InfoAnda - Upstart gets jump on Amazon in India's nascent e-shopping market |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Confusion, apathy explain poor Games ticket sales | 6 October 2010
China's homegrown telecom technology to go global | 2 January 2011
Justin Bieber, B.o.B. Performing At MTV Video Music Awards | 19 August 2010

Curtain falling on 'Digital Decade' | 27 December 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Upstart gets jump on Amazon in India's nascent e-shopping market |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Green Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia Afghan Journal Africa Journal India Insight Global News Journal Pakistan: Now or Never? World Video Politics Politics Home Front Row Washington Politics Video Technology Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland Felix Salmon Breakingviews George Chen Bernd Debusmann Gregg Easterbrook James Pethokoukis James Saft John Wasik Christopher Whalen Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers The Great Debate Unstructured Finance Newsmaker MuniLand Money Money Home Analyst Research Global Investing MuniLand Reuters Money Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Life & Culture Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Left Field Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Article Comments (0) Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Biggest rally in Israel's history presses PM 03 Sep 2011 Libyans hope to seize Gaddafi bastion | 11:54am EDT Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Kicked Off Flight for Saggy Pants 03 Sep 2011 CIA, MI6 helped Gaddafi on dissidents: rights group | 03 Sep 2011 A-listers not spared in pandemic film "Contagion" 03 Sep 2011 Discussed 182 Labor leaders must pay for parade if GOP banned, mayor says 121 White House to nominate Krueger as top economist 79 UPDATE 1-Obama warns Hurricane Irene flooding could worsen Watched Buenos Aires Fashion week sizzles Mon, Aug 22 2011 Lockheed Martin presents airship of the future Thu, Aug 18 2011 Experimental plane reaches 13,000 mph Fri, Aug 26 2011 Upstart gets jump on Amazon in India's nascent e-shopping market Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Baidu offers glimpse of new mobile OS Fri, Sep 2 2011 Barnes & Noble sees strong Nook growth Tue, Aug 30 2011 Amazon may sell 3-5 million tablets in Q4: Forrester Mon, Aug 29 2011 India parliament edges toward corruption resolution Sat, Aug 27 2011 Talent agency CAA mulls Silicon Valley office Wed, Aug 24 2011 Analysis & Opinion India Markets Weekahead: World stocks, RBI policy expectation to dictate trend The future is calling, AT&T, and it’s not T-Mobile Related Topics Technology » Small Business » Media » By Arjun Kashyap BANGALORE | Sun Sep 4, 2011 3:32am EDT BANGALORE (Reuters) - On some days when they were starting out, the Bansals would get on a motorbike to make the rounds of book warehouses around Bangalore, ride back to their two-bedroom apartment and package up orders for online customers. It was a humble beginning for Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, two ex-Amazon.com software developers who set out in 2007 to beat their old employer at its own game long before the world's top online retailer had even drawn up plans to enter the Indian market. "We were doing everything ourselves for the first four to five months - from packing to shipping. Because our volumes were very low, our courier partners would sometimes refuse to pick up items from our apartment," Sachin Bansal recalls of the six months before they moved into their first office. "So we used to get on a motorbike, hold the shipment in our hands and personally deliver them to our Bangalore clients." In those rocky first days, Sachin told Reuters, the Bansals' suppliers -- seeing two youngsters who had quit stable employment with a reputable firm to go it alone -- would sit them down and counsel them to get a proper job. The young Bansals have since been feted at home as poster boys for entrepreneurial India, establishing their company, Flipkart, as a leader in the fledgling Indian e-commerce market. Flipkart is now India's biggest online bookseller, with over 10 million titles distributed from warehouses in five cities. It has branched from books into mobile phones, appliances, gaming consoles, music and movies, and now sells 10 products a minute. It generated $11 million in sales last financial year, expects revenues to cross $100 million this year and is aiming at $1 billion by 2015. That sharp growth trajectory has attracted $31 million in funding from U.S. venture capital firms Tiger Global Management as well as Accel Partners, which has a stake in Facebook. Sachin Bansal declined to comment on a media report this week that Flipkart is lining up a $150 million fourth round of funding, but said earlier there are no current plans for an initial public offering. Flipkart's business model and even its website resemble those of Amazon. But as a company it is dwarfed by the U.S.-based giant, whose revenues stood at $34.2 billion last year. It is possible to order Amazon products from India, but the cost of postage is high and delivery is slow. Amazon still has no formal presence in India yet, though a source familiar with the matter said it is mulling plans to set up in the country next year. "Amazon's idea is not new ... It's all about the execution," said Sachin Bansal, 30, now chief executive officer of the company he co-founded. Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Flipkart's 28-year-old chief operating officer, are not related. But they both grew up in the northern city of Chandigarh, they are both alumni of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi and they briefly worked together for Amazon in Bangalore, the southern IT hub where numerous global companies have back-office operations. E-FUTURE? There is little doubt that e-commerce will one day be big business in India, a country of 1.2 billion people whose rapid economic growth is adding millions to the middle class every year. But for now it is a difficult and diminutive market. Despite its vast population, India has only 52 million active Internet users and only 40 percent of them have shopped online. What's more, fewer than 18 million people use credit cards, and most of them shop offline. "The sophistication of the Internet user is the largest challenge. Now, there are between 15 to 20 million sophisticated users in India," said Subrata Mitra, a partner at Accel. To get around their clients' credit card-aversion, the Bansals offer cash-on-delivery for their products, much as a pizza company does for dinner at your door, and this accounts for 50 percent of Flipkart's sales. But the market outlook is bright. For one thing, while printed book sales are slipping in most western countries, India's $2 billion book market is growing at around 15 percent a year thanks to rising literacy rates, the swelling ranks of middle class readers, and a thriving domestic literary scene. "I don't see offline bookstores closing down anytime soon like they are in the U.S., where the physical book market is shrinking," Sachin Bansal told Reuters, but he said the strong demand for books would help online sellers as well as traditional high street stores. Then there is the Indian e-commerce market, which is expected to grow by 47 percent to more than 460 billion rupees ($10 billion) this year, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India. Online travel is for now the dominant sector. Just last year, Indian online travel firm MakeMyTrip Ltd raised $70 million in a Nasdaq initial public offering. "By 2015, we're expecting India to be one of the largest Internet-based economies. All these companies are at a stage where they can explode, depending on broadband connectivity," said Mritunjay Kapur, India head at Protiviti Consulting. Rivals in the Indian e-commerce market include Letsbuy.com, which sells electronics, and InfiBeam.com, which sells electronics and books. Anand Dikshit, executive director at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India, is more cautious about an industry now in a "trial-and-error" phase. "I am not gung-ho on this in India right now. Let's see where these companies are after a couple of years because the sustainability is more important. There are no sustainable models as of now," Dikshit said. The Bansals, however, are optimistic. They expect higher margins from non-book products, which now account for 60 percent of revenue, and are even looking forward to the competition from Amazon. "Amazon entering the country will be a good thing for e-commerce, which is very small in India in relation to its potential," said Sachin. "The largest challenge we face now is to make e-commerce more viable for people to come online and shop." (Editing by Tony Munroe and John Chalmers) Technology Small Business Media Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Social Stream (What's this?) Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Mobile Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Contact Us Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Newsletters About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Sunday, 4 September 2011
Biggest rally in Israel's history presses PM |
Two-run double by Robinson Cano lifts Yankees past Blue Jays
Purdue survives home test vs. Middle Tennessee, opens season with win
Play football! Ohio State opens season with blanking of Akron
Middle Tennessee looks to shock Purdue; lead Boilers 14-10 at half
Bubba Watson charges into lead at Deutsche Bank Championship
Donaldson, Westwood, McIlroy set up super Swiss showdown at European Masters
Iran says kills 30 Kurd rebels in new border push |
Ex-Ohio State coach Jim Tressel to serve as Colts replay review consultant
Panama lawmakers push vote run-off bill forward |
Vatican rejects Irish parliament child abuse rebuke |
Several injured, arrested in Angola anti-government rally report |
Libyans say closing in on Gaddafi bastions |
Biggest rally in Israel's history presses PM |
Kasey Kahne wins Atlanta pole for third time in career
Will Power lands Baltimore pole for seventh of season
Strauss-Kahn back home, faces frosty welcome |
Deutsche Bank Championship: Garcia, Els ride hot putters into contention
Matt Barkley's three touchdown passes lead Southern Cal over Minnesota
EJ Manuel throws for pair of scores, Florida State routs Louisiana-Monroe
Watson, Schwartzel, Scott tied for lead at Deutsche Bank
Chile says no survivors from Pacific Ocean air crash |
Caleb TerBush's late scoring strike lifts Purdue past Middle Tennessee
U.S. tries to stall Palestinian statehood bid: report |
Japan new PM Noda enjoys strong voter support |
Government: Cuban defense minister dead at 75 |
Historic rally buoys Israeli social protest movement |
Syrian forces kill 8: activists |
Thomas Bjorn flys by leaders with 62, wins easily at European Masters
Merkel's coalition faces rough ride in regional election |
Dove hunting legal in Iowa for first time in nearly a century
Exclusive: abandoned Libyan missile: a gift to militants? |
LED Night Lights Recalled by Camsing Global Due to Burn Hazard
Carl Edwards comes out on top of Atlanta Nationwide race
Hochevar dominant in rout of Tribe; Royals hurt Cleveland’s playoff bid
Iran plugs first nuclear power plant into grid |
Ian Kennedy delivers big in D-Backs' win over Giants
Israel's Netanyahu says won't apologize to Turkey |
Puntland commander assassinated as elders call for ceasefire
Iraqi tourists flock to Kurdish region for fun, safety |
Serena shows off fitness in rout of Azarenka; Djokovic, Federer win at US Open
Malaysian journalist accidentally killed in Somalia
Egypt sets October 24 to try ex-Mubarak aide for graft |
Dutch study possible Iran hacking of government web sites |
Upstart gets jump on Amazon in India's nascent e-shopping market |
Film Shame brings sex addiction tale to Venice |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01