Tag Archives: India

Business, India, Websites

Flipkart vs Amazon – Let the Games Begin!

Flipkart vs. Amazon – Let the Games Begin!

 

Ecommerce in India may be a roaring industry today, worth billions of dollars, with the top dogs such as Amazon and eBay participating, taking on the entrenched local champions, Flipkart and Snapdeal. It is a super competitive industry with the executives fighting it out like gunslingers from the Wild Wild West. But the leaders of the pack are undoubtedly Flipkart and Amazon – the new kid in town.

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble

Flipkart vs Amazon

So, Flipkart vs. Amazon, what should you choose? Well, both Flipkart and Amazon are led by hyper aggressive, competitive, workaholic CEOs obsessed with success and the idea of winning. Everyone knows about Jeff Bezos, the man needs no introduction, perhaps the most visionary CEO of his generation.

People may not know much about the much younger Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, the men who run Flipkart. The Bansals are great admirers of Bezos and Amazon as well as one of the Seattle giant’s biggest global rivals. It’s a fight to the finish, make no mistake about that.

So, how do they stack up as of now? Well, Flipkart is clearly dominant in India, with a 44% share of the ecommerce market worth $6.3 billion in 2013. Amazon only made its entry into India in 2013, so are late starters – and yet, they have already hit $1 billion in sales and achieved a market share of 15%, which puts them just behind Snapdeal and at no. 3. Not bad at all, because Amazon also has the fastest growth among all ecommerce companies in India.

Flipkart was founded by the young Sachin and Binny Bansal in 2007. They were both graduates from the famous IITs and ironically had their first job at Amazon, before deciding to strike out on their own. They planned to start an e-commerce comparison website, but decided they had a better chance starting an ecommerce business themselves as back then there were no serious ecommerce players in India.

[See: Indian Startup Culture]

And thus Flipkart was born. Flipkart was a sensational hit with the Indian customer, who had no prior experience of ecommerce. They simply couldn’t believe that they could have books, DVDs, smartphones and more delivered to their doorsteps just by placing an order on the internet – India was virgin territory for ecommerce and Flipkart took full advantage of it. Flipkart was soon the hottest company in India with venture capitalists from all over the world fighting for a chance to invest in Flipkart.

How is Flipkart doing today, now that India is a relatively mature ecommerce market with several other companies involved, most significant of them, of course, being Amazon? Mukesh Bansal, the company’s head of e-commerce says their first mover’s advantage is still very much on. He adds, “Flipkart as a brand has very high consumer interest. It is the most trusted online retail brand in the country. We have deeper understanding of consumers. Between Flipkart and Myntra, it would be more than 50 per cent market share of all consumer transactions in India.” (Myntra is an e-retailer that was recently acquired by Flipkart.)

But it is clear that Flipkart is under threat. The business model that served it so well is copied by several players in the industry. And in Amazon, it has a most formidable competitor which has a fantastic brand name and one that is not afraid to spend an extraordinary amount of money on marketing in India. In fact Amazon’s highly imaginative TV commercials are a huge hit in Indian homes already, which has created a great curiosity about the company even among those who had never really bought anything on the internet before.

Amazon has adopted a strategy of selling things cheap – as cheap as possible – so as to force Flipkart to cut prices as well, and consequently bleed Flipkart. They’ve also cut commissions for those who sell electronic devices. Amazon, of course, is one of the biggest companies in the world, has infinite reserves of capital and can afford to carry losses. Flipkart – a young Indian company with no serious backup- cannot afford such luxuries. It’s really about whether Flipkart has the stamina to weather the brutal attack from Amazon.

The odds may be against Flipkart, but they are certainly not giving up without a real fight – Flipkart has raised $2.3 billion in capital this year and is building up its own cash reserves, to gear up for what promises to be a real battle ahead. Jeff Bezos has already pledged to invest $2 billion in Amazon India.

