- Jul 19, 2018
Flipkart Executives against Google for making Investment
Last month, speculations had emerged that Google was planning to launch its services in the Indian e-commerce market to take advantage of the growth in e-commerce sector. It was also rumored that Google will be investing in Flipkart after the acquisition by Walmart. During the round of rumours that Google would enter into the Indian e-commerce market as solo online retailer, the industry was against the idea due to the threat of competition with a company which has deep pockets.
However, according to ET reports, Flipkart’s senior executives have denied to pursue any opportunity for an investment from Google as they deem it to be a potential rival. They do not want the search giant to get access to its customer database.
In the US, Google has been operating an online shopping service called Google Express in collaboration with Walmart. It was speculated that both companies were trying to duplicate the same model in India as well to counter e-commerce companies especially Amazon. Besides, if Google was going to invest in Flipkart, it would have helped Walmart to secure and strengthen its anti-Amazon alliance in India as well. Google and Walmart together would have been be able to cement themselves in the e-commerce segment.
However, a Google spokesperson, has the denied the report saying that the company does not have any plans to bring Google Express to India. If Google brings its own e-commerce venture in the Indian market, it would be interesting to see how Walmart plans to carry its relationship with Google and Flipkart. It would definitely have some conflict of interest.
The rumors of Google’s plans to invest in the Indian e-commerce sector came after it invested $550 million in China’s second-largest online retailer JD.com. Caser Sengupta is likely to head the e-commerce unit for the company in China. He is also known to be leading Google’s Next Billion Users program in India. After the Walmart-Flipkart deal, many believed Google to be a potential investor in Flipkart, however, the deal seems to be defunct.
Read more at entrackr.com