While most others have not been able to replicate the WeChat model successfully, experts expect Jio to be able to score on its 300 million plus new mobile phone users.
'For how long can investors fund loss-making companies?'
Under Nikesh Arora's leadership, SoftBank has made several investments in India in a short span.
A combination of bank guarantees, letters of credit, buyer's credit for computer servers have been provided to the two local operational arms by Kotak Mahindra Bank and Deutsche Bank.
Among other things, taking note of complaints against several Chinese e-commerce players such as Shein, Ali Express etc for sending shipments as 'gifts' to customers in India and avoiding duties, the government has now mandated that all e-commerce sites and apps must have a registered business entity. This will be the importer on record and subject to customs rules, report Subhayan Chakraborty, Neha Alawadhi and Karan Choudhury.
E-commerce in India could grow to $137 billion by 2020 from $11 billion in 2013, says Morgan Stanley, and firms like Amazon, local market leader Flipkart and rival Snapdeal, backed by Japan's SoftBank, are fighting for a bigger share.
According to experts, the company might be trying to ape Amazon, the largest e-commerce player in the world.
Competition in the booming multi-billion dollar Indian smartphone market is further set to intensify with e-commerce giants Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal all set to launch Google's much-awaited sub-$100 (around Rs 6,000) handsets on Monday.
New iPhones to sell in Rs 62-92K range from Oct 16 in India
For the traditionalists, wars on Twitter and Facebook smack of immaturity.
'For the next three months or so, the market will go down.' 'Traders do not have Rs 100 notes.'
He seems to have struck a chord with young entrepreneurs.
Ola did not disclose financial details of the investment.
By value, however, electronic goods still account for a large portion of gross merchandise
'If the prime minister wants to be seen as a global statesman, then is it not embarrassing to be so closely associated with a gang of foul-mouthed bullies?' asks Vir Sanghvi.
The co-founder of Snapdeal was talking a day after he signed an agreement with Tata-run Croma
According to eBay, the percentage of transactions during the festival season declined marginally in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Paytm has been preparing for the sale for the past three months.
Ratan Tata has acquired a stake in Chinese handset maker Xiaomi, the first investment by any Indian in the smartphone maker.
Its share among top three e-commerce players grew to 57% in March 2017 from 45% in June 2016
Amazon.in has announced the launch of first-of its-kind women-only outlets for delivering products.
The agreement means consumers will enjoy more choices and varied price points.
Indian retail market would have a size of $1 trillion by 2020, said India director for e-commerce and local classified, Nitin Bawankule, on Thursday.
The delivery channel of India Post is being utilised primarily for small towns and cities.
Internet user base in India has touched 100 million.
US retail major is in talks with Flipkart, Snapdeal, ShopClues and Grofers for partnership.
This was because his wife Anu was not able to join him in Seattle, due to the existing US law that said if a green card holder marries, his/her spouse's visa is rejected.
Eyeing $9 billion business opportunity in booming e-commerce business, India Post, which has the biggest network and serves the last mile, is boosting its infrastructure for real-time tracking of parcels through satellites using a new technology.
The development comes amid Japan's SoftBank booking an investment loss of 39.28 billion yen (USD 350 million) on its investments in India, including those in Ola and e-commerce company Snapdeal.
This was only four days after many aggrieved buyers chose social networking sites to attack Flipkart's 'Big Billion Day' discount this Monday (October 6), followed by an apology from the company's co-founders, Sachin and Binny Bansal.
CCI investigation into predatory pricing likely
Tata Group's CLiQ is the latest to join the e-commerce club, to compete with the likes of Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal.
According to experts, this will have major impact on new investments by Chinese players in companies, such as Paytm, Ola, BigBasket, Byju's, Dream11, MakeMyTrip, and Swiggy, when they go for follow-up funding. Chinese investors, such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi, are active in the Indian start-up space, and have collectively invested billions of dollars.
Global sales made via mobile devices are expected to top $638 billion.
Every shopper dreams of getting the best discount. Now, imagine if you can avail of this discount at the click of your mouse.
Prominent e-commerce marketplace players include Amazon.in, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm, Shopclues and Jabong
The government guidelines say online marketplaces must not influence the sale price of goods and services but experts say e-commerce majors categorise discounts under marketing expenses.
Ecommerce firms will have it tough as govt turns down FDI proposal.
