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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

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

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

<ul><li>In its recent earnings report, Reliance said that <keyword id="3421090" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ajio">AJIO</keyword> has scaled new highs with 4x growth in orders from pre-COVID levels.</li><li>AJIO’s latest numbers show that it’s levelling up to Myntra while moving fast ahead of other competitors like Tata Cliq, Snapdeal and Koovs.</li><li>However, Flipkart and Myntra continue to hold 60% market share in online fashion retail, according to a Bank of America report.</li><li>Currently, fashion and lifestyle account for just 9% of the total retail sales of Reliance.</li></ul>In April 2016, at the Lakme Fashion Week, <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>’s Reliance announced its big foray into fashion e-commerce with AJIO.com. The segment that has been crowded by the likes of Flipkart, Myntra (along with Jabong back then), Amazon, and others, left little room for AJIO to outshine the others. But the rise of e-commerce, especially as it spreads into rural India has brought about changes in the fashion e-commerce landscape. AJIO, which up until a year ago, wasn’t even counted among the frontrunners is scripting a story of resurgence now. AJIO’s fast-tracked growth “AJIO scaled new highs with 4x growth in orders from pre-COVID levels. Its quarterly revenue run rate is now equivalent to full last year’s revenue,” said Reliance during its earnings results on October 30. AJIO’s latest numbers show that it’s levelling up to Myntra while moving fast ahead of other competitors like Tata Cliq, Snapdeal and Koovs. While AJIO’s website visits are higher than Myntra, it lags behind in app downloads and users. <div type="image" title="Group 2" msid="78997632" hostid="261"></div> <div type="image" title="Group 2 copy" msid="78997646" hostid="261"></div> AJIO’s growth can be seen during lockdown when it began to see a spike in the number of app downloads. <div type="image" title="ajio vs myntra downloads" msid="78996631" hostid="261"></div> What’s working for AJIO Reliance is aggressively pushing ahead with its retail and e-commerce ambitions, and fashion e-commerce is set to play a substantial role. Currently, fashion and lifestyle account for just 9% of the total retail sales of Reliance. Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe that within e-commerce, RIL’s online GMV will reach $35 billion in FY25E with a 31% market share. And for that, Reliance is focusing on grocery and apparel segments with JioMart and AJIO. “RIL’s retail business outperformed peers last quarter and we expect this trend to continue given its omni channel offering driving market share wins,” said the Goldman Sachs report specifically pointing out the download trends of both JioMart and AJIO. <div type="image" title="reliance revenue chart." msid="78996641" hostid="261"></div> For AJIO’s growth, Reliance has opted for the omnichannel approach where the e-commerce site is riding on the inventory of Reliance Trends. “AJIO helps strengthen RIL’s O2O (offline-to-online) capabilities through in-store couponing, aisle kiosks. It does direct deliveries from 350 Trends and 70 Trends Footwear stores,” said the report by Bank of America. The platform has also enabled facilities like ‘Drop at Store with Cash Refund’ and ‘Pick at Store’ while also integrating the endless aisle kiosks where customers can even browse and order products that aren’t currently available in the store. With the deep pockets of Reliance, AJIO has also been able to offer great discounts while also making way for exclusive marketing strategies like the ‘Sneakerhood sale’ on AJIO. The platform has also focused on bringing on board luxury brands. “It offers over 2,50,000 styles of curated collections across its own brand and 1,400+ national and international brands,” said Reliance’s annual report. Resurgence in Indian e-commerce Indian e-commerce has seen multiple stories of resurgence with a focussed approach with the most popular one being that of Snapdeal, which has bounced back and how, to be India’s third largest e-commerce platform while also solidifying its presence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. However, when it comes to the fashion category, AJIO’s growth will still see hurdles especially as it faces tough competition from the bigwigs like Flipkart and Myntra. “While AJIO is gaining traction, we believe competition is stiff in the online fashion market with Flipkart’s Myntra/Jabong controlling 60%+ of the market,” believe analysts at Bank of America. But the potential remains immense – According to McKinsey’s State of Fashion 2020 report, the Indian clothing market will be worth $53.7 billion in 2020, making it the sixth largest globally. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/reliance-stock-tanks-over-7-post-earnings-to-lowest-in-3-months-heres-what-brokerages-are-saying/articleshow/78996203.cms">Reliance stock tanks over 7% post earnings to lowest in 3 months — here's what brokerages are saying</a>

Reliance-backed AJIO is riding the Indian e-commerce wave — poses tough competition to Myntra

<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

<ul><li><keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword> has launched the Alterations feature where users can opt for while ordering clothes online. </li><li>The <keyword id="6" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="fashion">fashion</keyword> portal has tied up with 200 tailors so far, who are located in zones that have a large number of Myntra customers.</li><li>According to a Redseer report, during the latest festive season, the fashion category grew by over 50% as shoppers from Tier-2 cities spent more on the category. </li></ul>Indians love to order clothes online – they are affordable, offer a lot more variety, and all is well except for the ‘size’ issue. Consumers who regularly shop online often complain of the outfit which comes in the wrong size-- rendering it useless. In most cases, it results in a huge number of returns. Now, Flipkart-owned Myntra has decided to cash in on that problem with an ‘alterations’ feature. Myntra now has a service where a user can also opt for the service where a verified tailor will come pick up the outfit from their home for alteration. “Launching alteration services on Myntra replicates a key offline phenomenon that further bridges the gap between online and offline shopping experiences for customers. It is aimed at making <keyword id="6357762" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-shopping">online shopping</keyword> more convenient while reducing returns due to size and fit issues,” said Amar Nagaram, head of Myntra Jabong. The fashion portal tied up with 200 tailors so far, who are located in zones that have a large number of Myntra customers. “We introduced this service in 4 cities ahead of our End of Reason Sale and will extend this to 80% of our customer base over the next one year,” said Nagaram. Myntra also hopes that through this initiative, it can help tailors earn extra income. With fashion shopping remaining a crucial part of e-retail, innovation in the same will also help Myntra reach out to more users from Tier 2 and 3 cities and beyond. According to a Redseer report, the fashion category grew by over 50% as shoppers during the latest festive season. Users from Tier-2 cities spent more on the category. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-amazon-snapdeal-count-india-tier-2-and-3-cities-as-their-big-consumers/articleshow/71403595.cms">India’s smaller cities are the real dealmakers for all festive e-commerce sales</a>

Wary of ordering clothes online? Fashion portal Myntra now offers alteration services too

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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