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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="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">
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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

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="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

Is e-commerce 2.0 over in India? Going by the recent ripple of mergers and closures, impacted by an overall volatile economy, we often assume the worse. Investors’ loss of trust in the Indian ecosystem has become a litany for some time now but in spite of the downtime, a handful of Indian e-commerce firms have hit the headlines in 2013 for fast-paced growth and the big bucks they have managed to raise. Their operations vary widely – it can be as simple as business listing, as predictable as selling books and lifestyle items online or as unique as creating a whole new platform for a consumer requirement. But routine or innovative, these six Indian companies have gained both investors’ support and consumer trust that keep them going. Find out what’s making them tick while we bring you a tongue-in-cheek account of possible mergers &amp; acquisitions that may happen on their way. 
 
 
<keyword id="430602" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="JustDial">JustDial</keyword>: What’s next after a roaring listing business? 
Forget MakeMyTrip and its iconic NASDAQ listing – here is one success story just as good. Fresh from a mind-blowing IPO that was oversubscribed 12 times, this India-focused local business listing site has already entered online food ordering space and has some more projects in the pipeline. Of course, the Rs 950 crore IPO – a pure offer for sale in which founder VSS Mani and investors, including Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and SAP Ventures, sold some 1.75 crore shares – is the largest on the Indian bourses this year and one of the biggest by an Indian Internet firm. 
 
However, the start-up had done its fair share of tight-rope walking earlier in the day. Since his first-ever business directory service AskMe failed in the early 90s, Mani made sure to make the next initiative failure-proof – taking one cautious step at a time (initially answering consumer queries over phone, then graduating to web queries and next moving on to mobile apps). Finally, India got its biggest business listings company, built from a paltry seed capital of Rs 50,000. And here is another interesting bit of information. Since 1999, Mani had taken six shots at the bourses and the last one has gone right home. 
 
Road ahead: What feels good about this start-up is that, JustDial is already up and about, looking at new businesses. In a recent media interview, Mani confirmed that the company would soon expand its online service range – diversifying into cab, movie ticket and doctor appointment booking. 
 
If consolidation happens: What if... search giant Google wants to focus more on India and requires a local partner that has scale and reach across multiple businesses? In fact, <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword> has already introduced Product Listing ads that will display features like product images, pricing and more, to highlight merchant offerings. Will it thrive more if JustDial comes on board? 
 
<keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>: All about pivots, deals &amp; marketplace, but can it do a TaoBao? Talk about pivots and you have Kunal Bahl who has done it as many times as Robert Bruce and courted success. His business pivoted seven times as Bahl started by selling restaurant deal vouchers (and printed ones at that); came up with a daily deal site and finally pivoted to a zero-inventory, e-commerce marketplace just like Amazon, with a B2C (business to consumer) focus. That definitely makes it different from <keyword id="161767" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="eBay-India">eBay India</keyword> where the focus is C2C. Snapdeal claims to be doing it big – with 20 million registered users and around 14-15 million visitors each month, according to his recent interaction with AllThingsD. And a total funding of $114 million or so (eBay is an existing investor in the company as well) definitely speaks a lot in terms of investor confidence. Snapdeal is not profitable yet, but it is eyeing an annual GMV of $400 million this fiscal and wants to do a billion dollar in GMV by 2015. 
 
Road ahead: Media reports say Bahl is all set to do a TaoBao Mall (a dedicated B2C e-commerce marketplace run by China’s Alibaba Group) right here in India. The seasoned entrepreneur prefers to call the marketplace a vast product discovery platform with fast and furious growth and has recently introduced a customer protection service called TrustPay – a service that ensures 100% money-back guarantee in case of any issue with product quality, size or delivery. It also serves as a seller protection service against any kind of consumer fraud. Snapdeal’s agility to move ahead of the market could be its USP, especially now that it has started working on ad revenues, but can it really achieve the momentum and the scale in the Indian context? 
 
If consolidation happens: That eBay is one of the investors in Snapdeal is an interesting fact. If the company ever considers a readymade marketplace with a B2B focus, this will be a good deal. Then there is <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword> who could be buying out all competition. But given a choice, would it buy <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> or Snapdeal? Well, your guess is as good as ours. 
 