Going ahead, the battle between Flipkart and Amazon will be about who offers a newer and better selection of products and services, a faster delivery and at the lowest prices. There is also a competition between the two companies to gather as many sellers as possible. Amazon has 100,000 sellers all over India and Flipkart has 30,000. Flipkart aims to have 100,000 sellers by the end of 2015 as well.
Both Flipkart and Amazon have adopted a strategy to take every single cost element out of the equation, to lower the price ruthlessly through discounting and to do so for the long term, so as to bleed the competition. Who sustains this for longer will be the one to win the gun fight.

Flipkart is still the market leader and comes up with fresh ideas every so often, so it is still very much in the game. But Indian ecommerce is unforgiving and ruthless, and even a single mistake may cause funds to dry up. Amazon, on the other hand, has access to all the capital in the world and is happy enough to play the waiting game, hoping for Flipkart to make just that little slip.

India, Technology

Indian Startup Culture Impacts India’s Entrepreneurs 

Indian Startup Culture Impacts India’s Entrepreneurs

 

The Indian startup culture is transforming the nation’s society. Until recently, if a youth told friends or family they’re giving up high paying jobs for their own business or startup, their sanity would have been called into question.

Indians – as a people – are known to play it safe. The Indian culture is fearful of failure and would rather not try at all, than try and fail. It is completely different to the Israeli culture, for example.Indian Startup

The middle class dream in India, since the early 2000s, has been to get a job in the IT sector. Because of the rise of IT outsourcing companies such as Infosys, Wipro and TCS, there was a demand for tens of thousands of engineers almost every year. Soon, there were hundreds of engineering colleges training people for jobs in IT companies.

High Demand Causing Change ForThe Indian Startup

But things changed around 2008. There was a massive economic recession, as well as major technological changes, because of which the IT outsourcing model wasn’t so hot any more. This led to massive retrenchments in almost all IT companies in India. Suddenly, the demand for engineers stopped growing, but the supply – or the number of engineering graduates continued to increase.
It was then that a lot of frustrated young men and women, such as Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, founders of Flipkart, which went to change Indian e-commerce for ever. Additionally, Richa Kar, who started Zivame,  made women’s clothing more easily accessible to tens of millions around the country. These young professionals gave up their cushy jobs and caught the startup bug at the right time.

[The Modern Indian Woman]

What has happened since then has been quite remarkable. The bigger salaries offered to the students at the prestigious IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), were not made by Infosys or Wipro – in fact, none of India’s top engineering graduates really want to join these companies. The bigger offers were made by e-commerce startups – Flipkart, Snapdeal and so on, which did not even exist until a few years ago.

It’s now clear the phrase “Indian startup” is no longer an oxymoron – it is now a reality. No longer do the most talented Indian graduates hope to get a job-for-life at an IT major. Every young and ambitious person in India wants to become the next Sachin Bansal or Binny Bansal and create the next Flipkart.

The change in mentality is not yet complete, and is as yet a work in progress. But there can be no denying that the startup culture has taken root in India. It has been helped largely by the spread of fast broadband internet as well as the massive growth in smartphone sales. Suddenly, India, which had skipped the internet and PC revolution of the 1990s, was quick to get on board this time.

Technology was now suddenly accessible to a majority of India’s population. The growth of smartphones led to a massive demand for companies specializing in the development of mobile apps and games. The spread of the internet led to a slew of e-commerce startups, selling everything from clothes to second-hand cars, books to electronics. In fact, there are today e-commerce startups that sell groceries – which is really quite stunning.

India has been quick to latch on to the technology bug because the country has a remarkably young population. Over 65 percent of Indians are below the age of 35. Having a young population can be a double edged sword – there is no way to predict the path taken by the young.

They could go on a destructive path and take to religious extremism, as seen in Pakistan and the Middle-East, or they could take a constructive approach and become creators and entrepreneurs – as seen in Israel. The young people of India have clearly chosen the second path, which should be quite a relief to the rest of the world.

