×
4 263
Fashion Jobs
HOLLISTER CO. STORES
Hollister CO. - Brand Representative, New Street
Permanent · Birmingham
GILLY HICKS STORES
Gilly Hicks - Brand Representative, Arndale
Permanent · Manchester
VF INTERNATIONAL
Credit Controller (Strategic Accounts)
Permanent · NOTTINGHAM
L'OREAL GROUP
Credit Controller Apprentice - Manchester
Permanent · Manchester
DR. MARTENS
Assistant Digital & Social Marketing Manager Apac
Permanent · HONG KONG
HUGO BOSS UK LTD.
Warehouse Operations Manager
Permanent · LONDON
HUGO BOSS UK LTD.
Learning & Development Partner (Corporate)
Permanent · LONDON
HUGO BOSS UK LTD.
Project Coordinator
Permanent · LONDON
GANT
Brand Consultant - Part Time - Gant John Lewis Cribbs
Permanent · PATCHWAY
L'OREAL GROUP
Business Category Manager
Permanent · London
L'OREAL GROUP
Lancôme Deputy Business Manager, 1.0, John Lewis, Oxford Street (Ftc)
Permanent · London
L'OREAL GROUP
Senior Visual Merchandising Manager - l'Oreal Paris - Cpd
Permanent · London
L'OREAL GROUP
Advocacy Brand Manager - Cpd
Permanent · London
L'OREAL GROUP
Warehouse Team Leader - am / pm
Permanent · Manchester
L'OREAL GROUP
Corporate Finance Director (Contract)
Permanent · London
L'OREAL GROUP
Senior Brand Manager – Ldb
Permanent · London
TK MAXX
Loss Prevention Officer (Door Marshall) - Ayr - Full-Time/Permanent
Permanent · Ayr
HOMESENSE
Loss Prevention Officer - Full Time 37.5 Hours - Homesense Watford
Permanent · Grand Londres
ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH STORES
Abercrombie & Fitch - Graduate Manager in Training, Ashford Designer Outlet
Permanent · Ashford
STELLA MCCARTNEY
Junior Art Director
Permanent · LONDON
MULBERRY
Global vm Manager
Permanent · LONDON
SELFRIDGES
Pat Mcgrath Business Manager
Permanent · MANCHESTER
By
Reuters
Published
May 21, 2015
Reading time
2 minutes
Share
Download
Download the article
Print
Click here to print
Text size
aA+ aA-

Copying Alibaba, India e-tailers woo small sellers for growth

By
Reuters
Published
May 21, 2015

Indian e-commerce firms are offering funding help and tech support to woo small retailers, emulating a strategy used by Chinese online retail giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to expand into the towns and villages home to the majority of consumers.

India's biggest e-tailers such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and the local arm of Amazon.com Inc are online marketplaces, with commission from sellers accounting for the bulk of their revenue.

This makes tapping the small and medium enterprises vital to India's economic growth key, as these firms account for about 45 percent of the country's total industrial output, business lobby SME Chamber of India says, and have a strong following in the towns and rural areas where hundreds of millions of Indians are rapidly coming online thanks to cheap smartphones.

"Alibaba is our big inspiration. We are following their model because they have created something impactful," Snapdeal Chief Executive Kunal Bahl told reporters on Thursday.

Alibaba, the world's biggest e-commerce firm by transaction value, supports small businesses on its platforms.

Bahl was speaking after Snapdeal followed Amazon.com in launching a partnership with the country's largest lender, the State Bank of India, to help provide funding to small retailers that sell on their websites.

These sellers are often unable to get bank loans easily, which stymies their growth, Bahl added. "They can buy and sell more. Their margins improve and they reinvest. It's a win-win for us," he said.

Garnering scale is important for companies seeking growth in India's rapidly expanding online retail sector, which attracted $5 billion in foreign funds in 2014 alone, according to Morgan Stanley. The sector is expected to grow to $102 billion by 2020, the investment bank predicts.

"In order to grow, every e-commerce player has to work towards creating a better ecosystem to enable more and more sellers," said Ankit Nagori, who heads Flipkart's marketplace unit.

Some of the small sellers who jumped on the online bandwagon several years ago are already reaping its benefits.

Sachin Gupta, who runs handicrafts company Stonkraft in Agra, said putting his goods on Flipkart, then Snapdeal and Amazon has given him a customer base spanning the whole country.

"Helping my business grow helps them too," he added.

© Thomson Reuters 2023 All rights reserved.