Flipkart: Big bucks are rolling in, but is the business booming? 
Don’t shop, Flipkart it – that’s the new mantra of this prolific e-com player, founded by Sachin and Binny Bansal (they are not related). They started as a book e-tailer, but soon expanded into all possible categories – from fashion to fitness and accessories, gadgets &amp; electronics to home &amp; lifestyle products, baby care items, toys and more. The success mantra is simple – best pricing and speedy delivery, backed by a dedicated logistics team. Understandably, the traction is awesome – the company claims to have 10 million registered users and over 1 million unique visitors a day. 
 
Flipkart has recently raised a fifth round of funding worth $200 million from its existing investors – Tiger Global, Accel Partners, ICONIQ Capital and South African Internet company Naspers – taking the total funding to more than $380 million. But that doesn’t mean all is well in paradise. It has recently shut down some digital businesses like Flyte (a much-hyped MP3 store launched only a year ago) and cut down on a number of electronics categories. On the plus side, it has launched its own payment gateway called PayZippy, introduced a voice-based search on the site, started selling e-books and has come up with a marketplace where third party vendors can sell directly to consumers. Flipkart has also entered a deal with the US-based indie e-book distributor Smashwords, Inc., which gives it access to Smashwords’ eBook store – a catalogue of 2 lakh-plus vetted and formatted e-books from more than 60,000 authors and publishers. 
 
Road ahead: Ambitious, to say the least, especially after the Series E booster. Just like Snapdeal, this e-com biggie wants to reach an annual GMV of $1 billion by 2015 besides doubling up the number of sellers on the marketplace to 1,000 by the end of this year. Although Flipkart is constantly harping on global level hiring, the biggest chunk of the funds raised is bound to be spent on technology, supply chain and (don’t be shocked) product development. PayZippy could be just the beginning and going ahead, Flipkart may evolve into a technology enabler for offline businesses keen to have an online presence. Infibeam’s Build A Bazaar, SmartStore from BigFoot Retail and PayU India’s PayUPaisa are doing just the same, but Flipkart can actually do a PayUPaisa by integrating the proprietary payment gateway with the Web stores for additional revenues (just like PayUPaisa does). 
 
But it is the Smashwords deal that intrigues us most. According to Nielsen BookScan Retail Panel data, in 2013, Flipkart holds an average of 40-45% in terms of value when it comes to the organised books market in India and the company has plans to grow it substantially. If that happens, it will become the undisputed market leader in the books category – both online and offline. And before we forget, Flipkart may focus even more on private labels – it already markets a private label brand called Digiflip for digital accessories such as laptop bags and camera pouches. But the biggest challenge is to get over the few setbacks, bring back the positive drive and get ready for a much-anticipated IPO. 
 
If consolidation happens: A head-on between Snapdeal and Flipkart or Amazon and Flipkart will be extremely interesting. However, the company is not losing much sleep over the competition from existing marketplaces. Another possibility is Flipkart acquiring Tradus since they have a common investor in Naspers and such deals have taken place before. 
 
<keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>: Fashion e-tailing on a roll, but for how long? 
Shun the incremental and go for the leap, said Jack Welch of GE. And if there’s one online retailer in the fashion and lifestyle segment that has literally fallen for this mandate, it’s Jabong.com, the dark horse in the fiercely competitive Indian e-commerce space. In less than 20 months, the Rocket Internet-backed venture has banged into the top rung – the third most-visited online shopping site after Myntra.com and Flipkart.com, according to a recent report by comScore. Reasons for such eyeballs? Huge inventory, aggressive marketing, speedy delivery and best-in-class customer care (including third-party logistics services). The deep pockets of the Samwer brothers help it burn the cash left, right and centre, and around 50-60% of its sales are coming from small towns, its founder, Arun Chandra Mohan, said in a recent media interaction. 
 
Road ahead: Could be bleak, going by Rocket’s reputation of creating hype and disposing its assets at the earliest. Jabong claims to do around 14,000 orders a day (average ticket size not disclosed), but it is yet to hit profitability. The company is said to be experimenting with private labels, but does not seem to be pushing it big time in spite of potential big margins. Moreover, just like Flipkart, Jabong has also handed out the pink slips. At the end of the day, it has to find a viable business model and we hope that the third-party logistics can bring in some hard cash as e-tailing spreads across the country. 
 
