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<ul><li>As Walmart-owned <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> moves towards a possibly $10 billion initial public offering (IPO), it seems to be shedding flab with a nearly $300 million write off in Jabong.</li><li>Flipkart India CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy described 2020 as the year when the company turned ‘financially prudent’, without adding any details.</li><li>Judith McKenna, president and chief executive of Walmart International, said that even after Flipkart being shut for 53 days in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the e-commerce business closed the year stronger than it started.</li><li>For Flipkart, in 2021, the focus will be on grocery and fashion bringing loyal customers through its subscription programme and investing in technology and infrastructure.</li></ul>Digging inside Walmart's earnings has revealed a lot about what's happening at Flipkart. As the India-born e-commerce subsidiary moves towards a <a href="https://www.livemint.com/market/ipo/walmart-readies-for-10-bn-flipkart-ipo-11607300769974.html">possibly</a> $10 billion initial public offering (IPO), it seems to be shedding flab with a nearly $300 million write off in one of its units. As Walmart boss Doug Mcmillon wants to “step on the gas” in India, Flipkart chief executive officer (CEO) Kalyan Krishnamurthy has decided to focus on areas like grocery and fashion as well as investments in technology and infrastructure. <div type="Youtube" id="zUinE3RR_nU" title="Flipkart Gets Leaner With A $300 Million Jabong Write-Off" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zUinE3RR_nU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Krishnamurthy described 2020 as the year when Flipkart turned ‘financially prudent’. While he didn’t add any details, inside Walmart’s earnings report, there were “business restructuring charges” including $293 million non-cash impairment for the <a href="http://jabong.com/">Jabong.com</a> trade name. Business Insider reached out to Flipkart for more inputs but the spokesperson said that they have nothing more to add. <keyword id="1484171" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="jabong-com">Jabong.com</keyword> was a fashion e-commerce entity that Flipkart had acquired through Myntra in 2016 and eventually absorbed it. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="A step towards IPO?" comment="subhead" text="A step towards IPO?">A step towards IPO?</cmsannotation> Such restructurings are common when a company is planning to go public. It makes the IPO more attractive. Walmart is reportedly preparing Flipkart for a big market debut possibly in the US – a $10 billion initial public offering (IPO). The listing is expected to boost Flipkart’s valuation to $40 billion from the current $24.9 billion. While the company hasn’t given a timeline or details for the market offering, <a href="https://www.livemint.com/market/ipo/walmart-readies-for-10-bn-flipkart-ipo-11607300769974.html">reports</a> say that it could be in 2021 with Walmart divesting a 25% stake in the company. <div type="image" title="Flipkart valuation history - December 2020" msid="81105071" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Flipkart valuation history until December 2020&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Shedding past baggage is one thing, focussing on the future is another" comment="subhead" text="Shedding past baggage is one thing, focussing on the future is another">Shedding past baggage is one thing, focussing on the future is another</cmsannotation> Walmart is clearly very bullish on Flipkart. Both Walmart CEO Mcmillion and Judith McKenna, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walmart International were all praises for the team in India during the earnings call. McKenna said that Flipkart has doubled its gross merchandising value (GMV) despite being shut for 53 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The e-commerce business closed the year stronger than it started,” she added. GMV is the total value of merchandise sold on a platform. When asked about the focus for 2021, Krishnamurthy lined up grocery, fashion, and onboarding loyal customers through their subscription programme. In fashion, Flipkart has already made some moves, but the attractive grocery segment is going to be a challenge. Investments made by Flipkart in the apparel industry recently <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Investment by Flipkart </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">USPL (Universal Sportsbiz Pvt Ltd) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Undisclosed </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Limited </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,500 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Arvind Fashions </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹260 crore </td></tr></tbody></table> In grocery, Flipkart has betting big on itself through Flipkart SuperMart and an investment in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/walmart-and-flipkart-invest-in-ninjacart-again-to-bump-up-its-grocery-offerings-ahead-of-the-festive-season/articleshow/78617012.cms">Ninjacart.</a> “We are going to partner with the roughly million kirana stores in our ecosystem,” he said. Kirana is the Hindi word for mom-n-pop stores in India and is the latest buzzword in the race for online grocery retail where some of the richest and mightiest business houses in the country are making big investments. JioMart, which is Reliance Retail’s e-commerce debut, owned by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, is targeting 30 million merchants and he is backed by Facebook and WhatsApp for this project. The $100 billion Tata Group, one of India’s oldest and largest conglomerates, has reportedly closed a deal to acquire BigBasket, one of the early birds in India’s online grocery market. Meanwhile, Flipkart is also betting big on adtech (Advertising technology). Krishnamurthy said that Flipkart’s advertising platform is currently one of the top five in India today. Flipkart is strengthening its advertising and monetisation portfolio and has announced the launch of a custom built demand-side platform (DSP). It recently partnered with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/ad-tech/news/flipkart-launches-commerce-focused-self-serve-demand-side-platform/articleshow/80919844.cms">MediaMath</a> to launch its demand-side platform. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/amazon-denies-dodging-indian-regulations-but-the-government-is-already-investigating-and-rivals-want-a-ban-on-jeff-bezos-company/articleshow/81088953.cms">Amazon denies dodging Indian regulations⁠ but the government is already investigating and rivals want a ban on Jeff Bezos’ company</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/pewdiepies-lyrics-targeting-cocomelon-and-jk-rowling-that-may-have-gotten-youtube-angry-enough-to-pull-the-video-down/articleshow/81102941.cms">PewDiePie's lyrics targeting CoComelon and JK Rowling may have gotten YouTube angry enough to pull the video down</a>

