Topic: Ecommerce in India: Amazon vs Walmart (Read 665 times)

Do you have any links for this news?

India is a huge market for e-commerce and it is growing fast because the middle class there has expanded many fold since their economy boomed. If this news is true then how would it shape the Indian e-commerce market and also how would future foreign investors view this?

AFAIK, reliance retails doesn't really any competitor to do any comparision,



This itself shows how deep that reliance retails was spread all over the country.

What sort of local shops or mini-retail outlets does Reliance have in numbers versus its competitors?

Reliance somehow, I feel just move the way Big bazar had developed it like even they had fashion like Pantaloon/Fashion Bazaar which they had sold earlier. They have food bazaar, electronics as separate division, Easy day as fresh market etc and on similar lines Reliance also has it. Only thing Reliance has so much money that they can enter in any business at any point of time.

Reliance retain consists different type of outlets even in my locality which are

relicance fresh - which sells beverages, veggies, and all other grocery items with good discounts and combos

reliance smart - which sells same as fresh but adds diary products into their outlets.

reliance mart -  which is like costco to be honest we can buy thing in the wholesale price and one stop shopping place

reliance trendz - the shop for clothes and fashion related products.

 

What experiences have you had with Reliance Mart apart from different type of material of food related?

I didn't know walmart exist in India but we have lot other better options like Binance market for example.When it comes to ecommerce amazon dominate the market for very long time.

Walmart has already stores in India but not everywhere. They operate in selected location currently. It’s going to be a big challenge for these stores because reliance has a mart, V Mart exists, DMART and Walmart, Big Bazaar with so many large scale business existing the competition is already very tough between them.


http://www.wal-martindia.in/our-locations

Walmart in India? Are you sure!

Recently Walmart bought flipkart platform for a premium price tag! But the name is still Flipkart.

Reliance mart/ market is offline whole sale store...

Ecommerce is the best platform in india, amazon and walmart is good but according to my opinion reliance mart is good there are different type of material of food related are available.

Here we can find how many stores were operated by Reliance all over the India, but not sure where he got the stats of 829 million internet user but its highly possible since Jio offers data packs for extremely less price compared to previous years.

These are astonishing figures. Do you have any links or sources that can corroborate that statistics?

As you said, the biggest challenge for competitors such as Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon would be the fact Reliance has thousands of stores around the country.

Reliance can easily bring their ecommerce site to work in all over the country in no time but I am not sure , are they really interested in doing it?

Because Reliance is basically not profitable with their Jio even so they are in huge debt as a company so I feel he will be concentrating on telecommunication market first and will become monopoly in it before jumping into all other sector.

The ongoing digital transformation in the country is expected to increase India's total Internet user base to 829 million by 2021. Another big worry for Amazon and Flipkart is the new e-commerce policy that is still in the consultation stage. India has questioned Amazon's "predatory prices" and "deep discount sales"...

Reliance Retail's entry into the online retail sector is the biggest challenge for Amazon and Walmart-Flipkart as the Mukesh Ambani-led behemoth is well positioned to create massive disruption in the market.

Reliance Retail operates 10,415 stores in more than 6,600 cities and towns, with 500 million annual footfalls - giving the company the kind of scale required to swiftly launch India-based operations.

We in India are moving towards digital age at a rapid phase recently and I have seen people are far less using physical cash here for paying for items which they have bought. 10 years ago, credit cards and debit cards were quite common instead of paying cash. But since credit and debit cards are issued by centralized banks and some retailers would need to pay fee for having a swiping machine, many of them moved onto payment processing applications like PayTM, Google Pay etc. Almost all the common citizens have these apps and probably I hardly see people having cash in their hand. I never use/trust these third party applications to process my transactions but these are being considered as a far superior mode of paying money.

Nowadays if a known person has received a small loan from me (I commonly pay using physical cash), they would never return it to you through physical cash and would rather insist us to install these third party apps to receive money in return. This is kind of common scenario happening all over India and possibly I believe these are the events which pave way for the formation of a digital currency controlled by Indian government. I ask the fellow people to accept bitcoin instead of Indian Rupee, but the result is that many of these people never even know what bitcoin is meant for  

These are my views on the creation of a centralized digital currency but I would like to know other's opinion on the same question..

I have absolutely far less knowledge on Snapdeal and their founders and never read about the same. Snapdeal is kind of a low priority for many of us as we most probably go with either Amazon or Flipkart.

As of now, Amazon and Flipkart (Walmart acquired Flipkart) are the major players in the e-commerce industries. Reliance has emerged as a strong competitor in most of the fields and I believe that would be the same once they got to launch their platform. I tend to use eBay rarely but eBay on the other hand is less known to Indians and I firmly believe many of us has never used them in our lifetime.

