RESEARCH REPORT

ON

THE GROWTH OF E-COMMERCE IN INDIA

&

OPERATION AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

OF AMAZON
TABLE OF CONTENT
 Introduction to e-commerce in India
 Market size
 Investments/development
 Government initiatives
 The growth story of e-commerce in India
 Top 10 e-commerce sites as per ASSCHOM

Chapter -1

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3
Introduction of E-commerce in India
Starting slowly in 1995–96, e‐commerce in India is poised for rapid growth in the years
ahead with increasing internet penetration and availability of budget smart phones. Early e‐
commerce entrepreneurs in India used the internet as an effective medium for facilitating
matrimonial alliances, travel‐related transactions and recruitment process. In recent years,
owing to robust growth in e‐commerce business, customers are experiencing
“empowerment” in marketing. That is, the market players not only offer high‐end products
at competitive prices, but also compete among themselves to satisfy customer needs
through assured and timely home delivery of products (with guarantee) as well as return of
goods (after delivery) at no cost to customers. Building client trust through a secured online
payment system using high‐speed internet has also helped drive up sale of goods and supply
of services, both tangible and intangible. Access to technology, foolproof system of logistics,
and big investments are required to put such arrangements in place. However, on account
of increasing customer demand for discounts laced with best services, profit margins would
be minimal. Therefore, only the high‐ ticketed players who have access to capital,
technology and the means to develop or hire adequate infrastructure would sustain.
Further, growth in e‐commerce industry attracts mergers and acquisitions, which is already
in sight and may accentuate. Merger and acquisition as a strategic choice for maintaining
competitive advantage will help expand the horizons of e‐ commerce and bring structural
changes in the economy. The existing laws, through constant evolution, are trying to cope
with legal, tax, competition and other regulatory issues; all the same, these issues will keep
coming to the fore until acceptable new understandings within national and international
jurisdictions emerge.

EC is not just about buying and selling; it is about electronically communicating,

collaborating and discovering information. Internet was introduced in India in 1995 and the
first wave of e‐commerce started soon thereafter.

While the growth potential of e‐commerce in India is tremendous, there is intense

competition in the market because the increasing access to information allows consumers
to find the most competitive price for a product/service, thereby increasing the satisfaction
level.

The activities surrounding e‐commerce would have a spill‐over to infrastructure and

logistics, which will be towards warehousing, sortation and delivery contents. This will
create 75000 additional jobs during the period 2017–20, over and above the existing level of
around 25000.

E‐commerce has narrowed down the role of intermediaries between buyers and sellers to
the mutual benefit of both parties. Internet technology lowers transaction costs.

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Market size
Currently, only 17% Indians use internet compared to 50% in Brazil, 66% in Russia and 40%
in China and percentages shopping online are 9%, 31%, 45% and 47% respectively. The size
of the Indian e‐commerce market is $1.88 billion compared to $13 billion (Brazil), $16 billion
(Russia) and $106 billion (China) and the average expenditure by an individual in these
countries is $93, $421, $533 and $380 respectively.

The ongoing digital transformation in the country is expected to increase India’s total
internet user base to 829 million by 2021 from 604.21 million as of December 2018. India’s
internet economy is expected to double from US$125 billion as of April 2017 to US$ 250
billion by 2020, majorly backed by ecommerce. India’s E-commerce revenue is expected to
jump from US$ 39 billion in 2017 to US$ 120 billion in 2020, growing at an annual rate of 51
per cent, the highest in the world.

The Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow to US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$
38.5 billion in 2017 Online retail sales in India are expected to grow by 31 per cent to touch
US$ 32.70 billion in 2018, led by Flipkart, Amazon India and Paytm Mall.
During 2018, electronics was currently the biggest contributor to online retail sales in India
with a share of 48 per cent, followed closely by apparel at 29 per cent.

Online travel agents account for the largest market share (70%) in the internet consumer
market, while the remaining (30%) is occupied by horizontal e-tailing, fashion, grocery,
hotel, food, tech, cab and alternative lending among others.

The internet industry in India is likely to reach 829 million by 2021, growing to 7.5 percent of
gross domestic product (GDP), with the number of internet users growing to about 650
million and that of high speed internet users reaching 550 million. About 70 percent of the
total automobile sales in India, worth USD 40billion, are expected to be digitally influenced
by2020 as against USD 18 billion in 2016.

Investments/Developments

Some of the major developments in the Indian e-commerce sector are as follows:-

 Flipkart, after getting acquired by Wal-Mart for US$ 16 billion, is expected to launch
more offline retail stores in India to promote private labels in segments such as
fashion and electronics. In September 2018, Flipkart acquired Israel based analytics
start-up Upstream Commerce that will help the firm to price and position its
products in an efficient way.

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  Paytm has launched its bank - Paytm Payment Bank. Paytm bank is India's first bank
with zero charges on online transactions, no minimum balance requirement and free
virtual debit card.
 Reliance is working on creating the world's largest online-to-offline New Commerce
Platform.
 OYO, Swiggy, Byjus, PayTm Mall, Pine Labs, Zomato, Udaan, Policy Bazaar, Cure Fit have
collectively raised a lion’s share ($4.6b in 2018) of the total investments into this segment.
 Bank Bazaar , a financial marketplace start-up in India, raised USD 30 million in funding
round led by Experian plc, a credit rating agency based in UK, taking the company’s total
funding to USD 110 million.

Trends that are Driving e-Commerce in India

1. Government initiatives

Indians are known for their ‘street smart’ economic mindset that enables them to find
solutions to impregnable challenges despite the constraints. This is the similar ‘innovative
mindset’ which is making Indian entrepreneurs embrace analytics, digitization, and
technology to develop platforms and deliver services and products to the end customer
creating a new online buying behavior.

The Government of India has been active in leveraging and embracing e-Commerce digital
platforms to transform and organize traditional offline markets such as those of agricultural
product. The Government has launched an e-commerce platform to link the farmers with
the vegetable markets of various states to sell the agro commodities. Also, flagship
initiatives such as Start-up India, Digital India, Skill India, and Innovation Fund are
contributing to the growth of the e-commerce industry.

Reserve bank of India (RBI) has decided to allow “ineter-operability” among prepaid
payment instruments (PPIs) such as digital wallets, prepaid cash coupons, etc.

Finance minister Mr. Arun Jaitley has proposed various measures to quicken india’s
transition to a cashless economy, including a ban on cash transactions over Rs. 300,000
(USD 4,285 approximately), tax incentives for creation of a cashless infrastructure,
promoting greater usage of non-cash modes of payments, etc.

