Is Jio Alibaba’s magic key to India’s e-commerce goldmine?

According to them, the so-called tripod of international names, such as Amazon, Walmart, and now Alibaba could rewrite the rules of FMCG in India, as we know it.

Speaking to DTNext, N Chandramouli, the CEO of TRA Research and a veteran in the branding space tells us, “This move could be viewed as a clear indicator of the global players taking cognisance of India being the most dynamic, largest and fastest moving nation in the e-commerce arena. The arrival of Jack Ma has less to do with Reliance’s big bucks and more to do with leaning on the company’s rock-solid foundation in technology – namely Jio. Using that as its infrastructure backbone, Alibaba could potentially give every e-commerce or retail major in the country a run for its money.” 

He goes on to add, “It is a given that many small-time retailers, both online and offline are up for elimination as the stakes have been raised once again. Of course, I doubt if they would be keen on entering the grocery space, which is dominated by the likes of BigBasket. The reason for that is purely owing to the logistics chain and the challenges of emerging as a disruptor in this space. Interestingly, this is also a time when anyone could choose to sell anything. So, don’t be surprised if your food delivery app begins retailing medicines someday soon.”

However, he offers a word of caution on this front too, “E-pharmacies today are just an evolution of discounted medical stores. A true next level disruption would be if a phlebotomist (an employee of a diagnostic centre) could come home at any point of time in the day and take blood samples and offer almost instantaneous results.”

According to brand expert Harish Bijoor, the ecommerce battle lines are being drawn out with clarity and competence. 

“At one end is the Walmart-Flipkart behemoth. And at another will be the Alibaba and Reliance combo. Then there is also Amazon in the mix. I believe this would be an interesting line up, full of promise for the sector.”