Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund with a $180 billion investment portfolio, is betting big on the future of India’s e-commerce. It recently invested in the Indian e-tailerSnapdeal with the expectation that the volume of transactions in that country’s burgeoning e-commerce market will increase by a factor of at least six over the next three to four years.享有1,800亿美元投资人组的新加坡主权基金淡马锡控股公司（Temasek Holdings）在印度的电子商务上押下了重注。最近，淡马锡对印度的电商Snapdeal展开了投资，期望该国蓬勃发展的电子商务市场的交易量能在接下来的三四年内最少快速增长到现在的六倍。

That’s no small vote of confidence in India’s e-commerce potential. Temasek was an early investor in China’s Alibaba, an e-commerce titan whose annual transactions today exceed $250 billion, or more than Amazon and eBay combined. It likes Snapdeal because the company uses a similar model.这可是对印度电子商务市场潜力的极大信心。淡马锡也是中国阿里巴巴（Alibaba）的早期投资者。

后者作为电子商务巨擘，年成交额早已多达2,500亿美元，比亚马逊（Amazon）和eBay特一起还要多。淡马锡看中Snapdeal，也是因为这家公司用于了与阿里巴巴类似于的模式。“India has huge opportunity,” says Praveen Sengar, an analyst at Gartner who is based in Singapore. “But logistics is the biggest challenge for the Indian market and significant investment will go into developing a network covering tier 1 and 2 cities.”低德纳研究公司（Gartner）派驻新加坡的分析师普拉文森特回应：“印度具有极大的机遇。

但印度的物流是该国市场面对的仅次于挑战。要展开大量投资，才能创建覆盖面积一线城市和二线城市的交通网络。”India’s e-commerce market was around $13 billion in 2013, according to a joint report by KPMG and the Internet and Mobile Association of India, or IAMAI. That’s a relatively small number compared to China’s $300 billion, but it’s still a substantial figure with plenty of room for growth.根据毕马威会计学事务所（KPMG）和印度互联网及移动通信协会（Internet and Mobile Association of India，IAMAI）的牵头报告，印度电子商务市场在2013年的规模大约为1,300亿美元。

与中国电子商务市场的3,000亿美元比起，该数值比较较低，不过考虑到印度依然有很多的快速增长潜力，这也是个很相当可观的数字了。In India’s favor is the fact that the country’s digital payments industry is expected to expand at a rate of 40 percent to reach $20 billion by the end of this year, according to IAMAI, and it has one of the youngest online populations, with 15 to 24-year-olds making up the fastest growing segment.根据印度互联网及移动通信协会的众说纷纭，印度的受到影响在于该国的电子支付行业预计将快速增长40%，在今年年底超过2,000亿美元的规模。另外，印度还有最年长的网民群体，15岁至24岁之间的网民比例快速增长最慢。

“Smartphone penetration across the country and the increasingly mobile-first culture will offset the relative lack of reliable Internet connectivity,” says Shiv Putcha, an IDC analyst focused on consumer mobility and gaming and based in Mumbai.国际数据公司（IDC）派驻印度孟买的分析师希夫普恰长年注目移动消费和游戏领域，他回应：“智能手机正在渗入这个国家，‘移动以定’的文化渐渐流行，将不会填补该国比较短缺的平稳网际网路条件。”At present India is transitioning from what is called an inventory-based model of e-commerce, where e-tailers sell a single product or brand stocked in their warehouse, to a marketplace model where a platform brings buyers and sellers together. The marketplace model is considered to be less capital intensive, generating more (and earlier) profits for shareholders.目前，印度的电子商务正在从以存货为基础的模式（电商只贩卖储存在他们库房中的产品），改变为市场模式（利用平台将卖家和买家联系一起）。市场模式的资本密集度较低，需要更好地（也早地）让股东盈利。

