After e-commerce conquered China through the might of Alibaba and its peers, India has long been seen as the next country ripe for a switch to purchasing online.
Underlining the point that the world's second most populous nation could follow a trend set by the most populous was the entry this year of Walmart via its $16 billion purchase of a 77% stake in homegrown e-commerce play Flipkart. That puts the US supermarket chain in direct competition with Amazon India, sparking a costly price war.
Still, smaller competitors are carving out their own niches. And fast-growing Udaan, founded by former Flipkart executives, is this week celebrating...