2. Increase in the Internet Penetration

The e-commerce industry in India has been growing with the rise in the internet penetration
due to major improvements in the telecom infrastructure. While the 3G and 4G services are
making a way into India along with declining data tariffs, internet data spend is growing

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significantly. Even when India ranks the lowest in Asia in internet speed, the data rates in
India are 3 times cheaper than in the US and 2 times cheaper than in China. Government
schemes such as a National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) can significantly increase the
internet penetration in the rural communities as well as provide a means for e-commerce
companies to tap the huge market potential there.

3. Growth in Smartphone Adoption

Smartphone growth has been massive over the years and is expected to exhibit more
growth in the coming years. The smartphone’s adoption in India is propelled by several
factors such as low prices due to high competition, ease of accessibility to content, and
prevalence of internet enabled services. According to a report, India has the highest share of
globally 41% of mobile based e-commerce sales. Almost 70-75% of the online traffic of e-
commerce sites come from mobile phones, the leading e-commerce companies stated and
thus higher revenues are coming from mobile applications like Flipkart, Amazon, Olx, Quickr,
etc.

4. Evolution of New Payment Solutions

Cash on Delivery (CoD) has been the most popular mode of payment for Indian e-commerce
transactions. Cash transactions result in high administration cost even for the e-commerce
companies. Hence, to address these challenges, new digital payment solutions are evolving.
Further, the Indian government’s initiative has extended banking facilities through the ‘Jan
Dhan Yojana’ scheme which has added over 110 million debit cards thereby providing these
customers access to electronic payments. The electronic wallets have been launched and
also digital payment products from traditional banks for faster transactions to ease the
payment process in e-commerce.

5. Partnerships of Logistics Space with Hyper-local Companies and

India Post

Customers are getting next-day delivery of products. Due to the challenges in terms of
return orders, higher standards of customer service, and handling huge volumes of delivery,
the industry has seen the rise of several third-party logistics service providers that handles
last-mile deliveries. There is an increasing number of partnerships of e-commerce
companies with the third-party logistics service providers in order to reach mainly in tier
two and three cities. Also leading e-commerce players have their own logistics arms for
enhanced customer experience and for greater control on deliveries.

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 6. GST to Enhance the Growth of e-Commerce

GST is expected to enforce a single comprehensive indirect tax regime that will be applicable
across on the supply of goods and services across all states. The implementation of GST is
expected to include the service tax, central excise duty, and additional customs duty at the
central level and CST, VAT, and entry tax at the state level. It will enhance an operational
efficiency of the e-commerce industry in the many ways like the transparency and
simplification of taxes across the borders in India, elimination of the incidence of double-
taxation, and improvement in the efficiency of the supply chain.

The e-commerce is changing the lives of millions, but there are also a number of people who
prefer offline shopping. If e-commerce is to make a huge impact in the coming years then
these trends will definitely affect the business.

7. M-commerce

India has more than 1.2 billion mobile users, of which around 430 million use date services.
This is expected to grow 635 million by end 2021. Growing at a rate of 28 percent annually,
the Indian mCommerce market will more than double over the next four years and is set to
be worth USD 54.0bn in 2022.

By 2022, the largest mCommerce markets in the world are forecasted to be China
(USD1.18tn), US (USD0.36tn), UK (USD115.3bn), France (USD62.3bn) and India (USD54bn)

8. FDI in E-commerce sector

Presently the Indian government has allowed 100 per cent FDI in B2B e-commerce, while
B2C was prohibited before 2018. Department of industrial policy and promotion has started
consultations with stakeholders on allowing FDI in retail e-commerce before the end of
2018. After august 2018, the government has allowed FDI not more than 49%, And the
company will be controlled by Indian management.

The growth story of E-commerce in India

The Indian e-commerce market offers services in B2B, B2C and C2C segments with most of
the players operating in the B2C segment. Started in India in the year with the introduction
of B2B portals in 1996, now e-commerce is all set to become one of the successful medium
for business transactions.

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Between 2000 to 2005: The first wave of E-commerce in India was characterized by a small
online shopping user base, low internet penetration, slow internet speed, low consumer
acceptance of online shopping and inadequate logistics infrastructure. Therefore, the IT
downturn in 2000 led to the collapse of more than 1,000 E-commerce businesses in India.
Following this, there was muted activity in the space in between 2000 to 2005

Between 2005 to 2010: There were basically two major transitions that took place that
aided in the build of E-commerce story in India. They were:

1. Online travel bookings: The entry of low cost carriers in the Indian aviation sector in
2005 marked the beginning of the second wave of E-commerce in India. The decision
of LCCs to sell their tickets online and through third parties enabled the development
of online travel agents. They developed their own websites and collaborated with
OTAs to distribute their tickets online. The Indian railways had already implemented
the e-ticket booking initiative by the time LCCs started their online ticket booking
schemes.

2. Online retail: the growth of online retail was partly driven by changing urban
consumer lifestyle and the need for the convenience of shopping at home. This
segment developed in the second wave 2007 with the launch of multiple online
retail websites. Entrepreneurs who looked to differentiate themselves by enhancing
customer experiences and establishing a strong presence drove new businesses.

2010 onwards:

Group buying: starting in 2010, the group buying and daily deals models became a sought
after space for entrepreneurs in India, emulating the global trend. Group buying sites have
seen a significant rise in the number of unique visitors and membership.

Social commerce: it is a key avenue for E-commerce players to reach out to target
customers. Companies have started establishing their presence in the social media space for
branding activities, connecting with customers for feedback and advertising new product
launches.

Present scenario: india’s E-commerce grew at a staggering 88 percent in 2013 to USD16

billion. This will also be driven by the growth of e-commerce market from USD 24 billion in
2017 to USD 84 billion in 2021. The retail market in India is expected to grow to USD 1.2
trillion by 2021 from USD 795 billion in 2017, riding on booming online retail trends and

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defying slower economic growth and spiraling inflation, according to a survey by industry
body ASSCHOM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India).

SWOT analysis of E-commerce industry

Most of the time, we see that the use of electronic techniques for doing business add value
either by reducing transaction cost or by creating some type of network effect or by a
combination of both. In SWOT analysis (the acronym is short for strengths, weakness,
opportunities and threats). Here we try to find out the strengths and weakness of Indian
business environment. Then we try to identify the opportunities presented by that
environment and the threats posed by that environment.