Flipkart gets leaner with a $300 million Jabong write-off as CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy lists out the priorities for 2021

If you’re amongst the ones going crazy about flashsale on eCommerce sites, this piece is for you. There are hundreds like you and most of them are working with <keyword id="46431" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Inc">India Inc</keyword> and ending up spending too much in online shopping is the new in thing. As per a news report in The Economic Times, employers are conducting shopping de-addiction programme. Optum International, the organisation that conducts the de-addiction programme, connects the candidate with counsellor. 
 
HRs across various industries have noted, employees would have various shopping apps open in their mobile and would be seen secretly shopping the entire month. 
 
The financial daily has reported that a person named Anirudh Sehgal has recently undergone Optum treatment. 
 "We not only made him realise the long-term impact and possible ways to tackle this addiction, we also connected him to our financial advisors who helped him plan his expenses better," Amber Alam, <keyword id="193500" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="head-of-business">head of business</keyword> (India), Optum International (formerly <keyword id="175916" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PPC-Worldwide">PPC Worldwide</keyword>), a provider of employee counselling told the ET. 
 
It has so far conducted online shopping de-addiction programmes for about 500 executives. 
 
The tribe of such compulsive online prodigals is slowly growing, say counsellors and psychiatrists. This is forcing companies to come alongside and offer help to executives addicted to buying stuff online. 
 "Shopping addiction exists in our study on exploration of behavioural addiction in community," Dr <keyword id="23353" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="manoj-kumar">Manoj Kumar</keyword> Sharma, additional professor, department of clinical psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore told the financial daily. 
 About 4.7% of female respondents and 3.5% of male respondents admitted to <keyword id="2828857" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Online-shopping-addiction">online shopping addiction</keyword> in a NIMHANS study of 2,750 people in the age group of 18-65 years. The study was funded by Indian Council of Medical Research, Delhi. 
 Every day, <keyword id="127958" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sameer-Malhotra">Sameer Malhotra</keyword>, who heads the department of <keyword id="6354774" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mental-health">mental health</keyword> &amp; behavioural sciences at <keyword id="129905" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Max-Healthcare">Max Healthcare</keyword>, treats at least two patients struggling with compulsive online shopping disorders. Leading multinational corporations are seeking de-addiction and counselling assistance for their employees, companies that provide such assistance say. 
 
