India's $133 Billion Ecommerce Market May be too Little for a Fifth Player

Every major Indian corporation has been vying for a piece of the e-commerce pie, which is expected to reach half a billion users by the end of this decade. Everyone has been working hard to dominate customer demand and mindspace, whether it's Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance JioMart, or Tata Digital's latest super app Tata Neu.

According to a new JM Financial report, we may soon run out of room to accommodate any additional players. The Indian financial services firm warned that the entry of another large player into the already "crowded" e-commerce space could lead to further consolidation, which would be detrimental to smaller players looking to make a name for themselves.

“Smaller “me-too” players are likely to lose out. Further, we see these large players continuing their hunt for specialised e-commerce players to fill their portfolio gaps in order to maintain leadership. Besides, we could see them acquiring e-commerce enabling companies, e.g., logistics, data analytics, etc. to support organic growth,” the report added.

Meanwhile, Bernstein has stated that due to low e-commerce penetration in various categories and customer segmentation, Indian e-commerce will not be a "winner take all" opportunity. According to a private wealth management firm, e-commerce is the largest segment of the Indian internet and is expected to grow more than fivefold to $133 billion by 2025.