Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle • Hacker News Board

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#151

Post by skinnymuch » Tue, May 08, 2018, 2:11 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #93

throwaway6497 wrote: post #5

Walmart was forced to pay $15 Billion by Amazon, I think. Amazon-India is already a force to reckon with in India. They have a ton of customer love in India, and they are killing it. There is no reason for them to buy Flipkart. They did the required to hurt their competitor by feigning interest. Bezos is a master at deception. Well played, Bezos and Flipkart investors. Stingy Walmart has to cough up more money.

And I'd add that a high price hurts Walmart more than Amazon. Amazon's market cap is 3x Walmart's. Amazon has $31 billion in cash and short-term investments; Walmart has about $7 billion. On top of this, presumably Walmart will be investing heavily in expansion. I think Walmart's stinginess is also an important point here. At this price, plus the additional money they put in, a good ROI gets harder. Bezos has never r…

Is anyone besides Google contributing. I think I read Google is giving $3B so that’s a decent chunk.

I’m guessing they wanted Softbank out for control in general and since Softbank loves to control, otherwise they could’ve saved another $4B and let Softbank keep 20% control.

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#152

Post by skinnymuch » Tue, May 08, 2018, 2:16 PM UTC

LrnByTeach wrote: post #59

make3 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wow, a Google and Walmart merger is an interesting thought experiment (if extremely unlikely). It would be like a second scary Amazon

there is no business synergy for Google & Walmart Merger, the both US companies merger. What the Bloomberg article talks about is a joint venture of Walmart & Google in INDIA as a separate entity to buy Flipkart 75% stake. I would guess, Google may take minority stake like 30% in that Joint venture, that may comfort Watmart . Instaed of doing $15B on their own, and getting google skin to make sure the this takeover w…

I thought I read Google is putting down $3B. So 20% stake at minimum.

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#153

Post by billfruit » Tue, May 08, 2018, 2:26 PM UTC

I think antitrust regulations are a bit lax in India, to the extent that Amazon would even consider a bid for Flipkart, and the regulators and the government not opening their mouths about it.

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#154

Post by schmidttyOIB » Tue, May 08, 2018, 3:05 PM UTC

ctvo wrote: post #143

schmidttyOIB wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, “I’ve never had this problem” doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. From a quick search (says “Apple Computer”, but tell me if that’s really made by Apple or not): https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0787CFNRQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=...

I never said it didn’t exist. I asked for data. In a marketplace as large as Amazon’s finding a single example isn’t indicative of a wide spread problem.

Ok, here’s what you do. Search for any brand name product like Apple, Prada, Armani, Gucci, etc. and check out the results.

Another example from another quick search: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B075CTVSVB/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?ie...

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#155

Post by devposter » Tue, May 08, 2018, 3:05 PM UTC

deafcalculus wrote: post #139

Flipkart made a huge mistake by trying to go mobile-only a while ago and is now mostly a smartphone shop. Hardly anyone I know buys anything other than smartphones (often Flipkart-exclusive) from them. Amazon now has a bigger catalog and better prices too. Walmart could come along and directly compete in the market by themselves. Wonder why this acquisition is needed at all. There's hardly anything defensible in Flip…

I don't think Walmart is allowed to compete directly in India due to FDI regulations.

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#156

Post by guilt » Tue, May 08, 2018, 3:21 PM UTC

throwaway6497 wrote: post #5

Walmart was forced to pay $15 Billion by Amazon, I think. Amazon-India is already a force to reckon with in India. They have a ton of customer love in India, and they are killing it. There is no reason for them to buy Flipkart. They did the required to hurt their competitor by feigning interest. Bezos is a master at deception. Well played, Bezos and Flipkart investors. Stingy Walmart has to cough up more money.

That's so wrong. Way back in 2012 Amazon already threw a raw deal at Flipkart and they haven't really spoken to each other since.

Also, Amazon have tried to crush Flipkart by essentially dumping their money into long term growth in India and Flipkart survived through it.

