China’s Tiens joins Indian e-com with goods from 119 countries

Chinese multinational conglomerate, Tiens Group, is set to launch an e-commerce portal in India, where it would sell speciality products from 119 countries.

The list includes apples from China, ayurvedic products from India, Bordeaux wine from France, aloe vera products from South Africa, and coffee beans and Rooi Bos tea leaves from Africa.

“We will bring about 3,000 products, on a website named ‘Tiens Legion’. The website will go live in second half of the year which will sell products at discounted or affordable price,” Kevin Hou, president, Tiens South Asia Region told HT. However, the company did not share specifics related to catalogue and pricing.

According to estimates by Morgan Stanley, Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon dominated the Indian e-commerce market in 2015 with a combined share of 83%.

In 2015, Flipkart, including Myntra, led the e-commerce market with a 45% share, followed by Snapdeal at 26% and Amazon India at 12%, according to estimates by Morgan Stanley.

The Indian e-commerce market is estimated to touch $119 billion (` 8 lakh crore) by 2020.

Moreover, Tiens will also set to expand its presence in direct selling business to compete with US-based Amway and Swedish firm Oriflame. “We already operate in the direct selling space with much larger product catalogues and segments that Amway and Oriflame. But now, we plan to grow stronger. The company’s total user base in India is currently 2 million. We plan to take this to 10 million in the next five years,” Hou said.

The company has already opened its South Asian headquarters in Delhi. “We have increased our focus on the Indian market. The idea is to become a top multinational operating in India by sales and social contribution in next five years,” he added.

While company refused to share its turnover, Li Jinyuan, founder of Tiens, was ranked as the 24th richest person in China with an estimated wealth of $1.2 billion by Forbes.