Competition to dominate the global e-commerce and e-payments market opened on a new front this week after Walmart purchased a controlling stake in Indian start-up, Flipkart.
The $16 billion acquisition not only pits the US retailer against its arch domestic foe, Amazon, which already has a strong hold in India, but also against Alibaba, the Chinese company it was unable to conquer on the latter’s home ground.
The ongoing presence of existing Flipkart investor, Tencent, also places the two Chinese rivals in competition against each other in a market that none of the four global players has a natural home advantage in.
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