"There is a lot of anxiety because people are spending money buying stuff on the Internsitting in offices, airports, washrooms, wherever they can, and damaging their finances," added Alam. 
 
"This is a kind of compulsive behaviour where consumers get a kick or are compelled to buy things they do not need in abundance," says Max Healthcare's Malhotra. "It sometimes boils down to keeping them under supervision or keeping away plastic money from them," he adds. 
 Online retailers claim to be unaware of this syndrome. "We haven't come across any cases of online addiction among consumers so far," Praveen Sinha, co-founder and managing director of <keyword id="1484171" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="jabong-com">Jabong.com</keyword> told the ET. " 
 
(Image: Reuters)

​Online shopping is the new drug addiction that is pulling India’s professional

<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

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%

<keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword> is shutting down two of its offices in <keyword id="6356789" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gurugram">Gurugram</keyword> and is looking forward to shifting 200 or so employees to the premises of <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>.com, the fashion ecommerce company it acquired in July for $70 million, in the same city. 
 According to Myntra’s chief executive <keyword id="6397414" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ananth-Narayanan">Ananth Narayanan</keyword> Staff, working mostly on building international brands and cataloguing will move to an empty floor in Jabong's Sector 18 building. 
 The offices that are being shut down are located on MG Road at <keyword id="6361136" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IFFCO-Chowk">Iffco Chowk</keyword> and at Udyog Vihar. The Sector 18 building is also home to food-order startup Foodpanda. 
 "It makes great economic sense to come here, instead of having three different offices operating,” <keyword id="349696" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Taneja">Rahul Taneja</keyword>, chief business officer at Jabong, told ET. 
 
The management is trying to get both Myntra and Jabong to profitability at the EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) l evel by December 2017, Narayanan has said. 
 
"We are going to push for both and we are going to look for (ebitda profitability) together,” he told ET, adding that Jabong is expected to grow 30-50% in the financial year ending March 2018.

Myntra to shut down two offices in Gurugram, shift staff

The <keyword id="139820" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Competition-Commission">Competition Commission</keyword> has rejected allegations of unfair business practices against five online retail majors -- Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Jabong and Myntra -- as it did not find any prima facie evidence of violations. 
 The complaints were filed against <keyword id="1990166" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Flipkart-India-Pvt-Ltd">Flipkart India Pvt Ltd</keyword>, <keyword id="2810347" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Jasper-Infotech-Pvt-Ltd">Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd</keyword>, <keyword id="2837603" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Xerion-Retail-Pvt-Ltd">Xerion Retail Pvt Ltd</keyword>, <keyword id="2837662" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amazon-Seller-Services-Pvt-Ltd">Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd</keyword> and Vector E-commerce Pvt Ltd. 
After looking into the matter for the past few months, the fair trade watchdog has ruled that these entities did not violate competition norms by indulging in cartelisation or by abusing their dominant position. 
 
Jasper runs Snapdeal.com, Xerion owns Jabong.com, while Vector is the company behind Myntra.com. 
"... the Commission is of the prima facie view that no case of contravention of the provisions of either section 3 or section 4 of the Act is made out against the opposite parties," it said in a 10-page order. 
 
It was alleged that e-commerce websites and product sellers entered into exclusive agreements to sell products exclusively on select portals. 
 
In recent months, there have been rising concerns that discount sales launched by various e-commerce websites, including Flipkart were anti-competitive in nature. With regard to exclusive agreements, the <keyword id="97393" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Competition-Commission-of-India">Competition Commission of India</keyword> (CCI) said that such pacts need not result in appreciable adverse effect on competition. 
 
