eBay makes third bet on India's e-commerce market with 5.5% Paytm Mall stake

In its third bet on India’s e-commerce market, eBay, one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, is picking up 5.5% stake in Paytm Mall for an undisclosed amount.

US-based online marketplace eBay first came to India in 2004 with the acquisition of Bazee.com, at a time when the domestic e-commerce industry was worth just $20 million. However, with growing competition from Flipkart and Amazon India, the company exited the Indian market. Flipkart acquired eBay in 2017 but shut down its local website the next year.

Since exiting India, eBay has been slowly making its way back in the country. Now, with its investment in Paytm, the company is aiming a greater share of India’s online retail sales that are expected to more than double to $71.94 billion by 2022, from $32.7 billion last year. This deal will help merchants on eBay from across the world sell to the consumers in India, helping it start cross-border trade it had attempted to start when it sold the India business to Flipkart.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder of Paytm Mall, said, “Wholesale commerce is taking off in India and a large part of the gross merchandise value is being driven resellers. This investment is a clear testament to our turnaround, and the shopkeeper commerce model is validated by a new set of investors.”

Jooman Park, Senior Vice President, APAC, eBay, stated, “We are deeply committed to India and believe there is huge growth potential and significant opportunity in this dynamic market. This new relationship will accelerate our cross-border trade efforts in a rapidly growing market, providing hundreds of millions of Paytm and Paytm Mall customers with access to eBay’s unparalleled selection of goods.”