Amazon, the World's Largest Online Retailer, Looks to Acquire Jabong

Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, is planning to buy Gurgaon-based fashion and lifestyle e-tailer Jabong, in a deal that could become the biggest acquisition in India's e-commerce space.

Industry experts, who wish to remain anonymous, said the deal would give the US-based retailer a shot in the arm in India's e-tailing industry, which is estimated to touch $15 billion by 2016, according to a Google report, says The Times of India.

Apparel as a proportion of online spending in India had grown by around 18%, from $263 million in 2012 to $310 million in 2013, according to a WGSN (trend forecasting company) report.

Jabong is the largest player in the fashion and lifestyle space after Flipkart and Myntra and has been adding brands like G-Star Raw and River Island to its kitty.

Amazon and Flipkart on their part are developing somewhat of a reputation of acquiring companies. While Amazon acquired Zappos, a Las Vegas-based online shoe and clothing shop in 2009; Flipkart took over fashion and lifestyle e-tailer Myntra for an estimated $330 million in May.

While the Jabong spokesperson chose to remain tight-lipped on the recent development, his counterpart from Amazon India said: "As a company policy, we do not comment on what we may or may not do in the future."

Earlier this year, a day after Flipkart announced a $1-billion funding, Amazon's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos committed to invest $2 billion in its Indian operations. Bezos said he was pleased with his company's run in India since it sold goods worth $1 billion in a year. "If there is an opportunity to invest more, we will," he added.