"It does not seem that such arrangements create any entry barrier for new entrants. It seems very unlikely that an exclusive arrangement between a manufacturer and an e-portal will create any entry barrier as most of the products which are illustrated in the information to be sold through exclusive e-partners (OPs) face competitive constraints," the order, dated April 23, said. 
Agreeing with the contention of the opposite parties, the Commission said that every product cannot be taken as a relevant market in itself. 
 
"Irrespective of whether we consider e-portal market as a separate relevant product market or as a sub-segment of the market for distribution, none of the opposite parties seems to be individually dominant. 
"There are several players in the online retail market which have been arrayed as opposite parties in the present case, offering similar facilities to their customers," the order said. 
 
The regulator noted that it does not consider it necessary to go into the question of abuse of dominance by the opposite parties.

A huge relief for Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Jabong and Myntra. Know more

At a nascent stage, the eCommerce industry in India is still to gain the break-even point. While plenty of money is pumped in to boost the sector, gross loss is something that’s making the companies grumpy. While gaining in bulk has been the formula for the online retailers, it’s certainly not the key to success. 
 Lifestyle eCommerce major <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>.com has felt the heat of giving too much discounts. While it has doubled its revenue to Rs 811 crore during calendar year 2014, discounts have led to to a five-fold increase in losses toRs 160 crore. 
 As per a news report by <keyword id="77091" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Economic-Times">The Economic Times</keyword>, in the year before, the RockInternet-incubated company had posted a gross loss of Rs 32 crore on sales of Rs 344 crore, as per its annual report released on Tuesday. 
 The EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) loss counts to about 55 paise to get one <keyword id="6355302" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rupee">rupee</keyword> of sales. This has come down from 68 paise loss for every rupee earned in 2013. Ecommerce in India is at an early stage -- companies have to go through years of operating losses, given high initial <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> as well as the incentives they provide in the form of discounting to attract consumers online. 
 "We believe there is s<keyword id="6365707" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="UBS">ubs</keyword>tantial potential for operating <keyword id="382268" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="leverage">leverage</keyword> over the next few years to bring down losses. We assume etail gross merchandise value (GMV) to reach $50 billion by 2020, in line with our multi-factor approach-based estimates. We expect operating costs to fall 400 basis points, as a percentage of GMV, as operating leverage kicks in, by 2020," said a recent UBS report on Indian ecommerce. As per the ET report, Jabong, which is in its fourth year of operations, managed to cross the Rs 1,000-crore sales mark in terms of GMV or sale price charged to consumers at Rs 1,320.6 crore, up from Rs 511.4 crore a year before. 
 With this, Jabong's topline has outperformed those of brick-andmortar fashion retailers such as Zara, Levi's and <keyword id="113593" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Marks-Spencer">Marks &amp; Spencer</keyword>, which have been in business in India for five to 10 years and clock around Rs 400-600 crore in annual revenue. The company noticed a rise in its sale, tahnks to host of factors including new brand launches and innovation in last-mile delivery. Its cash position, however, depleted from Rs 85 crore in 2013 to Rs 29 crore last year.

​Jabong is losing 55 paisa to gain Re 1. It’s burning a hole in its pockets

With more than 200 <keyword id="22508" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="online">online</keyword> stores participating in <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> Online <keyword id="6368952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="shopping">Shopping</keyword> Festival (GOSF.in) people are flocking to buy their favourite items. There are some super <keyword id="6391790" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="deals">deals</keyword> running right now through various online outlets. <keyword id="1970786" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Coupondunia">Coupondunia</keyword>.in is one of the participating stores and according to its CEO Sameer Parwani, electronics and fashion are the top two categories that are doing really well. 
 He adds that there are some great deals running through various stores such as <keyword id="6388367" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jabong">Jabong</keyword>.com and <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>.com where consumers can get as much as Rs 6,000 off on high-end mobiles and 40% discount on clothing. There are more deals coming, which will run through the next three days and many of them can be seen on <a href="http://gosf.coupondunia.in" onclick="window.open(this.href, '', 'resizable=no,status=no,location=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no,fullscreen=no,scrollbars=no,dependent=no'); return false;">gosf.coupondunia.in</a>. 
 This is an excellent initiative by <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword> who are enhancing online sales and encouraging new users from the country to make an online purchase. Thousands of buyers are constantly looking at the participating web-stores for the best deal possible. Ravi S.R, a student of <keyword id="6360099" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Delhi-University">Delhi University</keyword> says he has been browsing through various participating websites since morning, but has not made any purchase. He is waiting for some more deals to emerge and then will press the buy button. 
 There are numerous people following the same methodology and are looking for the perfect deal. There are talks about prices getting lower and lower as the hours go by. However, there are some deals that will stay on only till <keyword id="6354298" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="stocks">stocks</keyword> last. So you might want to make a purchase straight away.

