Alibaba using shared office space to gain foothold in India
Alibaba is steadily increasing its presence in India, the world's fastest growing e-commerce market, through shared office space in India's Silicon Valley, Mumbai. The company has rented 30 seats within a flexible office via a deal with CoWrks. "India is an important emerging market with great potential and we are absolutely committed to developing this market for the long term," said an Alibaba spokesperson. This puts the company in direct competition with Amazon, with experts stating that an Alibaba vs Amazon battle would be larger than Walmart vs Amazon as it is likely to span decades and could soon take over southeast Asia.

Amazon's foremost competitor in Asia, Alibaba, is slowly yet steadily gaining a foothold in India, the world's fastest-growing(opens in a new tab) e-commerce market.

The Chinese internet giant has started working out of a shared office space in India's Silicon Valley, Economic Times reports(opens in a new tab).

This comes a few months after Alibaba announced its first India office(opens in a new tab) in Mumbai a stone's throw away from rival Amazon's headquarters.

Alibaba has rented 30 seats in a flexible office in Bangalore through a deal with CoWrks, one of the largest commercial real estate developers in the city. Its human resources, admin and operations teams work out of this space.

"India is an important emerging market with great potential and we are absolutely committed to developing this market for the long term,“ an Alibaba spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Experts reckon that the Alibaba versus Amazon(opens in a new tab) battle is bigger than the Walmart versus Amazon one and will take over Southeast Asia soon. "It’s a battle that will likely span decades, and in the next few years will be most pronounced in Southeast Asia," says Forbes.

India is already witnessing a consolidation of its homegrown e-commerce companies as Amazon narrows the market share gap with them.

Alibaba too is deeply invested in the $15 billion Indian e-commerce space through Paytm, the country's largest mobile wallet with 200 million users.

The Chinese firm, along with its affiliate Ant Financial, owns about a 40 percent stake in Paytm, and earlier this month infused $200 million(opens in a new tab) in Paytm's e-commerce unit.

It is looking at more investment opportunities outside China as growth slows at home. In its biggest overseas deal last year, Alibaba had bought a controlling stake in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group for about $1 billion(opens in a new tab).

Amazon, too, is scooping up customers with heavy investments in India(opens in a new tab). It has also announced a $600 million entry investment in Indonesia(opens in a new tab), the world's fourth-most populous country.

And its entry in Singapore(opens in a new tab) is imminent. It is a market in which the Seattle giant will directly compete with Alibaba-owned Lazada.

We're in for exciting times.