startups with mentorship on how to scale and monetize their apps, and ultimately, build successful businesses. The teams will continue developing their products with the support of up to $50,000 in equity-free funding, six more months of ongoing mentorship, and a breadth of developer tools from the Launchpad Accelerator program. 

	With all this and more Google is ensuring that they're a part of the answer to every question that is thrown at the viability of the upcoming Indian growth story.

Exclusive: Rajan Anandan, VP, Google India says that it is the Beginning of the Start-up Boom in India

You can only imagine how a work day for <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword> head looks like but we can tell you that, he’s now making the most of his commute thanks to better connectivity, more than ever. 
 <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword> caught up with <keyword id="249393" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajan-Anandan">Rajan Anandan</keyword>, VP, <keyword id="4405979" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-se-asia-india">Google SE Asia &amp; India</keyword> to understand how the internet landscape has changed in the past few months. 
 “India is the biggest market for us and it has a very diverse user base. We are always going to have a clear distinction between India and the US for the next several years,” says <keyword id="198577" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anandan">Anandan</keyword> on where India stands for <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword>. 
 
India currently has around 400 million internet users, 300 million of them are coming online through their smartphone which makes it the second largest internet market in the world after China. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-raises-its-biggest-round-at-a-lesser-valuation-and-acquires-ebay-but-is-it-enough-to-steer-off-amazon/articleshow/58128005.cms">ALSO READ: Flipkart raises its biggest round at a lesser valuation and acquires eBay but is it enough to steer off Amazon?</a> 
 In the past few months, a lot of things have changed in the internet landscape with low-cost carrier <keyword id="2003276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword> coming in. The Google chief thinks that this has changed things tremendously for the entire telecom sector, “There is now an enormous user base that’s spending its time online, with network providers also upgrading their services and not just giving more for less. Our mission in India is to make information accessible to everyone and that means reaching out to the massive 1.3 Billion population in the country. The Internet for everyone is the goal,” said Anandan. 
 
The first challenge for Google is Access and they’ve tackled that with providing high-speed public Wi-Fi at railway stations and after covering 110 stations, we now have 5 million Indians accessing it every day. With 500, 000 Indians accessing the internet with Google India for the first time, the company plans to extend it to 400 stations by the year 2018. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-ace-angel-investor-sanjay-mehtas-true-life-experiences-that-makes-his-investments-in-startups-fool-proof/articleshow/58061818.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: Ace Angel Investor Sanjay Mehta’s true-life experiences that make his investments in startups fool-proof</a> 
 With revolutionary projects like Smart Cities, Google is partnering with the government at <keyword id="3025354" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pune-Smart-City">Pune Smart City</keyword> to provide high-speed Wi-Fi. 
The other concerns are connectivity and affordability and while currently, there at 125 million 4G subscribers and 150 million 3G subscribers, there are still issues like patchy connectivity. 
 Google is trying to get a lot of its services like <keyword id="10879" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="YouTube">YouTube</keyword>, Maps and even Chrome offline to make the internet more accessible to most Indians. There’s Search Lite which detects how slow is your network and works accordingly. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/read-what-rohit-bansal-and-kunal-bahl-mailed-snapdeal-employees-amidst-flipkart-acquisition-speculations/articleshow/58108189.cms">ALSO READ: Read what Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl mailed Snapdeal employees amidst Flipkart acquisition speculations</a> 
​ “Google is building new products like recently released YouTube Go which are specifically designed for Indians. With only 15 million women villagers online, we are working to bridge the gap with Google Sathi where women teach other how to use the internet for the betterment of their lives,” <keyword id="6355561" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajan">Rajan</keyword> says proudly proclaiming that there are 80,000 Google Saathis across 60,000 villages that they’re working in. 
 The next milestone for this technology behemoth is reaching half of India's villages with <keyword id="4408602" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-saathi">Google Saathi</keyword> and making the internet accessible to the people who need it the most, not just for information but for opportunities to a better connected life.

Exclusive: Here’s what Google VP Rajan Anandan said about Jio’s Impact on the Telecom Sector

He may not have got his dream job yet, but <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-IIT-K-graduate-put-himself-up-on-sale-onFlipkart-to-land-a-job/articleshow/51222814.cms">IIT Kharagpur graduate Aakash Neeraj Mittal</a> is the talk of the town for his crazy idea to get hired by <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>. This guy must have been nuts, many would think. After all, who would really put himself up for sale on the internet to be taken seriously by any company! It may be surprising to you, but Aakash wasn’t the first human being in the world with this brilliant idea. A couple of people have shown the same courage and creativity in the past too. Here, check out their crazy posts and why they did it:

5 times human
beings were available online for sale

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>.
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	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.
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	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="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> could soon have to vacate its position as India's numero uno eCommerce portal. Online marketplace <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> has hit a sales run rate of $3.5 billion this month, known as gross merchandise value (GMV) in e-commerce parlance, bringing it closer to the scale of Flipkart, the country's largest e-tailer. A Snapdeal spokesperson told TOI that sales done by merchants on its platform had risen four times in the current month as compared to the same period last year, propelling the e-tailer's numbers. 
 Backed by <keyword id="6355311" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Japan">Japan</keyword>'s <keyword id="280185" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Softbank-Corp">SoftBank Corp</keyword>, Snapdeal fights directly with Bengaluru-based Flipkart which is said to be currently clocking $4.5 billion in GMV (inclusive of Myntra) and <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> which is closing in on the $2-billion mark. GMV is the overall sales done by merchants on an e-commerce platform, without factoring discounts, out of which the e-tailer gets between 5-20% as margin depending on the category which qualifies as its revenue according to The Economic Times. 
 