Planning To Make A Purchase? GOSF Goes Live, Electronics And
Fashion Doing Well Says Coupondunia

Mobile brands have recently achieved huge success with online only retailing in India. There are a host of other products that seem interested in trying this exclusive online only distribution road. The question is can this model get similar success in product categories other than mobile?

	Worked for mobiles, inspiring other Motorola’s second innings in India has been a huge success and a significant credit for this goes to its exclusive online only retailing strategy. The company has launched three models in the last six months Moto G, Moto X and Moto E, all exclusively on <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and no offline retailing. The brand is quite a hit among Indian consumers, so much so that it has dethroned Nokia from its number fourth position in the smartphone category in the country in the second quarter of this year (which April to June, 2014). Motorola shipped 955,650 smartphones as compared to Nokia that shipped 633,720 units of smartphones.

	China-based Xiaomi is another success as a result of exclusive <keyword id="681947" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="online-retailing">online retailing</keyword>. Inspired by this, products from other categories too are exploring exclusive online retailing. From apparels, video games, home appliances, even jewelleries, a whole new set of product categories are exploring this option.<o:p></o:p>

	Categories jumping the online only brandwagon 
	Global giant Amazon, which entered the Indian market last year has bagged exclusive rights to sell Microsoft’s Xbox gaming consoles. This includes the entire range of its Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB) portfolio including Xbox One, Xbox 360, Kinect, Xbox Live, Xbox Accessories and all Microsoft-published Xbox game titles. Commenting on this, Chakrapani Gollapali, Country General Manager - Consumer Channels Group, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd said in a press statement, “We believe this collaboration with Amazon gives us the platform to build scale at an unprecedented level for the gaming and entertainment category in India. This is the first time that we will be focusing on retailing our products through an ‘online only’ channel and we look forward to bringing the world’s most-loved gaming portfolio to Indian consumers through India’s largest and fastest growing online store Amazon.in."

	This is quite a significant step as Microsoft currently sells its Xbox 360 portfolio through offline retail channels. The company has said it will support the existing retail channels till 30th of August, 2014 and after that all Xbox sales will be exclusively through Amazon.in.

	Home appliances is another category which is exploring online only model. Whirlpool has made an exclusive deal with Amazon for its KitchenAid brand. Philips too is partnering with the online retailer for selling a lighting range.

	Even, jewellery brands are exploring exclusive online tie-ups. Online retailer Snapdeal has inked a deal with Satyug Gold for a designer jewellery collection range designed by popular actress Shilpa Shetty. Though, Satyug Gold will later launch this collection in its offline stores too.

	International apparel brands like Dorothy Perkins and Stanley Kane started this online only retail model by tying up with <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword>.com and Jabong.com. Lingerie online retailer Zivame, too, has some international brands which are selling in India exclusively through it.

	Saving on the infrastructure cost 
	One of the biggest advantages that is driving various products and brands to opt for online only distribution strategy is the big saving in terms of money, time, and resources that otherwise goes in building and nurturing a physical infrastructure.