If consolidation happens: A takeover bid, either by Myntra or by Flipkart, will definitely put the bidder on the top. However, Flipkart is an unlikely candidate as its late initiative to enter fashion and lifestyle space is yet to gain traction and scale. Of course, it is not lacking in funds, but considering that the firm has already launched a marketplace in April this year and facing some stiff competition from Amazon India and other desi e-com marketplaces, will it really invest in an inventory-led model? Myntra, on the other hand, could be game if it is seriously considering a No. 1 slot. Interestingly, Bangalore-based Myntra is one of the heaviest funded players in the e-commerce space and has raised around $64 million till date. It has also made some interesting acquisitions and a shot at a competitor might not be unlikely. 
 
Just Zomato it: You can’t find a spicier chunk of food business 
Is this online restaurant guide doing a Jabong in terms of fast and furious growth? Well, apparently, going by the latest report card. Just five years into the business, this Gurgaon-based firm has expanded to 28 cities across 8 countries (India, the UAE, Qatar, Sri Lanka, the UK, the Philippines, South Africa and New Zealand) – with listings of over 1,18,000 restaurants and 15 million monthly users (web and mobile). And it all happened because founder Deepinder Goyal, while working for Bain &amp; Co. in Delhi, decided to do something about easy access to food joints, rather than stomaching an overcrowded office cafeteria or flying blind to find nearby eateries. 
 
Zomato’s USP is its user-generated reviews (pretty stringent, going by the new parameters set up not too long ago). Moneywise, it is pretty well-funded. Info Edge (India) Ltd, which runs a string of consumer internet portals including the coveted job listing site Naukri.com, is the majority stakeholder in Zomato and invested around Rs 86.06 crore in the company. 
 
Road ahead: Next destinations are Brazil and Turkey, to say nothing of the recent tie-up it had with UK-based toptables for restaurant booking in London, Manchester and Birmingham. And for a change, this start-up has reached break-even in India and Dubai could be next on the cards. As of now, revenues roll in via ads, event ticketing and restaurant booking. 
 
If consolidation happens: If you are not on Zomato, you are not really there – that’s how the saying goes for restaurants. So the next logical step is to expand into restaurant booking (it has already done it in the UK) and online food ordering. Zomato has reportedly declined such expansion plans in India, but going by JustDial’s latest foray into the online food ordering space, a look at Foodpanda (India), a food ordering platform backed by Rocket Internet, or other homegrown restaurant reservation sites like TableGrabber.com, Dineout.co.in, PoshVine.com and Tablewalla.com may just work out well for Zomato.

Watch Out! These 5 Indian
E-com Players Can’t Stop Growing

In a bid to ramp up the operations, technology and ethnic offerings, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=flipkart&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Flipkart</a> raised the annual budget of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=myntra&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Myntra</a>. <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword>, which was acquired by <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> in 2014 for $300 million, will also use the budget to invest in at least three small to medium ethnic brands. "This year we got 25% extra money from the Flipkart board," said Myntra CEO <keyword id="6397414" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ananth-Narayanan">Ananth Narayanan</keyword>. "We will just invest in those brands and that will eventually be run by the entrepreneurs. In addition to our operating budget, our board has asked us to thoughtfully invest more in areas such as technology and brands which will help us continue on our growth trajectory and achieve profitability by March 2018," Narayanan told ET in an interview. Flipkart has funds to rake in Myntra as it had raised $1.4 billion funding from global giants <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword>, eBay and WeChat-investor Tencent. Narayanan said, “The additional budget will boost Myntra's chance of reaching its milestone of becoming profitable by March 2018 along with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=jabong&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Jabong.com</a>.”

Flipkart is pumping money in Myntra to ramp up operations; hikes annual budget by 25%

As the growth story of mobile internet in India is on the upsurge with the user count expected to reach a whopping 314 million in 2017, this platform has opened a world of new opportunities for entrepreneurs. With various companies across the world investing in building their apps, this new app culture has paved the way for what is called the ‘App economy’. 
 
Think about it. On a single tap, everything is available at your doorstep- from groceries, leisure and entertainment services, salon and home services to commuting options. 
 
