Wal-Mart plans to enter the Indian e-commerce market

Walmart has had a long time coming, and still, all thanks to our stringent foreign investment policies, its still on its way. But this time around, putiing its bricks and concrete plans on hold, Walmart is eyeing the surging Indian e-commerce marketplace. After eBay unloaded $133 million in Snapdeal a week ago, now it’s the American retail mammoth Walmart which hunting for a partner to establish its marketplace in India.

India’s e-commerce industry is on fire. After eBay doubled down on its India play by investing $133 million in Snapdeal a week ago, the world’s biggest retailer, Walmart, is now looking to build a marketplace for tapping into the country’s e-commerce industry, which is expected to grow sevenfold to $22 billion over next five years. As this report says, Walmart has already hired a team of over a dozen professionals who are busy fleshing out the marketplace. We have been hearing about Walmart’s initial interest in acquiring an Indian e-commerce/marketplace. Sources confirmed that Snapdeal was among potential partners Walmart had looked at few months ago, but nothing materialized. Earlier this year, Walmart established a new company in India after its initial alliance with Bharti Enterprises didn’t work out.