{"id":1617,"date":"2012-10-03T06:53:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T06:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.franchisemart.in\/franchise\/?p=1617"},"modified":"2012-10-03T06:53:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T06:53:00","slug":"flipkart-expected-to-come-with-online-marketplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franchisemart.in\/franchise\/flipkart-expected-to-come-with-online-marketplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Flipkart expected to come with online marketplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nObserving the rising likes of eBay and Snapdeal in India, Flipkart, E-commerce Company, expected to launch an online marketplace. <\/p>\n

Experts suggest that the company might be trying to follow the footsteps of Amazon, the largest e-commerce player in the world.<\/p>\n

Amazon operates as a marketplace, and not just a seller.<\/p>\n

Both the Flipkart founders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, have worked at Amazon. <\/p>\n

With no entry sign shown to foreign direct investment in e-commerce, it is a breather for a player such as Flipkart. <\/p>\n

The company could try other things to expand its offerings, said PricewaterhouseCoopers Executive Director Rachna Nath.<\/p>\n

Last year, Amazon announced its India foray but indirectly, through a product and price comparison site, Junglee.com.<\/p>\n

The multi-brand retail policy announced by the government last month doesn’t allow foreign direct investment in e-commerce.<\/p>\n

While no FDI is permitted in online B2C (business to consumer or frontend retail), there is no restriction in B2B (business to business) or even backend.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, the government might be looking at strengthening the FDI clearance rules for backend in online companies.<\/p>\n

For brick and mortar stores, up to 51 per cent FDI has been allowed in multi-brand.<\/p>\n

Flipkart did not respond to a questionnaire sent by Business Standard. <\/p>\n

Flipkart Online Services Pvt Ltd recently registered two new companies — Flipkart Marketplace Pvt Ltd and Flipkart Payment Gateway Services Pvt Ltd.<\/p>\n

These companies might be for starting an online marketplace, say experts.<\/p>\n

Online marketplace refers to an e-commerce site where product and inventory information are provided by multiple third-parties. It is being increasingly seen as a channel for increased sales. <\/p>\n

In an online marketplace, consumer transactions are processed by the marketplace operator and then delivered and fulfilled by the participating retailers.<\/p>\n