As Indians are busy using and exploring newer apps, Gigato shows the apps Indians are using the most in various segments. Here’s what is making Indians ‘Appy’: 
 
<ul>
	<li>
		In music streaming apps that make you groove, almost 30% people use Saavn and 27% people use Gaana</li>
	<li> <keyword id="1666592" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Foodpanda">Foodpanda</keyword> is the favourite food delivery app with almost 57% using the app</li>
	<li> <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> is the top choice in the ‘mobile shopping apps for great retail therapy segment’ followed by <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, Amazon, ebay, Myntra, <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword> and others</li>
	<li>
		People use 3G/2G network for different apps where online shopping is the topmost priority followed by recharging apps, online music streaming apps and entertainment apps.</li>
	<li>
		Also, almost 80% of people use data packs over Wi-Fi when using smartphones at home.</li>
</ul>
Notably, Gigato is a mobile application and platform that allows app publishers to reward its users with recharge packs of unrestricted mobile data, based on the data usage incurred on the app. This allows consumers to experience their favorite apps without worrying about the cost of data. It boasts of over 200,000 registered users as of now.

Here's what is making Indians HAPPY, oops 'APPY'!

“Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it a meaning,” a famous quotes suggests. And in India, there is a huge controversy around this word and its various interpretations. The country’s history, architecture and literature are steeped in various allusions to love. But, this liberal outlook towards one of the most important human emotions died somewhere in the middle ages, here. Thereafter, our ancient tradition of love was highly suppressed and frowned upon. 
 
Thus, despite having our very own God of love, our youth fell back on a rather obscure martyrdom of a Christian saint from Rome to celebrate love. It was somewhere in the 1990s that Valentine’s Day began making an impression in India, before that hardly anyone celebrated it here. The rise of economic globalization, the birth of a new class of rich people and the emergence of satellite channels all contributed to the increasing popularity of Valentine’s Day in India. Later, with the advent of the new middle class and its growing buying power, it predictably became a refreshingly great marketing strategy and opportunity for many businesses. 
 
Today, we not only have a day to celebrate love, we have a whole Valentine’s Week, which has grown in to a multi-million dollar business in India. According to surveys the Associated Chambers of Commerce &amp; Industry of India(ASSOCHAM), the Valentine’s week, which had already become a Rs 12,000 crore business in 2011, swelled to Rs 15,000 crore in 2013, and it was pegged at Rs 18,000 crore in 2014. 
 
Why online shopping comes as a better option for Valentine’s Day? 
Just as consumerism was reaching an all-time high in India, growing Internet penetration gave Indian buyers a new option in shopping—the online store. This new retail market makes a better option for shoppers generally, and particularly on Valentine’s Day. While discounted rates, free home delivery and cash-on-delivery are major lures of online shopping, these are made even more attractive during Valentine’s Week with special offers. There is also the advantage of saving time and being able to shop from the convenience of your home. In fact, if you wish to give your partner something more intimate like lingerie, then you can shop for it online in your own private space, without feeling awkward in a physical store among real sales people. Moreover, you can surprise your partner by directly sending a gift-wrapped order to his/her address without any additional costs for delivery. 
 
Another important benefit of online shopping during Valentine’s Day is getting valuable shopping advice from other shoppers on shopping communities, said Mehul Jobanputra, CEO and co-founder of <a href="http://www.desidime.com/">DesiDime</a>, India’s largest shopping community. 
 
Trends expected in 2015 
With so many compensations on offer, it is little wonder that online shopping companies show a marked increase in sales during Valentine’s Day every year. This year too, certain industries are expected to see immense traction during Valentine’s Day benefitting both shoppers and industry stakeholders. Consequently, Mehul Jobanputra shares a few insights and analyzes the top 4 industries: 
 
1. <keyword id="2174941" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gifting-industry">Gifting Industry</keyword> In 2015, shoppers can expect horizontal players like <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> to give around 50%-60% off on soft toys, upto 40% off on perfumes and around 60-70% off on sunglasses. Some of the gifting options preferred for men would be silver cufflinks, ties, wallets, key chains, perfumes, and sunglasses, while for women jewelry, cosmetics, soft toys, and flowers would make ideal gift options. 
 
Websites to visit for gifting items: Flipkart, <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>, Snapdeal 
 
2. Intimate Apparel Industry 
More often than not, men, who want to give something more intimate like lingerie to their partners, feel embarrassed to shop for it in physical stores. However, online shopping solves this problem for them as the intimate apparel industry is growing in the online arena. Shoppers can expect discounts as high as 60-70% off on lingerie and nightwear during Valentine’s Day this year. 
 
