Flipkart, Snapdeal top brass squabble on social media

E-commerce rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal slug it out on social media over the Chinese online retailer Alibaba’s plans to enter the Indian market.

Alibaba, which has invested in Indian e-tailers like Paytm and Snapdeal, recently said that it plans a full-fledged entry into the Indian market.

Taking a pot shot at competitors, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal in a tweet said, “Alibaba deciding to start operations directly shows how badly their Indian investments have done so far.”

Hitting back, Snapdeal founder Kunal Bahl tweeted, “Didn’t Morgan Stanley just flush 5bn worth market cap in Flipkart down the (toilet seat icon) Focus on ur business not commentary (smile icon)”. Alibaba China has about 40 per cent stake in One97 Communications which runs Paytm.

In February, a mutual fund firm under Morgan Stanley marked down the value of Flipkart’s shares by 27 per cent. In a regulatory filing the firm said it valued Flipkart stake at USD 58.93 million in December 2015, as compared to USD 80.62 million in June 2015.

Flipkart in February, before the filing by Morgan Stanley fund, had said it is valued at USD 15.2 billion then.

In the recent times, online retailers such as Flipkart and Snapdeal have sparred on social media over various issues and have also run publicity campaigns to target rivals.