04/08/2017
eBay Merger with Flipkart to Strengthen Hand in India
A merger between eBay and Flipkart has finally been completed, giving eBay customers access to a wide range of new products as offered in India by Flipkart.
The merger will see Flipkart owning and operating eBay India Business, giving Indian consumers access to eBay's global products as well as eBay customers access to the unique products which were previously under the jurisdiction of Flipkart in India. It will give them a mighty force to compete against Amazon in the region.
Flipkart
Flipkart is an eCommerce company based in India, and was founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (no relation) in October 2007 and it considered to be one of the leading eCommerce websites that is based in India.
The deal was first announced in April 2017, when the President of eBay Inc, Devin Wenig, commented that the facts that eBay is a leading eCommerce company on a global level, and that Flipcart has a massive reputation on the market will contribute to fast and massive opportunity for expansion in India for both companies.
Partnership
Following the announcement, Binny Bansal said that the eBay and Flipkart partnership represents the merger of two pioneering companies that disrupted the world of eCommerce by being innovators and applying technology. It is the partnership that will reflect well on the Indian companies and the global eCommerce community as well, and expand the digital commerce ecosystem. Indian branch of eBay has made some serious advancements in the past years, and with the Flipkart partnership, it is expected to bring its presence to an entirely new level.
Whilst mutually beneficial for all those who are involved in eBay and Flipkart, it is likely to be worrying news for rivals, Amazon, who`s international section has already reported rises in operational losses.
eBay has made a cash investment of $500 million and sold its eBay in business in return for an equity stake in Flipkart. They are seeing this merger as an excellent way to improve the services that they are offering their customers. Kalyan Krishnamurphy, CEO of Flipkart, is adamant that the merger will have direct and positive effects on both sellers and customers in India, and that the entire idea behind this move is providing the ultimate eCommerce experience on that market.
For Flipkart sellers especially, this is a big move as it now means that they can now sell their products globally. One of the main reasons behind the merger was to leverage cross-border trade, giving new trading opportunities for both buyers and sellers in India and the rest of the world.