The Flipkart board would rather side with Walmart than Amazon, even if Amazon matched Walmart's offer. Walmart has ties with manufacturing in India. On the other hand, Amazon and Flipkart run a marketplace (mostly) in India.

Pretty sure Flipkart would have seen this and has taken the right decision in siding with Walmart.

Amazon's loss unless they can really do something about raw materials and manufacturing in India. That is the real deal now.

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#157

Post by plussed_reader » Tue, May 08, 2018, 4:29 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #146

rakamotog wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From India, wish there was a way to separate, cheap products (yes, I can filter via price) and counterfeit products to get some high-quality products (albeit at a higher price point). So many of my recent decisions have been offline because I can't figure out which products are high quality. ex:- phone charger (the quick charge one, wire tears in days), infusion water bottle (breaks in months), Bluetooth earphones (T…

Same thing with Amazon in the US. I want a metal water bottle with a flip-top lid but I can't find any in my local stores. I find them on Amazon, but the reviews always say "I didn't get the brand, I got a counterfeit product" so I haven't bought one yet. I ended up paying $30 extra for my backpack I bought recently because I didn't trust the Amazon items were real after reviews saying they were counterfeit. And thes…

"And these are Prime items, sold by the manufacturer, but they're stilling coming counterfeit."

Part of this sentence isn't true.

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#158

Post by chillwaves » Tue, May 08, 2018, 4:34 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #147

bonesss wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USPS negotiates rates with companies that engage in bulk transactions at scale. The claim that Amazon is ripping off the USPS is... well that's "fake news": > [Amazons] rates are kept under wraps. That said, we do know the Amazon deal is at least a break-even venture. > That’s because the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act made it illegal for USPS to price parcel delivery below its cost. http://www.politi…

I didn't read it as "Amazon is ripping off the USPS" but rather "Amazon is benefiting from the USPS needing to deliver everywhere in the US, even places where UPS wouldn't deliver". I live three blocks from the post office, my grandma lives 25 miles and down a dirt road from her nearest post office. It's hard to argue that my deliveries cost the same as hers, yet we pay the same price for postage. --edit: I hold no o…

Sounds like it is the consumers who are benefiting. I don't see the problem.

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#159

Post by ryanlol » Tue, May 08, 2018, 4:36 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #146

rakamotog wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From India, wish there was a way to separate, cheap products (yes, I can filter via price) and counterfeit products to get some high-quality products (albeit at a higher price point). So many of my recent decisions have been offline because I can't figure out which products are high quality. ex:- phone charger (the quick charge one, wire tears in days), infusion water bottle (breaks in months), Bluetooth earphones (T…

Same thing with Amazon in the US. I want a metal water bottle with a flip-top lid but I can't find any in my local stores. I find them on Amazon, but the reviews always say "I didn't get the brand, I got a counterfeit product" so I haven't bought one yet. I ended up paying $30 extra for my backpack I bought recently because I didn't trust the Amazon items were real after reviews saying they were counterfeit. And thes…

It takes less time to get a refund than it takes to read the reviews, why do you care?

Re: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle

#160

Post by wtmt » Tue, May 08, 2018, 4:48 PM UTC

I think of this as one last gasp for Flipkart. After Amazon entered the Indian market and provided not only lower prices in many cases but also quick delivery and decent enough customer care. Whenever I compared Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm on price for certain products in the last few years, I've found Paytm to be the cheapest (after cash back), followed by Amazon and lastly by Flipkart. Amazon has caught up a bit on pricing while Paytm has realized that offering a lot of discounts and making losses is not that good of a business model.

India is a highly price sensitive market with almost no loyalty when it comes to online purchases where price comparison is quick(er) to do.

Amazon has a lot of money to tire out its competitors to death. While I don't like Amazon for a few different reasons, the writing was on the wall for quite sometime as far as Flipkart was concerned.

I'd guess many people would be leaving Flipkart in the next one year and either working for the competition or start a new company to compete with it.