	Moreover, with no middlemen involved, the online supply chain becomes much more efficient in terms of costs as well as time. This gives the brands to pass on part of the cost benefits to the consumer, creating a win-win situation.

	Not relevant for mass products 
	The recent success of Motorola and Xiomi has indicated that this online-only distribution can work for some product categories. Products which have a strong appeal among a specific set of customers have a better chance to succeed with an online-only model like smartphones or gaming consoles.

	In contrast, mass products like appliances may not have good chance with online-only retail for the sheer reason of the limited reach of Internet in the country, with 12% penetration.

	Mix of online-offline 
	For mass products, a mix of online and offline distribution model will be the best, considering the reach factor. The online will help manage costs, while offline will ensure the product reaches to every nook and cranny of the country.

	Challenge of touch, feel and trust 
	While the Indian consumers have slowly started to bring down their apprehensions against online purchases, the challenge is not gone completely, especially for certain categories. The problem of touch and feel remains a big deterrent for online buyers especially for products like clothes, jewellery, appliances, etc. Establishing the trust factor with consumers is another challenge, especially in tier 2 towns. That is where the challenge will lie for the online only retail model in the times to come, apart from the challenge of low Internet penetration.

Exclusive Online Retailing In India: Will It Work Beyond Technology Products?

“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

MUMBAI: Flush with funds and hungry for growth, a bunch of startups is gearing up to stake claim on talent at India’s top campuses. 
 
As placements unfold over the next few months at the IITs, IIMs and other institutes, these startups look on track to give traditional heavyweights a run for their money in the battle for talent. 
 
Ten startups that ET spoke to are collectively looking to hire more than 850 graduates across leading business schools, engineering colleges and graduate schools this fiscal. 
 From established names such as <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, TaxiForSure and <keyword id="1006428" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Olacabs">Olacabs</keyword> to campus newbies like Vizury and <keyword id="2463175" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="CodeNation">CodeNation</keyword>, almost all are hiring in greater numbers than before, armed with attractive pay packages and the promise of greater responsibilities and faster growth for potential hires. 
 
Barely six months after being registered as a company, enterprise software developer CodeNation is already one of the most coveted recruiters at engineering campuses such as National Institutes of Technology (NITs), offering salaries of Rs 24 lakh. One of the last to go to the campuses last season, it hired 12 engineering graduates in March 2014. 
 
This time, it plans to net the best early on from the IITs, NITs, IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology), DTU (Delhi Technological University) and PESIT (PES Institute of Technology). "We went to campuses very late (last time), but do not want to do the same this time. We plan to hire 50 students from the best colleges," said Anuja Sivaram, head of operations at CodeNation. 
 Another relatively new name is Bangalore-based big data analytics startup Vizury. Last year, it went to two <keyword id="2470783" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="BITS-Pilani-University">BITS Pilani University</keyword> campuses with seven offers. The startup, which in June saw a third round of <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> totaling $16 million from new and existing investors, is planning to recruit more this year. "We plan to hire 25-30 engineers from IITs, BITS Pilani University, NITs and IIIT campuses for our product engineering team. Students will be working on cuttingedge analytics and advertising technology platforms," said Subra Krishnan, vice-president in charge of products. 
 
Taxi-service startup Olacabs, fresh after raising Rs 250 crore last month, is on an expansion mode. 
 
To drive its growth plans, the company is in the market for 100 new hires from IITs and IIMs, compared with 40 it recruited last year, said co-founder and Chief Executive Bhavish Aggarwal. 
 
