E-commerce company HomeShop18.com has acquired online music and books retailer Coinjoos.com. The company said the acquisition will help it tap the massive books market.

Neither company divulged the deal size.

Selling over 450 brands, HomeShop18, owned by Network 18 Group, has a monthly traffic of over 1.4 million visitors. The company said it is aggressively focussing on the books business.

“Our vision is to be the largest e-commerce company in India and we are investing heavily in cutting-edge technology, warehousing and logistics capabilities to provide a world-class online shopping experience to Indian consumers. Books are the key focus area for us,” Mr Sundeep Malhotra, CEO, HomeShop18, said in a statement.

Homeshop18 is the No. 2 e-commerce site in India and it is competing closely with eBay India for the top spot, according to recent data from the Internet marketing research firm comScore.

Mr Nitin Gupta, CEO, Coinjoos.com, said, “Over the last two years, CoinJoos technology and processes were designed keeping in mind a single goal – to delight customers. We are very excited that CoinJoos is finding the perfect fit with India's top e-commerce site, where we would be able to scale the books business to new heights and provide immense value to Indian consumers.”

Coinjoos currently retails over 10 million books on its site and also offers a rental service.

Books as a category is essential for an e-commerce business as it attracts a niche set of customers online and at the same time, helps boost repeat transactions. HomeShop18 is working towards launching a world-class online book store in the next few months.

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