Online Retail Acquisitions – Are Investors Cutting Losses?

It’s almost 5 years and we saw huge traction in online buying. Industry is new. But players are many. In-store retailers are also making an appearance on Internet. Investors have already put money in e-commerce. In 2009 – USD 105 million, In 2010 – USD 111 million and In 2011 – USD 908 million. Nobody is willing to miss the bus. The result – we have hundreds of etailers evolved within no time. Many of them have received huge funding from common investors. Top lines of many tier-1 retailers are growing multifold year on year but bottom line is getting a hit. Reason is Intense competition and every company is trying to grab the customers resulting in huge marketing cost and upfront discount. This is the driving force for many investors to Consolidate – join the two firms into one. The benefit – it will lower down the fixed cost and improve operational efficiency.

Many acquisitions happened to increase the product lines and it can give an inorganic growth to these companies.

The list of Recent Acquisitions

Acquirer	Acquiree
Flipkart	Letsbuy
Snapdeal	Grabbon, Esportsbuy
Yebhi	Stylishyou.in
Myntra	SherSingh, Exclusively.in
HealthKart	Madeinhealth
Fashionandyou	UrbanTouch

Apologies, From Flipkart : Mail Sent to All Customers

Flipkart has sent a mail to all its customers. It's good. Flipkart has learnt post Mi3 debacle where lot of customers would like to buy the product . Flipkart has started communicating to customers . It is like Narendra Modi Style. Communicate with your Audience . Always be in Touch. Below is the mail Content. Dear Customer, Yesterday was a big day for us. And we really wanted it to be a great day for you. But at the end of the day, we know that your experience was less than pleasant. We did not live up to the promises we made and for that we are really and truly sorry.

Alibaba plans direct entry to India. Do Flipkart and Amazon need to worry ?

G ood news for consumers especially for those who are ordering from Alibaba (China) and wait for their products to arrive after 45 days . Many of Indian online consumers order directly from Alibaba as the cost advantage is huge (almost as low as 20% - 30% of the price you get it from Flipkart and Amazon) . They get their products from Aliexpress (Alibaba logistics arm) after 45 days. " We buy electronics items quite frequently from Alibaba and the prices are very low compare to Indian online retailers", said a frequent buyer from India. Many traders get their product directly from Alibaba after paying import duty and still it is quite cheap. They sell these products on Indian marketplace like Flipkart and Amazon. If you see the math, it is quite simple . Flipkart and Amazon charge approximately 20% commission from the sellers. Sellers add his markup price on top of delivery charges , transaction charges plus market place commission, import duty from China, sel...

SnapDeal goof up delivery became HUL Marketing Opportunity

Snapdeal Goof up Recently, Snapdeal goofs up delivery of Samsung galaxy duo mobile phone. The phone Mr Laxminarayan Krishnamurthy wanted to gift his wife on her birthday. Instead of samsung mobile he has received an old kitchen soap. Imagine a customer reaction. See what he has written on his facebook wall and the post got viral and till now it has got 20,524 shares on Facebook. Imagine how many people the post might have reached. The rough estimates of the reach could be around 40 to 50 lac people. (just an estimate) Nothing much to say about Snapdeal, when you see mouthshut reviews and customer complaints. This is not new. We have earlier faced the similar issue with Snapdeal where they were not able to deliver a printer and in another instance they have sent a defective tricycle for my kid. Read More : Buying From SnapDeal : Think Twice.

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