Strengths

 Global market: E-commerce biggest strength is the boundary less access in other
word no brick structure is mandatory to do business or no specific boundary is
required. It enables all the companies to expand them to global level. The widening
of geographic retail markets may facilitate the development of global retailers.

 Time saving: Transaction through internet is no doubt very fast. It saves time by
reducing physical movement.

 No time constraints: The concept of 25X7 shows that online trans can be used any
where any time as there is no time constraints.

 Price/Product comparison: Information and to choose are some of the right which
every consumer has. On the same footing e-commerce provide platform to
consumers to compare price and product effectively and efficiently. It will tend to
have far greater bargaining effectively and efficiently. It will tend to have far greater
bargaining power with suppliers than traditional local or national retailers.

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  Cost effective: Elimination of long chain of middle man, decreasing need of having
brick infrastructure and outsource logistic are helping a small business to stand at
par with giants.

 Flexible target market segmentation: The success of business depends on right

choice of segmentation. Target market segment here in e-commerce is flexible can
be modified any time.

 Faster buying procedure: The buying is just a click away from the seller. No physical
movement is required, no hunting of right product at right price is to be done by the
consumer this make the buying process faster.

 Niche Market: It is a concept of sub segmentation where the products of rare

species are available without putting some special efforts by consumer. Almost
everything can be sold on internet.

Weakness

 Security: Security is a biggest challenge in to progress of e commerce. Customers

always found themselves insecure especially about the integrity of the payment
process.

 Fake websites: Many fake websites are available on internet which promises better
service and secure dealing. These web sites can not only disgrace e-commerce but
also bring bad name to ecommerce.

 Fraud: Personal and financial details provided for trading purpose are misused by
hackers their personal undue interest.

 Fewer discounts and bargaining: Hardly online businesses offer discounts and
bargaining cannot be possible.

 Long delivery timing: The task of Delivery is usually outsourced, who do not care
about the timing of the seller. They provide their services as per their own
convenience. Some time the delivery time may extend to days or weeks which one
cannot wait for.

 Impossibility of physical examination: Products whose choice is merely depend on

its physical condition of the product with need personal touch before selection are
not suitable for e-commerce business. As Online products cannot be touched, wear
or sit on the products.

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  Limitation of products: Only a limited number of products can be available.

 Lack of personal services: Physical products can be available but lack in personal
services which are intangible.

 Limited exposure: In developing areas where internet is not accessible will have no
or little exposure to the products.

 Limited advertising: Limited advertising opportunities are available because in e

commerce one cannot go for mass advertising. The advertising is limited only to
computer literate person. And out of them only those who are comfortable with e-
commerce applications.

 Customer’s satisfaction: There is no physical and personal or direct face to face

interaction between customer and the seller. Therefore the scope of convincing the
customer does not exist.

Opportunities

 Changing trends: People are very brand conscious. They are interested in buying
branded stuff rater then local. If such stuff is available cross border they will not
mind it ordering through e-commerce. E- Commerce is fast and effective even
financial transactions can be made from any part of the world. People of tomorrow
will feel more comfortable to buy products through internet only.

 Increasing number of user: Daily number of internet users is increasing. People feel
more comfortable to shop online.

 Regular Global expansion: E commerce can be operated any where any time
without any interruption. It always has a scope of expansion. All new population and
existing population who is not the user of e commerce are the target expansion.

 High availability (24 hour and seven days a week): Along with each and every click
of the mouse business is in operation. Those who are busy in day time and cannot
spare time for them self, have all the opportunity to shop as per their convenient
time even during late night hours.

 Wide business growth: E business has wide scope and broader vision to grow.
Business always took place in gap. Gap filling is a never ending process hence the
growth of business is also never ending process.

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  Advertising: Advertising is cost effective as compare to conventional offline system.

Threats

 Competitors: Along with local competition, global competition also exists.

Competition is increasing day by day. Big companies have already entered in this
field. They are making people habitual at the cost of their companies.

 Changes in environment, law and regulations: Change in trends, fashion and fad can
distress E Commerce side by side change in law and regulations can also affect it.

 Innovation: Customers now a days are always in a search of innovative products and
technique. Innovation will always work as an extra burden on the pocket of
consumer, be either in product, place, promotion and even price.

 Privacy concerns: Fears that information can be misused lead to spam e mail or
identity fraud.

 No direct interaction: In e-commerce there isn’t any direct interaction between

customers and the sellers. There is no scope of bargaining. People prefer to buy
physically as compare to online to experience personal feel.

 Fraud: Persons using unfair means to operate ecommerce can damage the
confidence and faith of common people.

 Risk: Nature of fraud

Growth in human resource of the e-commerce industry:

Hiring in Indian e-commerce market is posed for an explosive growth. As per research
accomplished by various HR consultancy firms, it has been revealed that more than 100,000
jobs would be generated in next few years by Indian E-commerce players. As per a research
done by HR consultancy firm Randstad India, it has been found that hiring by E-commerce
players will increase by 20-30% in next several years as a new domestic startups will enter
the market along with the entry of big players such as Amazon which is increasingly trying to
gain foothold in this emerging market. Additionally, there are several other MNC’s active in
this market which wants to establish back office and technical support in India.

Another HR firm unison international said that although hiring in E-commerce sector had
been slow in last couple years, it will increase to more than 30% as various established
brands in different sector are increasing their business.

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 At the point when a business first chooses to actualize e-business methodologies and
operations, it regularly utilizes the personnel it has for doing so. However, as the strategy
increases in magnitude, the organization will need to change in order to create a more
efficient and productive organizational restructuring for maximum desired results. In doing
as such, the human resource for the organization can turn out to be critically imperative to
achievement. The quantity of required experts expected to cooperate with a specific result
to expand capability turns into a great test.

Using the learning of SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) to help train other representatives is an
incredible approach to augment assets and expand aptitudes limit through broadly
educating endeavors. For eg., the snapdeal academy has trained 2,400 employees over the
last few months in behavioural and functional skills crafted for each level.

