eBay to invest in cos, tie up with retailers for growth

BANGALORE: Online shopping giant eBay plans to grow further in India through investment in other Internet companies, partnerships with retailers, and commercial tie-ups with firms it has invested in.

While its competitors focus on exclusive online sales tieups with brands, eBay, the oldest e-commerce player in the country, is focusing on partnering with retailers to enhance their online reach. Besides this, eBay has already invested in e-commerce companies such as Snapdeal and Quikr. It is looking at investing in Internet companies and collaborating with them as another avenue of growth.

Latif Nathani, managing director, eBay India, said the company has signed a commercial agreement with Snapdeal for comple-

INDIA IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT MARKET FOR US. WE ARE HERE TO BUILD A HEALTHY PROFITABLE BUSINESS

LATIF NATHANI, MD, eBay India

mentary sales or sharing each other’s supply and is exploring other areas of co-operation. About acquisitions, he said: “Since India is a strategic market, we may think of something in the future. We are an acquisition-friendly company. We look at interesting technology companies.”

Amid the din of the highdecibel tri-cornered e-commerce war among Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon, the presence of eBay, despite being the longest surviving player, seems quiet. However, Nathani dismissed such suggestions.

“The e-commerce market in India grows at 55-60%. We are growing faster than that,” Nathani said. However, he did not share details about eBay’s sales volume in India. “India is an extremely important market for us. It is a long-term market and we are here to build a long-term healthy profitable business.”

About being less visible compared to its aggressive competitors, Nathani said: “We are a publicly-listed company in the US. We are not looking for any kind of event like an IPO (initial public offer) or acquisition.”

“We do not have warehouses and do not operate logistics. Ours is a partnership centric model and we believe in our model,” he said.

More than 90% of eBay’s 50,000 sellers in India are retailers including major ones like Tata Croma, Gitanjali, Next Retail, and The Electronic Store.