Business, India, Technology

The Role of Women in Modern India 

The Role of Women in Modern India

 

The Role of Women in Modern India

So, what’s the role of women in modern India? An increasing number of Indian women are today taking their rightful place in the Indian economy as entrepreneurs and professionals. Traditionally, Indian women are expected to stay at home and take care of their family. It has always been a man’s responsibility to work and provide for the family.

However, this is changing fast as more Indian women than ever before are today a part of the workforce. Men and women share household responsibilities equally. It has the liberalization of the Indian economy in the early 1990s that started a chain of events which led to such a major transformation in the society. While certainly there are still challenges women generally face in society, many Indian women take these hurdles head on.

For instance, in the area of activism, Ria Sharma, founder of Make Love Not Scars, uses her platform to speak out against acid attacks. Her organization hosts staff members who’re committed to providing support for victims, such as rehabilitation, medical care and compassion.

 

[PM Modi Pays Respects To Kalpana Chawla]

Moreover, in the airline industry, a group of Indian women made their mark in society honoring International Woman’s Day. From March 6, 2016 to March 8th, flight AI 73 flew from Delhi to San Fransisco back to Delhi.

Meet the women of Business and Technology

Here, we take a look at the role of women in modern India. In particular, we look at the role of Indian women in business and technology.

 

Role of Indian Women in Modern Business

A survey done in 2005 found that only 10 percent of Indian entrepreneurs were women. This number has certainly grown since then, and perhaps a new survey would throw up surprising results. There are many women who head major companies in India and many more who hold high-level positions in the corporate sector.
Some of the famous businesswomen in India include Lalita Gupte, Anu Aga, Kalpana Morparia, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Simone Tata. These women have been role models for millions of girls and young women in the country, and have inspired many to break through the social barriers at both home and in the workplace.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, in particular, had achieved remarkable success as an entrepreneur. Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw began her entrepreneurial journey in the early 1980s, by starting India’s first biotech company, Biocon, when she was still in her early 20s. Biocon is a major player in the global biotech industry today and Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw has gone on to achieve remarkable success as a businesswoman.

[Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw meets with Malala Yousafzai]

Many modern Indian women head top positions in the country’s banking sector. Naina Lal Kidwai, Kalpana Morparia, Lalita Gupte and Chanda Kocchar head some of India’s biggest private banks. Simone Tata is another successful businesswoman who singlehandedly built Lakme into the major cosmetic brand that it is today. Additionally, after his unfortunate death, Anu Aga turned her husband’s failing company, Thermax Group, into a real force in the industry. Thermax, an environment engineering and energy company, manufactures vapor machines, boilers, is now headed by her daughter,  Meher Pudumjee.

Role of Indian Women in Modern Technology

Indian women have shown that girls can code just as well as men. There are actually more women working in the technology sector in India than in the U.S. 34 percent of the technical jobs in India, including 25 percent of the programming jobs, are held by women. In the U.S., only 30 percent of the technical jobs are held by women.
The number of young Indian women joining engineering colleges rises every year. Women programmers can be seen everywhere in the campuses of top Indian IT companies such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro. While this is good news for sure, a lot more has to be done.
Women have found that getting into an entry-level job in technology is far easier than rising to top managerial positions. There seems to be a preconceived notion in the Indian IT industry that women are not technically strong enough to be trusted with top positions in technology.

[Gender Issues Compared Between India and America]

But this is changing fast with many Indian women rising to the top in technology such as Padmasree Warrior, CFO of Cisco, Vanita Narayan, head of IBM India, Neelam Dhawan, head of HP India, Kumud Srinivasan, who heads Intel India and more.

Final Thoughts

Why are women doing so well in business and technology today? One reason is that the corporate culture of today is no longer the same as it used to be in the past. Today, education and managerial ability matter more than networking, knowing the right people and having the right connections. Business in India is no longer a boy’s club.

The determination of the Indian women entrepreneurs, managers and professionals to break through the barriers imposed by the society was the turning point that led them to success. The Government of India’s initiatives such as Start-up India, Digital India Program and National Policy of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 and are expected to spur more Indian women to success in business, technology and other professions.