Investment in E-commerce and consumer internet sector

sector Funding ($m)

hyperlocal 1,637

Travel and hospitality 1,026

B2C 1,002

EdTech 742

Wallets/ payments 564

B2B 540

Mobility 387

FinRech 348

healthTech 260

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Oline classified and services 236

Social 200

Gaming 104

Logistics Tech 78

Others 229

Total 7,354

OYO, Swiggy, Byjus, PayTm Mall, Pine Labs, Zomato, Udaan, PolicyBazaar, CureFit have
collectively raised a lion’s share ($4.6b in 2018) of the total investments into this segment.
Majority of funding is towards building supply chain; expanding into new segments; global
expansion; acquisition or consolidation; bring innovative product offerings to the market.
The Wal-Mart-Flipkart deal is one of the largest deals in 2018, with the $16 billion
acquisition, big investors have made 60% return on investment and has bolstered potential
of the sector growth indicators. This deal inspires other companies to expand and grow and
has also provides stimulus to new and existing investors who have made significant gains in
this transaction

Other key investments made to help consolidation in the marketplace and / or secondary
transitions are Alibaba’s investment in BigBasket and PayTm, Tencent’s investment in
Dream11, Naspers investment in Byjus and Swiggy, have shown that Indian start-up
ecosystem is thriving and is poised for next level of growth.

1. Hyperlocal
The “near me” concept is catching up with the consumers with more and more large and small
players entering the “hyperlocal” space.

The services delivered through hyperlocal business models have always had a large market, be it
concierge, grocery, food or pharma. Though the sector witnessed a temporary slump in terms of
deal activity as scale became a challenge with the pressure on unit economics, any optimization of
logistics cost would have a direct impact on customer experience.

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The PE/VC (private equity/venture capital) interest in hyperlocal delivery was revived with Google
investment in Dunzo. Companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Grofers, Milkbasket, Dailyninja, etc. were able
to raise funds for expansion. Companies focused on improving unit economics by improving order
densities, frequency of delivery to achieve operating efficiencies and use technology to optimize
operations and improve customer experience.

Key PE/VC deals in the HyperLocal sector during last 2 years

Company Investors Total funding (US$m)

Bundl technologies pvt. Ltd. DST global, naspers, and 1390
(swiggy) others
Zomato.com Alibaba group 210
Locodel sol. Pvt. Ltd. Softbank and tiger global 62
Grofers.com
Dunzo digital pvt. Ltd. Google 30
Faaso’s food services Lightbox ventures, and 21
others
Dailyninja delivery services Saama capital and others 8
Milkbasket Unilever, Mayfield 6

2. Travel and hospitality

Digital transformation of the travel and hospitality sector continues to happen at a fast pace
fueled by the growing number of millennial travelers, which regard experience and
availability of free services like Wi-Fi and online check-in.

The journey of the e-commerce travel and hospitality industry in India began with IRCTC
launching its first transactional website in early 2000s, followed by the airline ticketing
websites and then hotel booking platforms.

Digital revolution has mushroomed travel portals as they cater to bookings of airline, hotel,
car, bus, etc. These portals provide convenience to users and fulfil their requests in a hassle-
free manner. Online travel portals have now become a one-stop shop and a hassle-free
virtual store for customized travel solution.

Key PE/VC deals in Travel & Hospitality space in last 2 years

Company Investors Total funding (USDm)

Oyorooms.com Softbanks and others 1510
Fabhotels Accel and others 25
Yatra online pvt. Ltd. Innoven capital 16

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Le travenues tech. pvt. Fosun kinzon 15
Ltd.
Travel triangle Innoven capital and 25
others
Gofro Makemytrip and others 10
Railyatri Helicon ventures 8
Zolostays Innoven capital 6
Dtwelve spaces Accel and others 10

3. B2C

Number of internet users has grown nearly two times in the last four years as number of
users has crossed 500 million in 2018. This rapid increase in number of internet users
attracted a number of new budding entrepreneurs to set up establishments by flooding the
market with innovative pricing and stocking practices (marketplace vs inventory) while
traditional players (brick and mortar stores) are catching up. Availability of numerous
choices in terms of brands, discount offers, reduced delivery time, personalization, cash on
delivery, digital payment infrastructure and easy returns have been major factors for
development of the B2C E-commerce.

Apart from the back-end operating model, digital B2C players have also focused on breadth
(not depth) of products in an attempt to showcase a large bouquet of products on one
platform like traditional large departmental stores. This model attracted consumers in large
numbers as initial adopters of online buying were consumers who were looking for
discounts/deals on large number of product offerings. This space comprises of Flipkart,
Amazon, Snapdeal and PayTM Mall which control more than 60% of the B2C horizontal sub-
sector.

Reasons like increasing internet penetration and adoption of online shopping, growth in
enabling infrastructure like payment and logistics will continue to drive the growth in this
sector in the future.

Company Investor Total funding (USDm)

Flipkart Softbank 2,500
Paytm Softbank 400
Bigbasket ifc and others 212
Lenskart Premji invest and others 66
Home inerior designs Aisa fund and others 110

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 4. EdTech
Education in India is one of the most aspirational spend categories and integral for growth
and progress of the country. While a lot is said about India’s huge demographic dividend
with one third of the population being less than 20 years, what is equally important in
balance is the shortfall in the number of schools, colleges and universities as the shortage
on the skills development side.

Companies operating in the space have witnessed a slew of developments in the recent
years with each version making progressive improvements in the UI/UX of their interface
using learnings, user behavior and user adoption of new methodologies. The biggest
advantage of this space is that it moves away from the one-size fits all methods of teaching
into a more adaptive learning and personalization and most importantly, the convenience of
whenever, wherever and however the user would like to learn. This has been one of the key
factors in uptake of this technology.

India has the one of the largest school going population and parents are willing to invest in
their child’s educational requirements.

While the biggest investment in 2018 belonged to Byju’s raising US$540m from Naspers,
CIPPIB and General Atlantic making it the first Indian unicorn in the edtech industry, close to
US$100m was raised by competitors such as Toppr, Vedantu, Unacademy and Thinkzone.

5. Payments and wallets

India has traditionally been a cash economy with large levels of cash in circulation,
increasing digital penetration, consistent growth in retail electronic payment systems (like
National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Real Time
Gross Settlement (RTGS), card payments and mobile banking), no-frill bank accounts and
development of payment acceptance infrastructure have resulted in a significant uptick in
digital payment transactions backed by young, tech-savvy population and introduction of
innovative products in the payment space.

The payment acceptance infrastructure has been significantly upgraded with many new
merchants accepting digital payments in both online and offline channels. Recent
technological advancements supported by the government like Unified Payments Interface
(UPI)/BHIM and platforms like Google Pay, Phone Pe, etc. promoted by private players have
further given a boost to digital payments.

As per RBI, payment systems recorded robust growth in 2017-18, with volume and value
growing at 44.6% and 11.9%, respectively. Electronic transactions as a percentage of total
volume of retail payments increased to 92.6% in 2017-18 from 88.9% in 2016-17.