Websites to visit: Zivame.com, Jabong.com, Prettysecrets.com, Myntra.com 
 
3. Personalized Gift Industry 
One of the best ways to make Valentine’s Day even more special is to give a personalized gift. Gifting personalized items has become a lot easier, as all you have to do is select an appealing design and a beautiful memory to go with your chosen present. Shoppers can expect upto 35% off on customized gifting options. 
 
Websites to visit- Printvenue.com, <a href="http://printland.in/" target="_blank">printland.in</a>, wishpicker.com 
 
4. Flower, Jewelry and Cosmetics Industry 
While shoppers can expect upto 25% off on cosmetics this year around Valentine’s Day, they can also expect around 35% off on jewelry. 
 
Websites to visit:FernsNPetals, CaratLane, BlueStone, <a href="http://nykaa.com/" target="_blank">nykaa.com</a> 
 
So, this Valentine’s Day shop more in a smart way. If you still want some last minute advice or quick heads up on where to find the hottest Valentine’s Day deals and discounts, then visit <a href="http://www.desidime.com/festivals/valentines-day">DesiDime.com</a> and other such websites—there you will find all Valentine offers aggregated on a single page. In addition to this, you will also get to interact with fellow online shoppers in real time. 
 
About the author: This article has been written by Vandana Baria, Content Marketing Specialist at DesiDime.com. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Decoding
the science and business of love just ahead of V-Day

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Amazon and Indian e-commerce company Flipkart have an interesting history.&#xa0;Flipkart's founders both worked at Amazon before ditching in 2007 to start their own new company with a very similar business model. The startup took off and it's now <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/indias-flipkart-raises-1-billion-in-fresh-funding-1406641579?mod=LS1">India's largest online marketplace in terms of sales</a>.Amazon, meanwhile, didn't enter India until 2012 when it acquired price-comparison site Junglee. It opened its official India website in June 2014. The next month, Flipkart &#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/former-amazon-executives-flipkart-2014-7" target="_blank">raised a mammoth $1 billion</a>&#xa0;funding round. Exactly one day later, Amazon said it planned to pour&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-amazon-to-invest-2-billion-more-in-india-as-e-commerce-race-heats-up-2014-30">$2 billion into its Indian operations</a>.The companies' track-record spurred some friendly fire Friday when Reddit India tweeted a picture of an Amazon box in Flipkart's HQ. Flipkart had a cheeky reply:<div><div></div></div>...To which Amazon reminded the company of its roots, which Flipkart had to acknowledge:<div><div></div></div>This isn't the first time the company's have publically duked it out. Last year, Amazon tried to steal Flipkart's thunder on its "<a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-01-31/news/58650592_1_big-billion-day-billion-day-sachin-bansal">Big Billion Day Sale</a>" by buying the domain bigbillionday.com, to make consumers looking for the sale more likely to stumble on Amazon's homepage instead. The company also bought ads for the keyword "Flipkart" so people would see its products when searching for Flipkart's deals, <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-did-amazon-try-to-cleverly-hijack-flipkart-s-big-billion-day-sale-2023959">DNAIndia reported at the time</a>.&#xa0;Funny exchanges aside, international growth is serious business for Amazon. CFO Tom Szkutak said that Amazon was "very excited about India" in the company's Q4 earnings call, but investors and analysts aren't impressed with its growth rate abroad.&#xa0;"International revenue growth continues to be a mystery and is a confusing part of the Amazon story,"<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-international-growth-2015-2"> analysts at investment firm Stifel wrote in a post-earnings note</a>."Could you just help us understand why the international performance is so much weaker?" one analyst&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-q4-earnings-report-2015-1">asked on Amazon's Q4 earnings call</a>.&#xa0;Besides Flipkart, Snapdeal, which has eBay backing, and Jabong are also significant local competitors in India. Winning marketshare in India is big, because the country has the&#xa0;<a href="http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/">third greatest number of internet users</a>&#xa0;in the world, after China and the United States.&#xa0;Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-headphones-tricks-2015-2">14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="o2OGM3czpWcydnvhjbkDBd6feXPuExiD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Amazon and one of its biggest competitor in India got into a funny Twitter spat 

