The Etsy crafts marketplace is make more forays overseas and is looking to India for future growth. In a recent announcement they reveal, after some considerable retrenchment in their operations in the USA, that they have established an operation in India to develop the marketplace there.
India is already a key battleground for the big players in ecommerce with Amazon, eBay, Alibaba and other battling it out to get their share of the burgeoning market.
Exploring opportunities in India: Finally, India is a country known for vibrant textiles, eclectic jewelry, and intricate prints. It is also emerging as one of the largest and fastest growing ecommerce markets in the world. As big businesses move into India, we believe Etsy can stand out as a destination for small business and creative entrepreneurs, such as Sky Goodies. We’re excited to have a small team on the ground to help grow and support our seller community, enabling them to share even more of their unique and handcrafted goods with the world.
-Linda Findley Kozlowski, Chief Operating Officer at Etsy
As the second most populous country in the planet, India has obvious appeal to marketplaces who want to find growth. And competition there is already stiff, so it’s interesting that Etsy already have a small number of people already there helping local merchants. And it seems most likely that this initiative (which admittedly Etsy hasn’t said a great deal about) does seem to focus predominantly on helping Indian merchants sell to the west.
Part of that is also the not insignificant difficulty that outsiders will have in setting up operations there: the laws are established to protect locals and import tariffs too can be stuff.
The other appeal for Etsy is also the tremendous craft and artisan items that come from India, from ceramics and jewellery to textiles and sculpture. There is always western demand for such things and Etsy does seem well placed to capitalise on that and build a new online silk road.
