online marketplaces leverage the power of content

Online Marketplaces Leverage The Power Of Content

Chinese internet major Alibaba’s mobile business arm is forming a

strategic group that will explore opportunities to increase

investments in India and has set no ceiling for deployment of

funds. The group’s digital media platform UCWeb is also planning

to collaborate with Paytm and other ecommerce firms to push its

content ecosystem.

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“The first one we may see collaboration between UCWeb India

and Paytm and e-commerce platform in which Alibaba has

invested,” Alibaba Mobile Business Group President He Xiaopeng

told PTI in an interview.Besides Paytm, the group also has

investments in Indian ecommerce firm Snapdeal.

UCWeb’s content distribution platform UC News, launched in June

2016, has registered 80 million monthly active users in India as of

February 2017, Alibaba Mobile Business Group GM-Overseas

Business Kenny Ye said.

Online Marketplaces Inking Deals For Content Generation

Amazon is going all out to bring the best content to its Prime

Video platform and has reportedly invested $75 million in original

shows aimed at the Indian masses.

Undoubtedly, Amazon’s focus on delivering India-focused content

is going to play a big role in helping the company tap the

potential of online video streaming in the country. This is why it

has spent a fourth of its $300 million Prime Video budget for India


on creating local content by partnering with production houses

and digital content creators.

Amazon has signed up 15 production houses, including an army

of stand-up comics, to create original content for the market. Two

of these production houses are very well-known and could drive a

lot of traffic to the service – Excel Entertainment and AIB.

Similary, last year, Flipkart had launched a host of content

initiatives including Fliptech—a gadget guide—in partnership with

Digit.in, a tech platform, and Flipkart Hobby Hub, to help users

discover new hobbies and the products to pursue them on its

platform. It has also sewed up partnerships with viral content

creators like The Viral Fever and ScoopWhoop for video series and

branded content initiatives to enable its content-to-commerce

strategy.

More than 50% of Indians look for product reviews online before

making a purchase. “Reading this trend Flipkart, in its continuous

effort to enhance customer experience on its platforms, has

announced a series of content initiatives around its electronics,


fashion, mobiles and home categories to help customers discover

relevant products and be better informed before buying,”

Flipkarthad said in a statement.

Digital Content Players To Gain From Marketplaces and

Vice-Versa

UCWebmight seek to partner with telecom companies to build

infrastructure just as Google and Facebook are doing to enhance

reach.“For example, Paytm, our partner, is already in

infrastructural level of digital payment. It is going to have

chemistry with us in the future,” Xiaopeng said.

Last month, Uber and Reliance Jio announced a similar kind of a

strategic partnership that would allow users of the San Francisco-

based company’s services to pay for rides using Jio Money. The

two companies are working to integrate several of their services

that could include digital content, entertainment and even in-car

Internet connectivity for Uber customers.


In both the cases, companies are trying to gain from an already

existing large pool of audience/customers to get a huge reach and

increase sales.

Some Great Benefits of Content Marketing

Inspiration and Engagement – be engaging and reward your

customers with content that makes them want to re-visit

your site. Consumers now have access to greater choice and

therefore it’s even harder to hold their attention. A consumer

should feel that you have what they’re looking for and they

don’t need to continue their search.

Branding – You have to heavily brand your product through

digital as well as offline sales channel. Great content builds

brand recognition and though that pullcustomers.

Natural Progression – Without needing to reduce the listing

on your marketplace, you will notice a natural progression of

visitors to your own website.


With online video subscriptions in India forecast to exceed 100

million by 2020, up from just 12 million in 2014, money put by

online marketplaces on content driven marketing will be fruitful.


online marketplaces leverage the power of content

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