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>As Amazon talks about its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-making-movies-for-theaters-2015-1">plans to make movies</a> and work on its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-fire-phone-sales-christmas-2014-12">next-generation smartphone</a>, there's another big challenge for the new year that isn't getting as much attention. 
John Rossman, a former Amazon employee and "disruption expert" <a href="http://www.alvarezandmarsal.com/john-rossman">at the consulting firm Alvarez &amp; Marsal</a>, told Business Insider that one of the biggest question marks he hasn't seen Amazon answer is about international growth. 
"Internationally, what are they learning?" Rossman said. "How are they having to adjust relative to local markets? What's working in international and what's not working in international?"
Based on its 2014 Q3 earnings, nearly 40% of Amazon's sales come from international markets, thanks to its success in geographies like Germany, the UK, and Japan. However, Amazon has its sights and investments set on emerging, potentially lucrative markets like India and China.
Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company built by two Amazon alumni, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/former-amazon-executives-flipkart-2014-7" target="_blank">raised $1 billion</a> in July 2014. One day after it announced its raise, Amazon said it planned to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-amazon-to-invest-2-billion-more-in-india-as-e-commerce-race-heats-up-2014-30">spend $2 billion in India</a>. Snapdeal, which has eBay backing, and Jabong are also significant local competitors. India has the <a href="http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/">third greatest number of internet users</a> in the world, after China and the United States. 
But adapting business to the cultures of new markets is very important and not always easy. For example, in India, <a href="http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-how-flipkart-amazon-are-shaking-up-retailing-in-india-644102">fewer than 12% of people</a> have credit or debit cards, so Amazon has had to adapt to a "Cash on Delivery" model, which isn't yet available in all areas. 
China, too, has its own set of challenges. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-alibaba-defeated-ebay-in-china-2014-4">One of the big reasons that Alibaba beat out a better-established eBay</a> in China in the early 2000s was because CEO Jack Ma understood Chinese culture and paid close attention to what appealed to people.
Last year, Alibaba had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/alibaba-ipo-world-record-at-25-billion-2014-9">the biggest initial public offering in history</a> and Amazon's market share still trails far behind <a href="http://projects.wsj.com/alibaba/">Alibaba's e-commerce 80% marketshare</a>. 
Amazon reported relatively disappointing international growth in 2014. Its year-over-year international revenue growth declined to 13% in the third quarter of 2014, from <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-did-amazon-international-business-200402500.html">20% in the third quarter of 2013</a>. 
"I continue to scratch my head a little bit over their international growth and why that isn't larger as a year-over-year percentage standpoint," Rossman says. That will be one of Amazon's biggest challenges in 2015: Growing its international revenues. 
In a recent Piper Jaffray note, analyst Gene Munster pinpointed expansion into new geographic markets as one of Amazon's top five priorities in 2015.
"Amazon is actively investing in fulfillment center and distribution infrastructure in each of these countries, with significant capacity build-out relative to existing demand," the note reads. "We believe that Amazon's strategy is to build out capacity so that demand can be met with a seamless experience."
Here's a look at Amazon's international fulfillment centers, from Piper Jaffray:
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.