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During 2017-18, the number of transactions carried out through credit cards and debit cards
aggregated to around 4.7 billion. Prepaid payment instruments (including smart cards,
online or mobile wallets and paper vouchers) were used in around 3.5 billion transactions,
valued at INR1,416 billion. Mobile banking services grew in terms of both volume (92%) and
value (13%) with number of registered customers increasing by 54% from 163 million in
March 2017 to 251 million in March 2018. Initiatives such as Jandhan Yojana, Aadhaar,
launch of BHIM app and UPI have largely driven financial inclusion and improved the
payment acceptance infrastructure in India.

While the biggest investment in 2018 belonged to payTM raising US$1,700m from Berkshire
Hathaway and SoftBank, while pine labs pvt. Ltd. Raised US$125m by investor paypal.

6. B2B
While B2C e-commerce has hogged all the headlines, B2B continued to silently scale rapidly.
The potential of B2B is in fact reflective in the B2C only being 3% of the retail spend; and
that too organized retail is only 12%-15% of the total retail spend. It is no surprise then that
B2B is globally 2x of B2C and India is following a similar trajectory.

B2B adds a significant value to the supply chain especially in tier II and tier III cities where
access to products, inventory holdings and pricing is always a challenge. The B2B (2C)
segment is driven by consumer durables (mobile and mobile accessories), apparels, home
furnishings and more recently FMCG products. Industrial supplies and construction
materials are a focused segment where some players have carved a niche for themselves. It
is largely B2B and used for institutional consumption.

Technology has made the supply chain more digital across the entire ecosystem, from
retailers to wholesalers and distributors. All this digitalization improves serviceability,
stickiness and personalization, ultimately improving earnings and working capital for
retailers

The significance of this sector has been validated when B2B e-commerce startup “Udaan”
raised US$225m in series C funding by DST Global and Lightspeed Venture Partners
becoming the fastest-ever Indian start-up to reach unicorn status. Another big investment
deal done in the space is ShopX raising US$35m from Fung Strategic Holdings to further fuel
their expansion plans. The B2B e-commerce business provides a massive opportunity
considering the negligible online presence of the sector, providing great opportunity for
both players and investors.

7. Mobility
India shares several structural causes of car-sharing with these markets: mega cities, traffic
congestion and parking shortages. Mobilization is being seen as a segment that can be an
effective and sustainable solution to address the structural challenges in the transportation

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sector largely emanating from lack of infrastructure (roads, parking, etc.) and first/last mile
connectivity. Structural changes such as urban congestion combined with technology
enablers are leading to the emergence of new types of mobility solutions and shifts in the
mobility mindset of customers.

While demand for automobile ownership in India is likely to remain high as there is an
aspirational value attached to it.

While cab aggregators have been around for a while, micro-mobility is the key solution that
is trying to address the first/last mile connectivity problem that is being faced – while cab
aggregators including ride sharing and pooling have helped create an effective system, the
infrastructure still is not able to keep pace with demand and hence micro-mobility is helping
bridge the gap.

Multiple players have emerged to meet specific needs in the increasingly multimode
mobility ecosystem. Bike apps such as Rapido, ONN Bikes, Wickedride, Vogo and Yulu offer
first/last-mile transportation services. Other offerings help commuters choose the most
efficient route across different modes of transportation and enable making easy
reservations from a unified platform. Zophop is one such start-up that provides route
optimization across buses, passenger trains, metro rail, auto rickshaws and taxis with live
ETA updates and smart ticketing. Abhibus, Travelyaari and RedBus tap into the demand for
convenience within the public transportation system by offering apps that enable bus
booking and seat reservation.

ANI Technologies Private Limited (Olacabs.com) got investment by Softbank and others
worth US$1,527m, and many other companies got good funding.

8. FinTech
Fueled by a large market base, evolving government policies and regulations and increased
smartphone usage in sub-urban and rural areas, FinTech companies are offering cheaper,
agile, convenient and innovative banking and insurance solutions through extensive use of
automation and technology, as compared to their traditional peers. The traditional model of
a business turning directly to its bank or a conventional insurance provider is no longer the
only game in town. From crowdsourcing to mobile payments to unsecured funds on
demand, consumers now have ample choices. Setting up a new business and expanding it
has never been cheaper.

India has a large untapped market for FinTech start-ups – about 40% of the population is
currently not connected to banks and about 80%-85% of payments are still made in cash.
Moreover, as much as 90% of small businesses are not linked to formal financial institutions.
These gaps in access to banking institutions and services offer an important scope to

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develop FinTech solutions (such as funding, finance management) and expand the market
base.

According to NASSCOM, the FinTech industry is expected to grow by 1.7 times and will be
valued at approximately US$8 billion by 2020 The increasing disposable incomes of urban
users, small and medium businesses’ increasing inclination towards the use online
commerce for financing needs, relatively long turnaround time of traditional players and
digitization of value chain across the nation, have provided a shot in the arm of the FinTech
companies and marketplaces like Policy Bazaar, BankBazaar, Acko General Insurance, etc.
Policy bazaar got funding by softbank and others worth US$280m, acko general insurance
got funding by amazon and others worth US$42m.

With the increasing traction in e-commerce space, FinTech companies focusing on B2B loans (like
Capital Float, LendingKart, Incred, etc.) and B2C loans (like Early Salary and Rupeek) will see
increased volumes of loan applications to address working capital needs or rising urban-lifestyle
needs. Companies offering innovative insurance solutions would also see increased traction in the
next few years.

9. HealthTech
Access to healthcare in India is a significant problem and reflected in our poor doctor-
patient ratio at a country level, which only gets compounded when you look at tier II and III
cities where the metrics are more dismal. With this backdrop, the healthtech sector is
significant and has the ability of alleviate the issues around quality, cost and access to
healthcare. While India is estimated to be a US$280b healthcare market, very little of that is
technology driven and companies are working towards this changing dynamic to upgrade
the healthtech ecosystem. While healthtech is a small portion of this at the moment,
technology is bringing down costs and improving scale of growth through innovation, both
in technology and services, with over 4800 start-ups. Active healthtech startups in India
provide further validation of companies stepping up to the challenge to improve healthcare
across the board.

The offerings are diverse and include doctor-patient platforms, online access to genomic
tests, home care solutions for patients, eye scanning devices, hospital information portals,
preventive care alert services, diet calorie counters, cloud solutions for medical records, e-
commerce marketplaces for medical services, fitness apps and wearables, and cancer
scanning devices powered by the Internet of Things (IoT).