Well it more like watching a jam-packed television commercial rather than a fast paced movie but it makes fascinating reading so thank you.

I am unsure about the virtues of any country having a national crypto currency unless privacy is ensured. As soon as people talk about China making its own national currency the notion of state spying on its citizens is a concern but what motives would Indian have for making a national currency?

Now with the background to the Ambani brothers out of the way what about Snapdeal and their founders and their deal with Amazon? Seems like not many people know much about them.

Do you think that Amazon/Snapdeal, Walmart/Flipkart and Reliance will be the primary ecommerce companies in India? Would you class ebay India as part of that group?

Well, this reply of mine would be like watching a fast paced movie. 


The Rise of Reliance Communications (headed by Anil Ambani) :

Everyone should now be aware that Dirubhai Ambani (father of Mukesh and Anil) was the founder of Reliance group.

• After the death, Mukesh received Reliance Industries shares (Oil and other subsidiaries).
• Anil received Reliance Communications shares (telecommunication and wireless network).

Many (including myself) thought that Anil would become the richest person of India and would reach absolute great heights due to his company being a pioneer in the then developing tech-India. Reliance Communications was going strong with wireless technologies and the introduction of cheaper mobile phones (after the acquisition with MTS India (another mobile company)). I was once a user of MTS networks and their mobile phones. When network and communication was going strong during the years India was developing into a tech country, Anil reached greater heights in the process.

The Fall of Reliance Communications (headed by Anil Ambani) :

Then Mukesh Ambani came up with the smart business plan of introducing Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited. It was launched in 2016 with one of the best offers in the whole country (providing free networks, unlimited calls for 3 months absolutely free of cost and lot more). This almost fueled 90-95% of Indians to start using Jio network. Note that Jio is the mirror image of oiL (the parent business of Reliance). At that time, Reliance Communications which had a business deal with Ericsson failed to pay the debts and dues to the poor running of their business. I would say that the downfall of Reliance Communications (held by Anil) is due to the launch of Jio Limited. Slowly the debts raised higher, and finally Reliance Comm filed a bankruptcy. Mukesh Ambani helped Anil by paying a part of debts in 2019.

Finally, as all good things should come to an end. So does the troubled journey of Anil Ambani are coming to an end once he has solved all the debts of his company. He issued the resignation letter from the position of chairman, but the people who invested in Reliance Comm rejected the resignation and asked Anil to help them with the selling of debts.

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Guess I have answered your question in above write-up.

I believe this will pave way to the development of a national digital currency in the upcoming future. Not really sure about this, but there are high hopes. We should wait until then.

Heisenberg_Hunter another fantastic post from you. Thank you for the detailed reply.

https://www.forbes.com/profile/mukesh-ambani/#6d9a4513214c
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukesh_Ambani


https://www.forbes.com/profile/anil-ambani/#22a988a160d2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Ambani


I would never have guessed Anil Ambani would have seen his wealth dwindle to $500 million or so. How can a once 8th richest person in the world oversee so many losses and still be head of the same organisation? Very strange.

Mukesh Ambani obviously was in the right place at the right time making the right business transactions which now sees him as a clear #1 richest in India and around 13th richest person in the world.

So if the Ambani blockchain is ready to go with servers and nodes populated all over India, is it your opinion that they will make a national digital currency or is it something that was mentioned in the press?

I am not really sure about the governmental laws of other countries, but as far as India is concerned if you are rich you can change the whole country. Bribery and money is what you need as a primary factor to influence the whole country and change and run them as you like. I would say the whole Indian government (both central and state governments) are mere puppets for the rich persons who are living here. They can influence governmental laws and can influence as well as write their own laws. Here the people in power (government officers) are mere slaves for rich people and this is how the whole government runs here. This power isn't restricted with Mukesh Ambani alone, every rich person has the power to control our country's laws.

The influence dates back to the early days of Dirubhai Ambani. Dirubhai created the Reliance Industries and eventually when he was declared dead, there was chaos between the two on whom to gain the power of their father after his death. Mukesh (the one behind Jio) was chosen as the successor, Managing Director and after few days the group was split into two one being headed by Mukesh and other being headed by Anil Ambani. Everyone of us should be well aware that Anil was fast in development and was named the sixth richest person of world in 2008. Over the years due to the severe losses in Reliance group headed by Anil, he was dethroned and currently stands at a meager total wealth of just over $500-550 million.

Neither of them. As of now they have implemented blockchain i.e distribution of servers and nodes in various parts of our countries and they would function the same with absolutely 0 down-time. But I am quite sure, the government would reach out to Mukesh for the development of a digital currency based on Indian Rupee in future.

So yes you are afraid of NRC related protest by muslim community all around the country but I doubt BJB government will change their stance against their policies even if million people doing the same kind of protest for all over a year.

