Etailing business not a bubble waiting to burst: Expert

The recent mobilisation of $1 billion by online retailer Flipkart and the announcement by Amazon to invest $2 billion to grow its Indian business are not like the dotcom bubble that was seen earlier, said an industry expert here Wednesday.

"The two companies would invest the funds in development of logistics infrastructure and others which augurs well for the sector," said Ashish Jhalani, founder, etailing India, a company that is into consulting, research and holding events for ecommerce companies.

According to him, the funds will be invested in supplier eco-systems and lot of small companies will also ride on this development.

Jhalani was here for the second edition of ecommerce conference and exhibition being held Thursday.

According to him, the mega investment is not about hyping up the valuations of online retailing companies in India.

Jhalani said there will be a mature customer and supplier base.

He said a good part of the online business come from tier-II and III cities where organised retailers are not present due to high initial investments.

According to him, online is one more sales channel and needs no separate regulator but needs uniformity in sales tax.

Speaking about Thursday's conference, he said Flipkart, eBay and Amazon would conduct workshops on various topics.

Jhalani said the conclave will be useful for retailers who plan to add online channels to their business.