Advanced heathtech startups are solving more complicated problems like tech-enabled
monitoring, diagnosis and treatment. Some of the major sub-verticals under the healthTech
space are – aggregators, e-pharmacy, personal health and fitness discovery, health
information management, tech-enabled diagnosis services and anomaly detection,
telemedicine and medical devices.

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PE/VCs have invested close to US$600m in heathtech startups in India in 2018 an all-time
high in homegrown heathtech startups. PE/VCs have seen immense potential in companies
such as CureFit, Netmeds and Pharmeasy. Investments in health-tech startups have been
rising steadily with 2016 and 2017 recording US$163 million and US$343 million,
respectively. Technology, connectivity and government initiatives (such National
Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare (NABH) providers implementation and
Ayushman Bharat) have helped put a spotlight and catapult spotlight on the sector with
PE/VCs showing increasing confidence among the startups who are trying to disrupt
healthcare with the increasing need of new methods to solve a long existing problem of last-
mile delivery and costs associated.

10. Online classified and services

The Indian online classified industry has seen a rapid growth amidst major structural
changes, introduction of new categories/ offerings, evolving business models, entry of
multiple players and changing consumer behavior. The digital classified industry has shown
an enormous growth in the last couple of years and is projected to grow over US$1.2 billion
by 2020. Companies like Quikr and Olx have historically dominated the online classified
sector in India but there has been an advent of focused vertical players especially in cars,
property, jobs, etc. that have changed the paradigm significantly.

The current market is dominated by C2B, B2C, C2C classifieds, online real estate, online
matrimony, online recruitment and online automobile classified market. While the large
players are grappling with issues like low profitability, higher customer acquisition cost, fake
products and spam and fraudulent transactions, they are able to maintain traffic through
extensive advertising by enabling brand recall, differentiated technology and unmatched
user experience.

The next phase of growth of digital classifieds is expected to be driven by the rapid growth
of e-services, automobiles and real estate. The horizontal classifieds companies are
expected to lead with about 30% market share of total digital classifieds in 2020. Google
search trends reveal that the local searches across these categories have grown fourfold in
the last four years, led by non metros such as Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kochi,
Coimbatore, Indore and Jaipur.

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Chapter: 1
Introduction

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1.1 company’s introduction

Taglines:
 Work Hard. Have Fun. Make History
 And you’re done!
 You shop Amazon gives
 Kya nahi milega!
 Amazon hai, apka dukaan
In 1994, Jeff Bezos incorporated Amazon. He chose the location Seattle because of technical
talent as Microsoft is located there. In May 1997, the organization went public. The
company began selling music and videos in 1998, at which time it began operations
internationally by acquiring online sellers of books in United Kingdom and Germany. The
following year, the organization also sold video games, consumer electronics, home-
improvement items, software, games, and toys in addition to other items.
In 2002, the corporation started Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provided data on Web
site popularity, Internet traffic patterns and other statistics for marketers and developers. In
2006, the organization grew its AWS portfolio when Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which
rents computer processing power as well as Simple Storage Service (S3) that rents data
storage via the Internet, was made available. That same year, the company
started Fulfillment by Amazon, which managed the inventory of individuals and small
companies selling their belongings through the company internet site. In 2012, Amazon
bought Kiva Systems to automate its inventory-management business, purchasing Whole
Foods Market supermarket chain five years later in 2017
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it is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle, Washington that
focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It is
considered one of the Big Four technology companies along with Google, Apple,
and Facebook.
Amazon is known for its disruption of well-established industries through technological
innovation and mass scale. It is the world's largest e-commerce marketplace, AI
assistant provider, and cloud computing platform as measured by revenue and market
capitalization. Amazon is the largest Internet Company by revenue in the world. It is the
second largest private employer in the United States and one of the world's most valuable
companies. Amazon is the second largest technology company by revenue.
Amazon distributes downloads and streaming of video, music, audiobook through
its Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music, and Audible subsidiaries. Amazon also has a
publishing arm, Amazon Publishing, a film and television studio, Amazon Studios, and a
cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services. It produces consumer
electronics including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV, and Echo devices. In addition,
Amazon subsidiaries also include Ring, Twitch.tv, Whole Foods Market, and IMDb. Among
various controversies, the company has been criticized for technological surveillance
overreach, a hyper-competitive and demanding work culture, tax avoidance, and anti-
competitive practices.

1.2 10 ways the Amazon mobile app makes your life easier
1. App only discounts

Whether you’re a sale junkie or a bargain hunter, the Flipkart mobile app is your best bet for bigger and better
discounts. Flipkart has a number of offers that are available only to customers shopping through the app. Save some
money, get great deals and find out about new ones. Sounds good?

2. Shop where you are

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You’re at the gym and realize you need a set of wireless headphones or you’re at a café and
learn that you simply must have that amazing tea steeper—with the app, you no longer
have to wait to get home to buy it, and you don’t run the risk of constantly forgetting what
you need. Shop instantly because it’s always the right place and the right time!

3. BE IN THE KNOW

Don’t want to rely on frantic phone calls from your mom or your friends anymore? Then
don’t. The Flipkart mobile app alerts you to sales, new products that might interest you or
special offers that are available. As an app user, you will get every notification you need
right on your smartphone, and won’t ever miss out on any opportunity, sale or discount. Yay

4. SHOP SMARTER

Are you one of those people who has to see a thousand similar products before you pick the
best one? With the Flipkart mobile app, you can be as choosy as you want. Featuring
millions of products and over 3,000 brands, the app gives you an instantly accessible and

26
smart way to compare different products, so you can decide on one that best suits your
needs and comes cheaper too. Alright!

5. TAKE ADVICE AND BE INSPIRED

There is no better way to make good decisions while you shop than running your choices by
your friends or family first. Ping, a Flipkart mobile app feature, allows you to stay connected
as you shop, so that can share your selected products and pages with them right on the app.
And what if, during your walk to work or a jog around the park you see the perfect shoe or a
leather briefcase that you know you’ve got to have? The Image Search option gives you the
chance to take a picture right on the app, upload it and locate the same or similar product
without using a thousand words to describe it. Two new features for double the fun!

6. MAKE YOUR WISHLIST

You can love only a few things at first glance. For everything else, there’s Wishlist! A Flipkart
mobile app feature that allows you to store all those products you potentially like, but want
to think about (or share with friends and make a list of pros and cons), Wishlist gives you the
convenience of coming back at your leisure to view all your potential selections without
making you do the hard work of finding them all over again. Shopping for a new handbag
but realise you aren’t ready to take the plunge yet? Add it to your Wishlist and come back
view it when you decide you’re ready. Easier than pie!