My comments were not about the coronavirus or any domestic laws. My comments were specifically about the fact that people in their thousands are out in the streets in many places demonstrating against some laws. Just today I saw on the news a gunman shot peaceful protestors sadly killing at least one of them.

When all the issue calms down and I feel safe I just might pay India a visit for a short holiday but I would love to travel to so many others places too. I hope I can see the many wonderful places around the world some day   

Because of corona virus or that laws of NRC?

People can safely enter into India once they passes corona screening test.

And if it is a law for muslim related issue it has nothing to do with someone who wanted to visit as tourist to India.

Do you really think Ambani has that much influence that they can shape governmental policy? Are both of the Ambani brothers as influential as each other or is the one behind Jio sim more powerful than the other?

And about the Ambani blockchain, what exactly is supposed to be what they are offering - just an altcoin or token?




Thank you so much for your kind invitation 

I am getting tempted to visit but I am unsure right now because of the demonstrations I see going on in the news because of some new laws. I does not seems safe to visit at this moment in time.

Snapdeal exists here for too long so they have customers but IMHO amazon is the best choice for the people in India due to their review system and replacement policy without any questions asked.

I never seen any ads related to jio mart yet maybe because I am not from those 3 cities but if jiomart available for whole India then he has chance to beat amazon's ecommerce success in India.

Tata Cliq sucks. I sent a friend of a mine a bit of women ethnics from the website as her birthday gift. The bloody delivery guy never delivered the package and these people showed me a wrong signature as the proof of receipt and washed their hands off of it.
Literally stole my money lol..I sent them a lot of colorful mails exhorting them about the great Tatas and how they had dragged their names into dirt!!

Heisenberg already gave a reply which leaves little more to add except my opinion on Flipkart vs Amazon. Flipkart wouldn't have survived Amazon's amazing customer service and Jeff Bezos' ferocity. They do have some hope now that they have been taken over by Amazon's fellow western friends. What doesn't change is the fact that Indians per se will continue to be one of the biggest markets for them. There was a time when India had to be conquered by the English so they could sell good made by us to ourselves. Now they only need to buy companies.

Flipkart founders journey was an interesting start and I would say that was quite unique indeed. Flipkart was started by Sachin and Binny Bansal (friends) after they quit their job in Amazon as a Software Developers. This will indeed conclude that, both had a desire to start a e-commerce based platform for Indians and this should have been one of the reasons both of them working at Amazon for over a year or two. Binny Bansal was rejected by Google and then he got a job in Amazon, learnt about e-commerce and started Flipkart with his friend.

Yes, you are right Snapdeal is an Indian company as well. You can compare them as a third biggest e-commerce giant behind Amazon and Flipkart. Snapdeal was found 3 years after Flipkart entered the market scene. I have a very limited knowledge on the Snapdeal marketplace as I have never used them and I can very well explain the former two (Amazon and Flipkart) from a employee perspective as well.

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From a employee perspective i.e working at both in Amazon and Flipkart as a Software Developer is a wonderful experience but in Flipkart you would get paid 2-3x higher for the same role which Amazon offers. I have my friends working as a Software Developer (Level 2) at both in Amazon and Flipkart.

Amazon pays quite lesser than Flipkart and on the other hand, getting a job and surviving in Amazon is quite easier than Flipkart. Getting a job in Flipkart is highly competitive and I would really say we would learn much more about the e-commerce world if you work in Flipkart. Amazon's workplace is fun (they organize many short trips, keeps the employees fun) but Flipkart is a place for nerds (work hard, earn a lot, learn a lot) and without innovative ideas and thinking we can never survive in Flipkart.

Very true. You can very well compare Reliance with the GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon) - they can change the Indian economy if they like and they can change the governmental practices as well. Its quite interesting to note that in 2018 Bitcoin was called a ponzi and banks were restricted to deal with cryptocurrencies and certainly bitcoin was banned in India. Finally in 2019, Ambani announced that he is gonna launch a network based on blockchain.

There are rumors such that, the Indian government will create its own virtual currency and Ambani would be behind the technology. So its like interconnecting the first page and last page of a newspaper. In first page, you would see that Government is launching its own Digital money and the final page indicating dealing with bitcoin is banned in India.

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You are welcome JollyGood. You can also visit India anytime as a small fun trip and can know about our country from your own perspective. I am sure, you will have an amazing stay here and learn a lot about our culture and tradition. 

They have something 25 million users on their Jio telephone network right? It will give them a good start depending on how they implement all that potential benefit of advertising.

I read with great detail what Heisenberg_Hunter wrote and I thank him for that but in your experience what is the opinion of the average Indian when it comes to Flipkart and Snapdeal?
 

Ambhani already entered into the ecommerce business as well. https://www.jio.com/jiomart

But it was just launched only few weeks ago in few main cities as a trial and I am sure he is going to be a competitor soon to amazon.