Rival TaxiForSure, on its part, is heading to engineering campuses for the first time this year. Until now the company hired engineers laterally. "We will head to IIT-Madras and IIT-Bombay for the first time. Now we have five engineering managers who can train the new recruits and therefore there is sufficient leadership to hire from engineering campuses," said human resources head TN Hari. 
 While it hasn’t decided on the number of engineering students to be recruited, the startup will hire 25 from IIMs in Bangalore, <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword>, Ahmedabad and Lucknow as well as the <keyword id="6357275" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-School-of-Business">Indian School of Business</keyword>. 
 Online retailer Flipkart, last year’s biggest <keyword id="41007" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="recruiter">recruiter</keyword> in the startup space, declined to share numbers for this year but is expected to at least match last year’s hiring tally. 
The Bangalore-based company, which made an entry into the ET Top Recruiters at B-schools survey for the first time this year, hired more than 275 students from across campuses, including 90 management trainees, 115 graduate trainees and 70 software development engineers last season. 
 
<div style="page-break-after: always;">
	&#xa0;</div>
 
What helps these startups attract talent other than strong hiring numbers is a vibrant work environment, and salaries that are as competitive as many established organisations. TaxiForSure, for instance, will be offering packages ofRs 8-10 lakh at IITs. At IIMs, salaries will range between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, compared with Rs 12-18 lakh last year. 
 Mobile marketing and communications startup <keyword id="416397" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZipDial">ZipDial</keyword>, which intends to hire around 20 students this year, says while its fixed salaries may be slightly lower than market rates, top performers stand to make much more in terms of variable bonuses and employee equity grants. LimeRoad.com, which operates an online shopping platform for women, will offer employee stock option programmes. 
 Restaurant-guide startup <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> is offering around Rs 15 lakh a year while property listings portal <keyword id="1960231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> will be shelling out anywhere between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 18 lakh. 
 Mumbai-based Housing.com, which raised Rs 115 crore in a new round of funding in June, was in fact, a <keyword id="2470782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="first-day-recruiter">first-day recruiter</keyword> at <keyword id="2470784" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="IITKharagpur">IITKharagpur</keyword> placement rounds last December, sharing space with the likes of <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> and <keyword id="43340" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oracle">Oracle</keyword>. 
 
This year, as well, several startups are likely to be among the first and second day recruiters at prestigious campuses, a privilege usually reserved for big-ticket recruiters. 
 
"The culture of entrepreneurship that startups provide, the growth opportunities and the challenging work environment are all very attractive to a number of students," said Punj Rajan, a student placement committee member at IIT-Kharagpur. "They actually want several startups to be among the companies slotted in the first few days of placements." Rajan had interned with Jabong.com during summer. Even B-schools are ready to make extra efforts to attract more startups. 
 
IIM-Bangalore last year organised a separate day for startups to come and hire from the executive MBA batch. "Startups often offer senior positions and if they need more time and rounds, we are ready to stretch for them. In the near future, we may have separate startup fairs for our flagship PGP batch too," said Sapna Agarwal, head of career development services at IIM-Bangalore. 
 
Not surprisingly, Advitiya Sharma, co-founder of Housing.com, says he has been flooded by invitations from top colleges. His plans are not firmed up as yet, but he intends to hire around 25 people from IITs and a similar number from IIMs across software, analytics, operations and tech roles. 
 
Another startup, Wooqer, has already made three pre-placement offers at Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur. It plans to hire 25 students across IITs and a couple of NITs, and intends to reach out to IIM-Indore, IIM-Bangalore, SP Jain Institute of Management &amp; Research and NMIMS soon. 
 
Salaries will range from Rs 13 lakh toRs 17 lakh. Other institutes including graduate and design schools are also being targeted by these startups. 
 
Upasana Nath, chief recruitment officer at Zomato, said besides the 40 students it will be hiring from engineering colleges like the IITs and senior leadership profiles from IIMs and ISB, it will be taking on board 200 for front line sales and content operations from graduate colleges in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Suchi Mukherjee, CEO &amp; co-founder of LimeRoad.com, said the startup intends to get 30-50 people from campuses alone. IITs in Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai and Chennai will be the focus for technology and IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata for product managers, marketing and category managers.

Indian Startups Compete With Bigger Firms For Campus Recruits

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.

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You Searched For "jabongcom" and got 12 results

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