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eBay India invites entrepreneurs in West Bengal to start & grow an online business
Kolkatan youth avid buyers of gadgets on eBay India

May 5, 2008

eBay India, India's leading online marketplace, hosted an event today aimed at evangelizing eCommerce to residents of West Bengal . Mr. Muralikrishnan B, Director – Category Management, eBay India shared the entrepreneurship opportunities presented by the eBay platform for Indian sellers. eBay India Sellers & Kolkata residents Mr. N. K. Gupta, Ms. Deepti Agarwal & Mr. Amitava Raha were also felicitated on the occasion by Mr. Muralikrishnan.

Mr. Muralikrishnan B, Director – Category Management, eBay India , said, "eBay presents a great entrepreneurial opportunity for Indian sellers to sell products to 670 plus cities across India as well as to millions of eBay buyers worldwide. We are keen to tap entrepreneurs and businessmen in West Bengal and encourage them to start an online business. We hope more entrepreneurs from the East will join the 12,800 Indian sellers making a livelihood on eBay."

eCommerce is increasingly becoming mainstream, with entrepreneurial Indians selling online to a wide audience in India & internationally. Today, the eBay community includes over 84 million active registered users worldwide . eBay provides an international platform where practically anyone can trade practically anything.

Mr. Muralikrishnan also shared some key trends in eCommerce with Kolkata residents:

Key eCommerce trends

•  eCommerce becomes mainstream

eCommerce is increasingly becoming mainstream with eBay India witnessing a growing demand in Technology, Lifestyle, Media as well as the Collectibles category. eBay India has 2 million registered users who are buying online. On any given day on eBay India, a piece of jewellery sells every 7 minutes, a collectible coin or note sells every 16 minutes and a mobile handset sells every 17 minutes.

•  Increasing demand for new in season products in Non-Metro cities

India isn't one but, a set of diverse markets. Product penetration varies from market to market. Distribution inefficiencies lead to adoption lags in some markets, thus the latest products in a metro could be in the pre-launch or launch stage in non metros. eCommerce helps bridge this gap and makes the latest products available in non-Metros.

Increasingly, brands are setting up an online presence which enables them to fulfill the demand created by their national media campaigns from buyers in non-Metros. Brands are now looking at online marketplaces such as eBay India to increase penetration and fulfill demand from buyers across the nation.

•  Youthful online shoppers

The youth of India are taking to online shopping with a passion encouraged by the rising disposable incomes and lack of time. The primary eBay India consumer is a young male from the Top 10 cities in India , in the age group of 18 years to 25 years . eBay Consumer Research has identified 5 main segments of online shoppers: Energetic Early Adopters, Social Player, Rational Evaluator, Risk Averse Conservative & Introvert by their psychographic profile.

•  eCommerce becoming a source of livelihood for many Indians

eBay India provides great entrepreneurship opportunities through its unique business model thereby making it possible for local products to be sold across the country and even across the world. Through an excellent eCommerce infrastructure, it has created the largest online bazaar that is free of middlemen and unconstrained by geographical boundaries thereby enabling frictionless interaction between buyers and sellers. At any given time, over 100,000 items are available for sale in 2000 categories on the eBay platform.

12,800 Indian entrepreneurs join 1.3 million sellers around the world who make their primary or secondary source of income through their eBay business.

•  Kolkata Gadget Lovers

Kolkatans are avid gadget shoppers with an interest in buying Mobile Handsets & Accessories, Video Games, Computer Peripherals and MP3 Player accessories . Extremely Style conscious, people are value driven and find great bargains on the eBay site for lifestyle items such as Jewellery, Religious Items and Stamps.

Most Kolkata sellers are technology savvy and are known to deal in Mobiles & Handsets, Computer & Peripherals, Consumer Electronics and Video & PC Games . People from Kolkata are collectors and this can be seen through a strong presence in trading in the Books category as well as the Coins & Stamps category.

Log onto www.eBay.in/sellercentral call + 91 022 24448527 or email: ebayacademyindia@ebay.com to learn how to become an online entrepreneur.

About eBay India

eBay India ( www.ebay.in ) is India 's leading online marketplace. It is a unique and exciting marketplace with the largest person-to-person trading community in the country. eBay India is a trading platform offering auctions, fixed price and classifieds modes of person-to-person trading. eBay India has 2 million registered users from 670 cities in India . eBay India (formerly Baazee.com) is a 100% subsidiary of eBay Inc. The popular categories on eBay India include technology, lifestyle, media and collectibles. Thousands of sellers sell on eBay India daily across 2,000 categories of products.

About eBay

Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world. Through an array of services, such as its payment solution provider PayPal, eBay is enabling global eCommerce for an ever-growing online community.

 

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