Thank you for welcoming me to the India boards Heisenberg_Hunter  

That was one very extensive reply. I never knew Snapdeal had such a bad reputation. I think I will try to broaden my horizon by trying to do some research in this Snapdeal and Flipkart competition. You mentioned Flipkart as being considered Indian because Indians started the company but you did not mention this about Snapdeal. Was Snapdeal also started by Indians based in India?

What surprised me was when you mentioned TATA launched their CLIQ service in 2016 but you only heard about them last year. They may have missed the opportunity to advertise and promote their way up. TATA is entrenched across various fields in India so how and why they let this slip is very strange. Reliance will try to get in to anything they think they can make an inroad in to so am confused why they did not enter this field on a mass scale before. With their millions of customers from their sim cards it seems Reliance will have a good opportunity be able to make an almost immediate impact.

I have to agree with you regarding corruption. Sadly it is not just India that is affected by the phenomenon of corruption.

Hey JollyGood, welcome to Indian bitcointalk community!

The answer might be a little long with almost discussing all the points I have read so far regarding the investments of foreign companies and the state of current Indian companies.

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Flipkart was created on 2007 and was recently acquired by Walmart in a massive 2018 deal. Hence Flipkart can be considered as a more or less Indian company than calling it as a foreign company. On the other hand Amazon being a US based company is considered as a strong competitor and at times the major e-commerce platform of India.

Amazon and Flipkart both has advantages and disadvantages associated with them. Let me speak about various fields comparing both the companies from a user perspective.

• Flipkart is a company created by an Indian concentrating on the Indian market with primarily selling goods pertaining only to Indians. In terms of Goods Flipkart has a wide variety of goods and is no less than Amazon. Amazon on the other hand, eventhough being an US based, they are considered as far superior than Flipkart in terms of delivery, customer support etc.
• Even if Flipkart is being considered as an Indian company, they have a inferior support team and goods delivery when compared to Amazon. The exchange and cancellation of goods once after receiving them is far more easier in Amazon than in Flipkart.
• In terms of Marketplace and goods availability, both are never less to each other. Flipkart and Amazon has top notch goods varying to a wide range of products. We can never compare both of them as they are more or less very similar.

Product Delivery, Cost and Custom Badges :

We are well aware about the "Amazon Fulfilled" badge and "Flipkart Advantage" badge. Both are similar in nature and we have "Flipkart First" which 1 day delivery and almost all the features which a prime user of Amazon can expect. It cost around 500 INR per year or approximately $7-8 per year.

I have experienced product delivery issues with Flipkart prior and I am a Amazon customer (used Flipkart only once before)

Customer Support :

In a e-commerce business, customer support and satisfaction is the most important factor to be considered. Flipkart lacks in Customer Support and doesn't provide a support which is as good as Amazon. Again cancellation and returning of goods are easier in Amazon when comparing Flipkart.

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I have never used Snapdeal and other e-commerce portals and can never comment on it. Rather I have heard queries that Snapdeal provides broken and damaged products for most of the time to its customers. I would never deal with Snapdeal as many had a bad scenario with this company's products. Apart from them, Indian e-commerce is a Null competitive industry as Amazon and Flipkart being the major key players.

• Reliance (company owned by Mukesh Ambani) was created as an oil company. With the technological innovations coming into practice, they launched Reliance Telecommunication to have further profits in business and to establish the company in almost all the fields. They are preparing to provide seamless network through Blockchain technology by installing nodes in various countries as well.
• 10-20 days back we had a news that Ambani and Reliance group would step into the e-commerce field thereby emerging a platform similar to Amazon and Flipkart for $25 billion. They would prove as a firm competitor to most probably Flipkart and Amazon (but we should wait for them to emerge as a key player)
• TATA group owns TATA CLIQ, a e-commerce marketplace for buying of electronics and fashions. They are not really well known and can never be considered as a competitor for the e-commerce market. They were created in 2016, but until recently in 2019 I got to know about the platform.

Indian market is a key player in any multi national company's business due to the population here. I would say we are contributing to a global profitable economy but due to the bribery and corrupted system by politicians here, we aren't able to rise up as a developed country. India is a country with one of the smarter minds, but they are being ruined due to the corrupt political systems prevailing here.

Hello, this is my first post in the Indian section.

I wanted to ask, now that deregulation has allowed foreign giants to invest on massive scale it allowed Amazon and Walmart to strengthen their positions in India.

Of the two Amazon/Snapdeal and Walmart/Flipkart what are their competitive advantages and disadvantages over each other?

Who are their main competitors?

Where do the Ambani and TATA owned companies fit in to all this competition?

What does the future hold for these giant companies in India during day to trading with the average consumer as well as for the larger business community?