One Of Amazon's Biggest Challenges For The New Year 

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">ReutersJeff Bezos during a visit to India</div></div></div>Amazon beat Q2 earnings expectations Thursday afternoon, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-q2-earnings-2015-7">sending the stock sky-rocketing.</a>Growth in Amazon Web Services, the company's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-cloud-grows-even-bigger-2015-7">profitable cloud computing business</a>, soaked up much of the spotlight on the company's subsequent earnings call, but there was one other topic that investors and analysts kept bringing up: India. Amazon only officially launched in the country in June 2013, but it's now the company's fastest growing geography in terms of sales.Amazon also says that it's the biggest online store in India with more than 25 million products for sale. That's about 5 million more than the <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/about-us">most recent numbers</a> from one of its biggest local competitors, Flipkart. Interestingly, Flipkart's founders actually both worked at Amazon before leaving in 2007 to build their own company. Exactly one day after Flipkart <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/former-amazon-executives-flipkart-2014-7" target="_blank">raised a mammoth $1 billion</a> funding round in June 2014, Amazon said it planned to pour <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-amazon-to-invest-2-billion-more-in-india-as-e-commerce-race-heats-up-2014-30">$2 billion into its own Indian operations</a>. On Amazon's earnings call, CFO Brian Olsavsky hinted that that investment continues to grow. When one analyst asked about India, he said the company was "super excited" about opportunities in the region. "When we see a positive surprise we double-down on it - that's kind of our policy - and India is that kind of surprise," Olsavsky said. "We're very happy, very encouraged early on about what we've seen so far with the ramping up of the business, the level of innovation going on for both customers and sellers."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Abhishek N. ChinnappaAnother shot of Bezos in India</div></div></div>Besides Flipkart, eBay and Softbank-backed Snapdeal and Jabong are also significant local competitors, but one of the reasons India's ecommerce market is so attractive to Amazon is because it's growing like crazy.Right now, India has the <a href="http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/">third greatest number of internet users</a> in the world, after China and the United States, and is <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/alibaba-foxconn-in-talks-to-invest-500-million-in-indias-snapdeal-1434444149">similarly ranked in smartphone penetration</a>. Researchers expect the online shopping market in <a href="https://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/indian-ecommerce-market-reach-15-billion-2016-report">India to reach $15 billion by 2016</a> up from only $35 million in 2014. Amazon sees India has a much more accessible market than China, a source <a href="http://recode.net/2015/03/10/as-amazon-stumbles-in-china-india-rises-as-its-biggest-overseas-opportunity/">told Re/code's Jason Del Rey</a> earlier this year. That mindset makes sense because Amazon struggled to become a big player in China, seeing <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/03/06/amazon-opens-store-inside-alibabas-tmall-in-china/">declining marketshare since 2008</a>, in part because Alibaba is such a local favorite. Amazon even opened up its own store on Alibaba's site Tmall earlier this year. Another investor threw some subtle-shade at Amazon's growth in China, asking whether Amazon expected a similar trajectory in India. "I would say that India and China are totally different," investor relations investor Phil Hardin replied. "I think as Brian mentioned, India is a country that we're doubling-down on based on the success we've seen so far. And we're excited to be investing and have the opportunities we do at this point."Overall, Amazon only saw tepid 3% international sales growth this quarter, though the company said that would have been 12% if it weren't for the unfavorable foreign exchange impact. Still, even 12% is down from <a href="file:///Users/jdonfro/Downloads/Q2%202014%20Financial%20Results%20(1).pdf">14% quarterly growth</a> in Q2 2014, and <a href="file:///Users/jdonfro/Downloads/Q2%202013%20Financial%20Results.pdf">20% in 2013</a> (those figures also exclude the effect of exchange rates). By double-down on its India operations, Amazon is clearly trying to make that region a more significant driver of growth. And not just on the ecommerce side: Amazon said it planned to bring its AWS cloud service to India in the future as well. CEO Jeff Bezos recruited a particularly trusted executive, Amit Agarwal, to lead Amazon's India efforts. Agarwal has worked at Amazon for more than 16 years, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/amit-agarwal/0/33/86b">including two years</a> in the coveted position of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-technical-advisors-2013-10">Bezos' "shadow."</a>In India, he faces a set of challenges unique to the country. For example, it's incredibly mobile-first - the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Mobile-commerce-comes-of-age-in-India/articleshow/44898756.cms">director of Google India predicts</a> that by 2017, 70%-80% online transactions will happen via smartphone. Plus, <a href="http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-how-flipkart-amazon-are-shaking-up-retailing-in-india-644102">The AP reported in August 2014</a> that fewer than 12% of Indians had credit or debit cards, so Amazon has had to adapt to a "Cash on Delivery" model, which <a href="http://www.amazon.in/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201438030">isn't yet available in all areas</a>."Everything is nascent in India-the seller ecosystem, the logistics, the payments," Agarwal told <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2015/06/04/primed-for-battle/">Saritha Rai for Forbes in January</a>. "We have to connect the dots on a massive scale that involves hundreds of cities, thousands of sellers and millions of products."But it's worth it:"Is it big? Check. Can we add significant customer value? Check. Can we generate significant cash flow? Check," he added. "India ticks all the boxes for Amazon."Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-last-guardian-2015-6">Sony has been working on this Playstation game for 8 years - and the trailer is absolutely beautiful</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="NnbHdvdTo4gdTuPMoFuIYK4ITAATfORt" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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