Blog Post_Ayush Tibrewal_12DCP-025

Today, whatever can be sold has started getting sold and bought on the internet – courtesy – the fear of being left behind, of the world passing you by. From apparels and accessories to books, electronics, automobiles, jewellery; in fact employment, healthcare, education, travel, financial and matrimonial services are also available online. Yatra, Makemytrip, have driven us away from the days of actually going to the travel agent's office to get tickets booked at their own exacting prices; and there is no need any more to refer to directories or address books thicker than our telephones themselves! – Justdial!

The megastar, Amazon has decided to taste eastern waters and soon enough the Indian skies will be glittering with this glorious tech-brand name. (The third impending Indian E-Business Revolution?) It is starting operations in India and it's already rumoured to have been ramping up staff and setting up fulfilment centres. As a major partner with a probable 51% stake in retail, it can pump in money, build more warehouses and undercut every online retailer in prices. But the potential for value addition is minimal on fronts of payment options - cash on delivery (one of the reasons for the second boom of e-business in India), supply chain, and discount options; as Flipkart and the other Indian sites have optimized it all.

The Indian synonym, naming it directly – Flipkart - the de facto standard for e-commerce in India has upped the ante and seems to be making all the right moves. From the humble beginning of selling just books, Flipkart has transformed into an e-commerce powerhouse selling anything from fountain pens to expensive Samsung Galaxy S3 phones (We are clear on the exclusion of automobiles and groceries). Its mega funding, addition of a new category almost every couple of months in 2011, and buying itself a gift – letsbuy.com - have led to more than a few quite rightly opining that this was to counter the Amazonian threat.

The go-ahead for a face-off between the two has been sanctioned – some intense competition awaits our keen eyes. Over a period of time, what Flipkart can offer, Amazon can offer too. But can Flipkart offer what Amazon can offer? I'm talking about e-books and the Kindle. Amazon has a potent weapon in its massive digital book collection, which is closing in on the 1 million mark. If Amazon offers books at Indian prices, then it might just have the whole industry to itself. It is only the pricing strategy that Amazon must re-think, if it wants to make a dent in the e-commerce market of India.

Regards,

Ayush Tibrewal

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