The online giant has declared the country to be the way ahead in the internet shopping ecosystem
One of the biggest online shopping companies in the world, eBay, may not yet be known as a leader in the Indian internet marketplace, but it intends to make its place through the use of mobile commerce.
The company feels it may have an advantage over local players within the smartphone marketplace.
According to eBay, it feels secure in its mobile commerce foundation and this will help to bring increased business through its platform in India. Marketing director, Alok Agarwal, and eBay India e-commerce evangelist, Deepa Thomas have both shared this opinion. They have shared their opinions about the road forward for eBay within the country.
At the moment eBay India has a large online marketplace position with more than 5 million users.
These users are from 4,306 different Indian cities. Comparatively, Facebook has 2.2 million users in India. The company has revealed that it feels that it has been a pioneer in the online marketplace and now intends to do the same for mobile commerce in India. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) has said that the online shopping industry in the country is worth approximately $800 million and that this figure is growing at a rate of 70 percent. That said, according to the company, eBay India is growing at a rate that is faster than that of the online market as a whole.
According to Agarwal, they are currently welcoming competition in the country, as it will help the mobile commerce ecosystem to expand and thrive. That said, they feel that they are true online marketplace innovators, which will help to keep eBay differentiated from the rest in a number of directions.
The latest reports from the company have said that it boasts more than 2,000 selling categories with more than 30,000 sellers. An interview with Agarwal revealed that the company feels that as mobile commerce continues to grow in the country, eBay’s growth will only accelerate, as they have already established themselves thoroughly in the smartphone and tablet channels.
eBay overcoming Amazon in the field of mobile commerce in BRIC countires
eBay has beaten Amazon in the race to expand e-commerce in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries. Last week, eBay announced that it expects to see no less than 12% of its sales come from these countries by 2015. In order to achieve this goal, the retailer has been investing more heavily in e-commerce in these countries, with a strong focus on mobile commerce in particular. eBay anticipates that the global e-commerce market will be worth more than $300 billion by 2015, and the company is eager to beat out its only major competitor, Amazon, in order to establish dominance in the changing world of commerce.
eBay invests in Snapdeal
eBay has announced that it has completed Series C investment in Snapdeal, a leading online retailer based in India. Snapdeal boasts of more than 20 million users who regularly purchase products on a platform that is somewhat similar to eBay. Snapdeal has found some success in the field of mobile commerce, tapping into the growing population of India that has access to smartphones and tablets. The success the company has seen in the mobile commerce field has attracted the attention of eBay, which has invested $50 million into Snapdeal.
Snapdeal expects to see a strong sales year
By investing into Snapdeal, eBay is moving further into the Indian market. The company already has its own division devoted to the country, eBay India, but this only boasts of 5 million users, much less than those that make use of Snapdeal. Moreover, more consumers are beginning to favor mobile commerce over traditional forms of commerce. Snapdeal is more accommodating of purchases being made bring a mobile device than eBay India is, which leads more consumers to the former rather than the latter. With 20 million users and a strong focus on mobile commerce, Snapdeal is expected to generate more than $400 million in sales this year.
Amazon finds some progress in Brazil and elsewhere
Amazon has been working to establish a stronger presence in BRIC countries but has been met with several challenges along the way. While none of these challenges are expected to topple Amazon’s efforts, eBay was able to overcome the challenges it faced more quickly than its competitor. Nonetheless, Amazon is rapidly establishing a foothold in Brazil in much the same way that eBay is establishing its presence in India.