In India, the leaders of the marketplace approach are Flipkart, Snapdeal, Myntra, and the recently arrived Amazon.在印度，Flipkart、Snapdeal、Myntra以及新的重新加入的亚马逊，目前在电子商务市场正处于领先方位。“Flipkart definitely stands out with broader market coverage, presence in multiple categories, repeat buyers and consistent orders,” Sengar says.森加回应：“Flipkart十分引人注目，它的市场覆盖范围更加甚广，在很多产品上具备相当大影响力，回头客很多，订单源源不绝。”Bangalore-based Flipkart, which was founded by two former Amazon executives, started by selling books, but has since branched out into 14 categories including lifestyle, healthcare, and accessories. Earlier this year it acquired Myntra, a fashion portal also based in Bangalore, with hopes that the move will help it dominate apparel e-tailing in India.Flipkart坐落于印度南部的班加罗尔，由两位前亚马逊高管创办，以卖书起家，并随后扩展到还包括生活、医疗和服饰等的14个领域。

今年早些时候，它并购了某种程度坐落于班加罗尔的时装电商Myntra，后者期望此举需要协助其统治者印度的网络服装零售领域。Its rivals have been similarly busy. Snapdeal is the second-largest domestic player and has raised more than $200 million in expansion capital from equity partners that include sovereign wealth fund Temasek and eBay. It expects to achieve $1 billion in annual sales by 2015.而Flipkart的竞争对手也某种程度挤迫。

Snapdeal是印度第二大电商，它从淡马锡和eBay等权益合伙人那里筹措了多达2亿美元的扩展资金。公司预计到2015年将构建10亿美元的年销售额。Jabong, which is based in Gurgaon outside New Delhi, recently raised $100 million from a consortium of investors including the German tech incubator Rocket Internet.坐落于新德里卫星城古尔冈的Jabong最近也筹措了1亿美元，投资的财团里还包括德国的科技创业产卵公司Rocket Internet。Foreign venture capital is being used by India’s e-commerce players to establish order processing centers and distribution channels that move beyond larger cities into rural communities. “Amazon took its time to study the market and really hit the ground running,” Putcha says. “It will be No. 1 in India in the next two years.”印度的电子商务公司利用国外风投资本，创建了订单处置中心和销售渠道，并将它们从大城市扩展到农村地区。

普恰回应：“亚马逊花上了很多时间来研究市场，显然是在脚踏实地地运营。在接下来的两年中，它将沦为印度电商领域的大哥。”The American e-commerce giant was not able to make a similar impact in China because regulatory requirements made the entry of international competitors much more difficult, leaving Alibaba a relatively unobstructed run at domestic growth.这家美国电子商务巨头未能在中国产生类似于的影响力，因为中国的监管拒绝使得国外竞争者要转入中国市场十分困难，这让阿里巴巴在中国国内的发展比较畅通无阻。

Still, for all the competition and recent growth, the size of India’s e-commerce market will not rival that of China anytime soon. “China will outpace India’s e-commerce market for many years to come,” says Chris Christopher, an analyst at IHS. “Per-capita income levels are significantly higher in China than in India, Chinese access to consumer credit is more developed, and computer literacy is generally higher in China.”当然，尽管印度的电子商务市场具有较好的竞争环境，近来增长速度喜人，但在短期内依然无法同中国比起。信息公司IHS的分析师克里斯克里斯托弗回应：“在接下来许多年里，中国的电子商务市场都要领先于印度。

中国的人均国民收入近超强印度，中国的消费信贷更为繁盛，国民用于计算机的能力也优于印度。”For all the investment and aggressive expansion, there’s one a big hurdle that India’s e-tailers have yet to leap: turning a profit. Transitioning to an Alibaba- or eBay-style marketplace model may help. “The logistics cost is still high, in the range of 15 percent of total cost, with higher returns especially for cash on delivery goods,” Sengar says.尽管印度的电商在希望更有投资，谋划扩展，但他们还必须横跨一个极大的障碍：盈利。向阿里巴巴或是eBay的市场模式过渡性或许能起着效果。

森加回应：“印度的物流成本依然很高，占了总成本的15%。而货到付款的退货率也更高。”So will additional patience from foreign equity partners. “I don’t expect the players to be profitable in next three to five years,” he added.而国外的权益合伙人也必须更加多一些冷静。

森加补足道：“我会确信印度的电商在接下来的三五年内就能盈利。

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