eBay open to acquisitions in India, says managing director Nathani

Global e-commerce giant eBay is quietly expanding its business in India, unfazed by competition which is intensifying almost on a hourly basis. Latif Nathani, the managing director of eBay in India, personifies the quiet determination with which his company is taking large strides in a rapidly evolving market. Nathani says his company is open to acquisitions in India though no talks are on with anyone at present. And that eBay is neutral to whether the Indian government opens up business to consumer (B2C) retail trade to FDI in India.

When every other e-commerce company was stressing on partnerships with small traders and SMEs, eBay went and partnered the most difficult people in the business - the small traders who have been vociferously opposed to FDI under the Conferedation of All India Traders (CAIT). With this one step, perhaps eBay has already created a huge gap for competitors and their relations with small Indian businesses.

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eBay’s biggest advantage is what Nathani terms as an “open” marketplace model, where the e-commerce company does not itself stock any products and therefore does not offer any competition what-so-ever to traders and sellers who want to use its platform. This is unlike some other big Indian e-commerce players, who have adopted a mixed marketplace model. In other words, they compete in some product categories with sellers, making the latter insecure. Nathani spoke to Sindhu Bhattacharya:

How is eBay different from other ecommerce companies in India?

We follow the open marketplace model where any one can sign up as a seller and gets to keep his own inventory. Buyers know who they are buying from. There is no competition between us and the seller. This model is different from a managed marketplace where the e-commerce company works with only a limited number of sellers, becomes the seller itself. Another model is a first party marketplace where the e-commerce company holds inventory in its own warehouses.

How big is eBay in India?

We have 1.5 million listings across 2000 categories. Seventeen products are bought on eBay India every minute, every 37 seconds a mobile device is bought and in every 10 seconds, a product from an Indian seller is being bought by an overseas buyer. I cannot give you any sales numbers or GMV (gross merchandize value).

What is eBay’s India growth potential now?

eBay has been in India for 9 years, we have been very patient. We have encouraged Indian sellers to find global buyers. Today, 39 local websites in as many different countries allow sellers from India to seamlessly list their products on their websites. This means Indian sellers can do targeted global sales. We have made it very easy for buyers and sellers to list.

What are your views on FDI in B2C e-commerce trade?

FDI makes no difference for us. But we have raised issues earlier about how small merchants and sellers will be protected in case FDI is allowed. We work through industry associations when giving feedback to the government on this.

Why the open marketplace and why the tie up with CAIT?

We will never have a hybrid marketplace model as we don’t want to compete with our own sellers. And CAIT represents 90 percent of self organised retail in India. It took quite a few months of convincing them and they first wanted to understand our model. Then our objectives aligned and the alliance happened. Not just CAIT, we work with Federation of India Export Organisation (FIEO), other local industry and trade bodies as well.

There has been much speculation about eBay snapping up snapdeal in India. Are you looking for acquisitions?

We are open to acquisitions, something which gives us complimentary advantages in technology, people, business models and particular verticals. We are also open to a joint venture. But there are no active discussions with anyone right now.