7. SAVE YOUR DATA AND MEMORY

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Not only does the app download in less than a minute, but it also uses minimal data and
phone memory, so it’s a lot easier on your smartphone than shopping online. With instant
access and optimal speed, you can shop faster without having to wait too long for your
order to be processed. What could be better?

8. PAY EASY

Paying for your online purchases has never been this easy. You can choose the effortless
cash-on-delivery option or save your payment information on the app and instantly receive
confirmation emails and messages on the same device. This goes a long way, as you’re not
scrambling through multiple devices to keep track of your purchase and nor do you have to
spend inordinate amounts of time digging out your debit or credit card from your wallet or
remembering your net banking id. Whew!

9. EASY RETURNS

Not happy? If you need to return a product or have it replaced, you can do so immediately
no matter where you are. If you suddenly realize you need to cancel an order but are
nowhere near a computer or don’t have the time to log on online, you can do so through

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the app and have your request processed immediately. Yup, that’s one more thing you don’t
have to worry about.

10. TRACK ON THE FLY

Selected your heart’s desire, got your friends to love it, and placed your order? Well, the
only thing to do now is to wait. If you’re not good at waiting, you can get instant updates on
packaging and delivery, and keep track of exactly when your order will reach you on the
app. Kind of neat, even if you’re not a control freak.
What next? Don’t wait, share the happiness!

1.3 prime membersip benefits

1. one day and same day delivery(the shipping address must be in eligible zipcode)
2. Membership can be shared with family members and friends(upto 5 persons)
3. Unlimited photo storage(5GB of free data storage with Amazon Drive)
4. Ad free video streaming via amazon prime video
5. Ad free music streaming via amazon prime music
6. Free twitch subscription
7. Free groceries deliveries(prime pantry)
8. Kindle Ebook rentals(lending library)
9. Pay less for amazon prime(prime student program)
10. Lighning deals and prime day

1.4 introduction to supply chain management

The concept of e-commerce is accepted very rapidly by the indian consumer. The biggest
drivers for online shopping is shortage of time, availibilty of a variety of products at a very
competitve prices and retailers facing challenge in accomodating variety of stock for the
consumers, thus prompting them to resort to e-retailers.
A quick overview of inida’s internet penetration shows a user base of approximately 432
million rounding nearly to 35% of the population. The spread, and subsequent adoption of
e-commerce, thus, only seems logical. With several reputed brick and mortar retailers also

29
offering online services, it seems natural the trend of shopping remotely will scale up
substantially. As there is competitive environment in this sector, online retailers try to
provide various services such as flexible payment methods, warranties fro electronice goods
and free home delivery with very competitve prices.

1.4.1 supply chain management of amazon

Jeff Bezos and his organization have found a way to optimize nearly every
piece of the supply chain puzzle – from warehousing and inventory
management to delivery times and prices.

Is the Amazon supply chain the most innovative in the world? A very strong
argument can be made that they are despite some announcements that were
pie in the sky- like the patent they won in January for floating warehouses that
use drones for deliveries and replenishment. Alternatively, for that matter, Jeff
bezos’ drone prediction made five years ago on 60 minutes.

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1.4.2 product and technology team
The product and technology team is the core strength of the company. The team manages
the entire process right from listing of item to search engine optimization to maintenance of
website.

1.4.3 business development team

business development team is responsible for all the activities related to sales including
vendor management to pricing and discount strategy.

1.4.4 operations team

Operations team deals with all the supply chain aspects of the company right from
procurement and warehouse management till customer support. The team supports the
customers both online via telephone as well as offline via email.

1.4.5 customer support team

amazon has a strong focus on customer service with customer delight as the top most
priority. In addition, to fulfill it, the company gurantees 24/7 full customer support and to
cater this facility it has a dedicated customer support team, which offers both inbound and
outbound support.

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1.4.6 how does FBA(fulfillment by amazon)

1.4.7 Amazon Supply Chain: Warehousing

A big part of Amazon’s success lies in its expert warehousing strategy, which ensures
products are easily accessible from pretty much everywhere in the world.
All the company’s warehouses are strategically placed near big metros and population hubs,
and inventory is spread amongst them to ensure supply can meet demand. There are even
mini-warehouses in smaller areas to ensure orders can be sent and delivered fast, no matter
what is being purchased.
Warehouses are also optimized internally. Each with five unique storage areas, the
organization strategy allows team members and pick-and-pack robots to pull products
almost instantly and move them toward delivery.
Plugable Technologies, founded in September of 2009, is just one example of a brand who
was able to successfully established their goal of “building a better device company” –
largely thanks to the implementation of FBA seller strategy & automation.
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1.4.8 Amazon Supply Chain: Delivery
One of the biggest differentiators between the Amazon supply chain strategy and other
online retailers’ is the plethora of delivery options offered.
Sure, those options include the free, two-day Prime deliveries and even the Prime Now
option, which gets products from point A to point B in two hours of less. But what is the
bigger game-changer?

That is the numbers of ways in which Amazon can make those deliveries happen.
Amazon employs a whole host of strategies – from more traditional to super high-tech – to
get its products out in lightning fast times and all over the world.
There are drones that land in your backyard or on your roof, there are Amazon-branded
trucks and delivery vans and there are even deliveries by bike in certain areas.
The retailer also leverages existing delivery routes via Fedex and UPS, too.
These wide-ranging strategies allow the company to get orders out faster, easier and more
efficiently to basically everywhere in the world – even remote and rural areas not served by
traditional options.

“Many online shoppers already have a deep loyalty to shopping on Amazon and are
Amazon Prime members, which makes them much more likely to click on a products being
advertised by Amazon.”

“If a shopper knows they can get free two day shipping and the unmatched customer
service experience they get with Amazon, they will often choose them over lesser known
retailers.”

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1.4.9 Amazon Supply Chain: Technology

The Amazon supply chain management approach is to embrace technology. The company
utilizes countless automation and robotic solutions, to both pick and pack orders as well as
stacking and storing inventory.
These tools not only up the company’s efficiency and delivery speeds, but they also cut
down on warehouse and staffing costs – freeing up funds for other logistics or supply chain
needs.
The company has also embraced drones as well, launching Amazon Prime Air.

Though the program’s not fully operational just yet, the drones will eventually allow for 30-
minute deliveries in some of the nation’s biggest markets.
All customers need is an Amazon-branded landing mat (and to live within 15 miles of the
nearest drone-enabled warehouse), and the instant air-side deliveries are within reach.