While talking to TOI, Kunal Bahl, co-founder of the Delhi-based Snapdeal, said the e-tailer had been highly capital efficient while getting to this number having invested a fraction of the funds compared to other players. "Our focus on building apure-play marketplace versus an inventory-led or hybrid business models like others has played a key role in our rapid growth. Also the fact that we didn't always have access to easy capital, ensured that we built a capital efficient cul ure," he told ET. 
 Since 2011, when it pivoted rom being a daily deals site, Snapdeal has been operating as a marketplace. Snapdeal has raised $1.1 billion from more than a dozen investors ike <keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> , BlackRock, Temasek among others, while Flipkart has amassed $2.5 billion since it started operations as an online book sellers in 2007. 
 
Even as GMV numbers grow, ecommerce players have been beswith excessive cashburn in the range of $20-30 mil ion per month which has led to he need for constant capital in usion from investors. The bulk of the capital for both the ecommerce majors came last year amid a frenetic fund-raising environment which saw $4 billion flow into Indian consumer internet firms. "We've invested some of the funds on acquisitions, although these were done largely in stocks." 
 The acquisitions will materially enhance buying and selling experiences in our company's ecosystem going forward," Bahl told ET. Snapdeal bought online recharge platform FreeCharge last month for an estimated $400 million along with a string of other acquisitions, 10 in all. Valued at $5 billion, Snapdeal has been aggressively hiring leadership talent within the country and the US, the latest being <keyword id="802" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Gaurav-Gupta">Gaurav Gupta</keyword> as VP-engineering, amid a handful of top-level exits from the company.

Snapdeal could soon become India's numero uno eCommerce player, beating Flipkart! It raked in a neat $3.5 bn in revenues in May 2015

It’s acquisition time for Indian ecommerce companies. More the ecommerce in India are gaining foothold, the key players in the sector are pulling up newbies under the fold. <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, which has acquired <keyword id="2871211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mobi-Kwik">Mobi Kwik</keyword>, an online payment platform recently has hit the headlines once more. This time, it’s Snapdeal’s parent company <keyword id="6481662" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jasper-Infotech">Jasper Infotech</keyword>, which has acquired mobile commerce startup <keyword id="2868543" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="MartMobi">Martmobi</keyword>, its 10th buyout, for an undisclosed sum. 
 
As per a news report in The Economic Times, Hyderabad-based Martmobi's mobile-specific platform and solutions allow small and medium-sized businesses and brands to build mobile stores and apps that can connect with customers' existing back-end systems. The company, formed in 2008, also provides real-time analytics to improve conversions and user engagement. 
 
"They've done a great job in solving merchant problems when it comes to mobile internet. We have already done a lot of work in that area, and we expect this acquisition to take us to the next level," Rohit Bansal, co-founder and chief operating officer of Snapdeal told the ET. 
 
Snapdeal, which has 40 million users, sees about 75% of its total sales through mobile phones, according to the company. 
 
The company has been actively scouting for acquisitions in the broader mobile and data analytics segment, and since the start of 2015 it has already announced four buyouts, including the $450 million (about Rs 2,880 crore) cash-and-stock acquisition of mobile recharge and payments venture Freecharge in April. 
 "It is all about getting to the market early with the technology. While <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> has access to its global tech pool, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and Snapdeal will continue to acquire mobile tech firms," Ratul Ghosh, former <keyword id="373910" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="head-of-strategy">head of strategy</keyword> at <keyword id="161767" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay-India">eBay India</keyword> and former <keyword id="2871210" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="chair-of-e-commerce-committee">chair of e-commerce committee</keyword> told the financial daily. 
 In an exclusive chat with the ET last month, Snapdeal <keyword id="24211" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="chief-executive">Chief Executive</keyword> <keyword id="219793" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kunal-Bahl">Kunal Bahl</keyword> said that the company was aiming to make about 10 more acquisitions in the current fiscal. While the company did not disclose the size of its war chest, its recent purchases have been fuelled by the nearly $1 billion (about Rs 6,400 crore) it raised last year. 
 The company, which is in the midst of an attritional war with rival online marketplaces Flipkart and Amazon, is backed by a host of marquee strategic and financial investors, including <keyword id="6355311" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Japan">Japan</keyword>'s <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword>, BlackRock, eBay and PremjiInvest, the personal investment arm of <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> <keyword id="6364480" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chairman">chairman</keyword> <keyword id="6419840" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword>.

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