Walmart currently operates physical stores in 20 Indian cities. Its original plans indicated extending its online service to these cities by 2015. However, there seems to be re-routing in its original roadmap. Current plans indicate rolling out its online presence to 19 of the 20 cities by October 2014, just in time for Diwali purchases.
“Our pilot project for the cash-and-carry, or wholesale, e-commerce initiative in the two markets (Hyderabad and Lucknow) has received a very encouraging response from members. We hope to extend this virtual shopping opportunity to our members across stores over the next few months,” said a Walmart spokesperson to Business Standard.
He, however, did not mention the exact month for expanding operations across India. With the e-commerce pilot operations, Walmart wanted to tap into a new customer base as it has around 15,000 unique registered customers per store.
India’s e-commerce market is set to witness many entries into its space this Diwali season. It is not just Walmart that is eyeing a larger piece of the pie. Other biggies who are planning their e-commerce launch/plunge around the same time are:
So far, e-commerce in India has been dominated by the biggies/marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal. Competition has seen all heights and edges with them. With the entry of established and renowned brick-and-mortar names of the country, will the dynamics of the competition change? Who will compete against whom now?
After dwindling with her family business, into travel and hospitality, for more than 3 years, Pooja Vishant found her true love in writing. Happy-go-lucky and cheerful, she loves pink; so pink is the way to go if you want to get into her good books. The Associate Editor keeps track of even a leaf that has moved in the ecommerce world!
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