Flipkart to ride eBay to markets in nearly 200 countries

Flipkart will now be able to offer products online in markets across nearly 200 countries thanks to its partnership with eBay worldwide following its acquisition of the latter's India operations.

Bengaluru-based Flipkart launched a global programme to allow its sellers to sell to customers globally in partnership with eBay, three weeks after it completed the acquisition of eBay India, gaining access to eBay's global marketplace.

The 'Flipkart Global' programme, through which it will sell products in about 200 countries, helping in turn to push 'Make in India' items targeted mainly at non-resident Indians across the globe, said Anil Goteti, who recently took over ebay India's business.

Some of the key products will be saris, jewellery, handicrafts, accessories among other categories.

Flipkart recently closed a mammoth round of funding worth $1.4 billion as it confronts US-based rival Amazon in the market.

The Rs9,000-crore ($1.4-billion) deal has been led by China's Tencent with an investment of $700 million while eBay Inc contributed $500 million and software giant Microsoft invested $200 million to round off the deal.

As part of the deal, Flipkart also bought rival eBay's Indian operations. The US-based eBay will receive Flipkart stock worth $200 million in lieu of its Indian operations. eBay and Flipkart have also entered into an exclusive agreement in which they will jointly pursue cross-border trade opportunities.

eBay has over 170 million active customers globally. Flipkart's new programme will allow sellers to reach that entire customer-base. Flipkart will fulfill orders in partnership with country-specific carriers, similar to what Amazon does with the likes of Blue Dart, Aramex and DTDC in India.

''This is a large opportunity for us. We are looking to build on it with our massive seller base, the expertise of eBay India along with Flipkart's technology and marketplace strength,'' Goteti was quoted as saying.

Co-founder Binny Bansal said that eBay.in will continue to operate as an independent entity, maintaining its brand, business and operations. The eBay.in business will, however, report to Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy.