With latest news of Ebay proposing an investment into Snapdeal, the industry is fumbling with questions about the strategies eCommerce’s big boys take to stand out in the market.

Ebay, an international goliath already well-established in the international market have failed to set the benchmark in the Indian counterpart. The website thrives mainly on an auction model which has not been imbibed well into the Indian outlook (at least as of now).

On the other end, Snapdeal, one of the leading eCommerce websites in India, already been funded by leading VC’s, has proved its worth relentlessly on papers. The website focuses on deals comprising of higher margins which indirectly gives leverage for heavy discounts. (Read: Happy Indian customer)

With massive customer base for disposal and unmatched expertise of functioning well from inception, Snapdeal is undeniably a prized possession for alliance to boost the self-brand value in the market.

But does the story have a happy ending?…….Maybe not.

For all those who remember https://www.letsbuy.com, it was certainly one of the finest operative website in its league. With rumors of super funded filpkart showing keen interest in merger with Letsbuy, eCommerce was expecting a revolution.

And finally the $25 million coalition took place and today if you type letsbuy on Google it would read a message, sorry we don’t exist!!!

Isn’t that strange??? Pay and evaporate?

Industry experts might verdict that a severe cash crunch must have caused letsbuy to dissolve, but insiders have a say that the company was one of the leading competitors to flipkart.

So then what is actual motto of such a move,

With VC’s ready to bleed money and highly ambitious founders, it is quite obvious that the poster boy flipkart sought to avoid competition. Cost of acquisition of an online customer being so humongous, marketing strategies like Pay per click, Advertisement on TV’s & newspaper and even flashy posters on trains and buses would just mean shooting in the dark.

Letsbuy already had registered users as well as returning customers. With the trust and the confidence of the merchants just picking up, taking over a website that already has loyal users made more sense.

Though overpriced but more operative substitute to burning money

We wonder that if Snapdeal goes the letsbuy way. Such moves not only hamper the integrity of the market but also give the VC’s a deceitful hope. Ebay being an international giant seeking refuge from an Indian bred player raises questions about the skywards statistics put forward by eCommerce pundits.

All is well that ends well. Hope end is not taken in literal sense. ;)

Ecommerce Baba