E-tailer Jabong ‘here to stay,’ looks for synergistic buys

Amid speculation about bigger e-commerce companies like Amazon looking to take over local fashion portal Jabong, the Delhi-based online retailer is also on the look out to acquire companies that are synergistic in nature.

“E-commerce is fast evolving and we are looking at opportunities to buy out companies which are synergistic and can fit into our line of business. Today, we are also open to forming strategic alliances to help in speedy deliveries,’’ said Praveen Sinha, Founder & Managing Director, Jabong.

With Flipkart acquiring Myntra, there is expected to be further consolidation among fashion portals. But Jabong believes it can hold out on its own as it is now part of the Global Fashion Group (GFG) whereby it can reach out to new markets across the world.

GFG has been formed by merging five international fashion e-commerce firms by its common investors such as Germany’s Rocket Internet and Swedish investment firm Kinnevik.

“We may not be part of a bigger e-commerce player but since we have a common set of investors through the formation of GFG, our products can now reach out to new markets in South East Asia, Russia and West Asia. Today, funding is not a challenge, it is about having the right products and faster delivery which is a key unique selling proposition,’’ said Sinha. With fashion being a fiercely contested space among e-commerce players, it is the assortment mix that is expected to be the biggest differentiator.

Jabong has roped in celebrities such as Alia Bhatt and Rohit Bal to create fashion lines to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack. “Alia Bhatt has been designing exclusively for us for the past 6-8 months with her own team. Going forward we will rope in more film stars to design exclusively for us,’’ added Sinha.

In fact, most fashion portals have decided to use specific celebrities to distinguish themselves from the rest. While Hrithik Roshan has unleashed his HRx brand through Myntra, Shah Rukh Khan is using Yepme to propagate his fashion sensibilities. While Jabong believes it has an edge over the brick & mortar stores with steeper discounts for consumers, sustaining the same may get tough as pricing has become a tricky issue.

“Pricing is a difficult and complex thing today. Taxes like VAT and sales tax, which were initially not passed on to consumers, have now been included in the MRP but we have to charge extra for delivery. ,’’ he added.