Online retail biz in India set to grow more competitive

17th August 2014
Online retail   biz in India set to  grow more competitive

 Bangalore, August 18 2014:  Global e-biz  leader Amazon  plans to make Hyderabad  the base of its India operations, with   160,000 sq. m   warehousing facility -- its largest outside the US, Hindu Businessline reports, quoting   Director (Global - Real Estate and Facilities), John Schoettler.
The project will be completed in phases by 2018, he told the paper. This comes   on the heels of an announcement by  CEO Jeff Bezos that  the online retailer had  readied a war chest of  $ 2 billion for India-based operations.
India's largest e-comm player FlipKart  has also announced  a $ 1 billion infusion mostly by existing investors.
And Snapdeal, another prominent Indian e-boz retailer   has already raised some $ 250 million  as part of its own expansion plans.
While  desi or Indian  players can be  reasonably expected to  gear up to take on the likes of Amazon and e-Bay, the  opportunity for international players in the short term remains unclear since  the new government  in Delhi is yet to clearly spell out its policy on foreign direct investment in online retail.  It's opposition to  such FDI in the bricks part of retail trade is well known;  but which way it will swing when it comes to web-based  business is something  the global e-tailing industry will be watching carefully in the weeks ahead.
Rumours are rife that India's  best known   superannuated  business honchos Narayana Murthy of Infosys and Ratan Tata of the Tata group are planning personal investments in  Amazon and Snapdeal respectively. 
One thing is clear -- and  aggressive pricing announced nightly on prime time TV and in full page newspaper ads, underlines this:   the customer is king in all this  pushing and positioning.
We aren't complaining!