Alibaba will soon expand its reach to the Indian e-commerce market.
It is clear now that Alibaba Group Holding is pushing to expand its presence in the Indian e-commerce market. The company said that it would not expand its operations in the foreign market until it has made name there, which is why it is focused to make deals and acquisitions in the region. Sources report that the e-commerce giant is all set to expand its existence in India this year as it goes on to highlight India’s importance to China’s biggest online retailer.
The president of Alibaba Group, Michael Evans, and the global managing director K Guru Gowarappan recently met the Communications and IT minister of India, Ravi Shankar Prasad, in order to discuss the possibility of expansion and underline its interest in the region. A senior government officer said in a statement, “Alibaba is very keen on coming to India in a very big way, particularly in the ecommerce sector. They're only exploring the way - whether to go on their own or set up shop with someone else.”
The main plan is to penetrate the online commercial business in India this year. Ravi Shankar said after the meeting that undoubtedly e-commerce is rising at a fast pace and it is a rising phenomenon in the region at this moment. He added that it is “growing at 50% plus, with a huge catchment area, which shows the potential of a big aspirational market.” The Communications and IT manager is pleased and said that Alibaba will have full cooperation from our side to grow and extend its business in the region.
The corporate executives focused on the offline market of India in the meeting. The company is willing to capitalize on the Online to Offline (O2O) market of the region first and then it suggested focus on the online and delivery platforms.
It is known that the Chinese conglomerate is currently focused to improve its presence in the O2O market back in China and it plans to do the same in the Indian region as well. Shankar Prasad added that the Chinese e-commerce leader is most welcome to begin with and adopt the similar strategy of O2O business in India too. India is a rising nation and many people are not used to being online, as the major digit push has still not happened. Hence Ravi Shankar Prasad added, “They can look at setting up their own (delivery platforms) or use the time and tested postal service.”
For that matter, a former Alibaba executive has also joined India’s online payment service PayTM. Alibaba is an investor in the online payment service since last year. Bhushan Patil who was one of the main members who was responsible to run the Alibaba.com platform has joined PayTM as a vice president. He will be in position to do the same thing which he did for Alibaba in his tenure.
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