1.4.10 Amazon Supply Chain: Manufacturing

Amazon still allows third-party sellers, but the company seems to have learned that many of
those third-party products can be made for much cheaper – and more profitably. The
retailer has taken to manufacturing its own lower-cost products, as well as white-labeling
products from other sellers.
Amazon offers branded lines in everything from household products to pets to babies, and
the list of labels just keeps growing. This allows Amazon to own the whole lifecycle of its
products – from creation to marketing to storage to shipment.

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1.4.11 Amazon Supply Chain: On the Horizon

Though Amazon might have one of the most well tuned supply chain strategies in the world,
the company’s never one to sit stagnant.
The retailer is preparing to start construction on its second headquarter location in the next
year or so (though the exact city has yet to be announced – reports indicate it could be
Atlanta or Raleigh), and its recent partnership with Whole Foods is set to change the food
delivery game.

1.4.12 Amazon logistics

Amazon Logistics is a shipping and delivery service meant to complement existing providers
like UPS, USPS and FedEx.
It offers 7-day and same-day delivery options, and it utilizes a host of third-party logistics
partners across the country to make it happen – including walkers, bicyclists and
motorcyclists in some areas.
Amazon has certain stipulations for these third-party providers (regarding licensing, vehicle
sizing, safety training and insurance), but it’s important to remember these are not Amazon
employees.
They are separate logistics providers contracted to pick up deliveries at Amazon warehouses
and sorting centers for distribution. They use Amazon tech to guide their deliveries, but they
enjoy flexible schedules and pick up shipments at-will.

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Amazon Logistics is sure to be a game-changer – both for third-party sellers and third-party
shipping providers alike. Make sure to be proactive in how you use the service, and use your
Seller Central dashboard to stay in constant communication with your customers.

1.5 competitors
1. Alibaba

Alibaba, a top e-commerce company, has its origin from China and it was founded in the
year 1999. It is a platform for wholesale trade. Alibaba.com caters to many buyers and
sellers across the world. Alibaba.com has bought a change in businesses activities for
its operations, sales, and marketing. This top e-commerce company provides the services
that are technology enabled. It enables the merchants and other business to influence the
usage of internet to communicate and deal with their customers and users.

Alibaba.com is a one-stop platform, which focuses on many products across various

categories that include electronics, clothing, machinery, home and garden and many more.
This top e-commerce company is accessible anytime and anywhere through the technology
platform that they provide to the users. Due to its core commerce and usage of technology

36
like cloud computing and digital media in the business, it is considered as Amazon
competitors.

2. Walmart

Also regarded as a top competitor for Amazon, Walmart is like the normal Walmart store.
Walmart.com provides a wide range of products that are of supreme quality. Apart from
products, they also provide friendly service and have daily offers at low prices.

Walmart, headquartered in San Francisco in the year 2000 is a controlled by Walmart stores,
Inc. The main goal of this top e-commerce company is to get their customers a unique
approach to shopping on the internet.

Walmart.com caters to many products across various categories. This company also
provides various kinds of the gift card, which can be redeemed at Walmart stores. The
Walmart gift cards can be managed through their website itself. Due it its various unique
features, Walmart is considered as one of the top Amazon competitors.

3. Ebay

Also regarded as a top competitor for Amazon, eBay is yet another top e-commerce
company, which is a multinational corporation. It is based in San Jose, California. It provides
a user-friendly website to its customer and mainly focuses on C2C and B2C e-commerce.

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eBay is an online marketplace where customers and business people communicate to buy
and sell the products. It is the world’s largest shopping mall on the internet. EBay provides
an extensive range of products under various categories like fashion, electronics, furniture,
home appliances and many more.

EBay platform helps the sellers to conduct their online and offline business smoothly. Due to
the efficiency of being able to connect many buyers and sellers across the world, eBay is
considered as one of the top Amazon competitors.

4. snapdeal

Snapdeal is another Indian based e-commerce company that offers online retail services. It
was founded in 2010 but has risen to become one of the biggest e-retailers in India. It serves
a significant number of sellers and consumers of different products from different location
all over the country. It has a broader assortment of products estimated to be over 35 million
obtained from more than 125,000 retailers and brands, both local and international.

Over the period of its existence, it has been able to acquire some businesses such as
Grabbon.com, esportsbuy.com, and Doozton.com, which has made it possible to expand
and become a solid competitor in the e-retailing sector, especially in India. Recently,
Snapdeal has dropped much in its brand equity and its online sales has dropped drastically.
However, due to its legacy, it is still one of the top Amazon Competitors.

5. Paytm mall

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Paytm is an Indian-based online payment and e-commerce Company that offers allows the
users to make payments upon purchase of a wide range of products including fashion items,
electronics, home appliances and digital products among many more. Paytm is an
abbreviation for Payment through mobile has over 13,000 employees working in different
divisions hence making the user experience fast, secure and efficient.

It was founded in 2010 but operates as a subsidiary of One97 Communications. Paytm is

increasingly becoming a strong competitor in this industry particularly in India, where it has
over 3 million merchants in different parts that operate offline. Because of complete
backing by Alibaba, Paytm is the strongest upcoming Amazon Competitors.

6. Myntra

Myntra is a part of Flipkart but is a competitor of the online portal where fashion is
concerned. Myntra is an Indian-based online marketplace for a wide range of fashion items.
It was founded in 2007 with the primary aim of customizing different types of gift items,
especially that are related to fashion. Later on in about three years, Myntra chose to shift
focus and started to sell branded apparels. Amazon entered the Indian market in mid-2013,
and it provided stiff competition to local online retailers.

This move forced Myntra to merge with Flipkart in 2014 as a means of countering the
competition that Amazon and other relatively popular offline vendors brought on board. It
has since grown to become one of the fiercest competitors in the online fashion sector in
India where it has already established a significant market share.

7. Jabong

Jabong too was purchased by Flipkart and is an online competitor to the fashion segment of
Flipkart. Jabong is also an Indian-based company that provides e-retailing services. It
specializes in selling fashion items including footwear, trousers, shirts, dresses and a many
more. Jabong provides fashion products for children, men, and women thus making it easy
for shoppers to do family shopping all at once.

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It is a subsidiary of Flipkart, which acquired it in mid-2016. Jabong has since established
itself as one of the dominant brands in the sector since it is ranked among the leading e-
retailers in India. The orders are processes in a day have increased immensely in the last
four years making it a worthy competitor in this industry that cannot be disregarded.

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