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Uber’s India arm is in talks to partner with Indian e-commerce platform Snapdeal, multiple sources told Re/code.
If a deal is reached, Snapdeal shoppers in India would be able to hail an Uber from within the newest iteration of Snapdeal’s app, these people said. As of March 9, Snapdeal had only released its new app to a select group of its customers, but indicated in a company blog post it would soon roll out to a larger group of users.
The newest version of the Snapdeal app already includes integrations with travel booking service Cleartrip, food-delivery service Zomato and bus-booking service Redbus. As Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl told Re/code last April, the company believes it can differentiate from e-commerce competitors Flipkart and Amazon by broadening its focus beyond selling physical retail products. Last year, Snapdeal acquired FreeCharge, a recharge service for prepaid phones, and RupeePower, a comparison site for credit cards and loans.
“What’s the delta between retail and consumption?” Bahl asked rhetorically. “It’s things like financial services, education, utilities, health care. But today, all everyone is doing is products.”
The talks with Uber come a few months after Snapdeal secured a $500 million investment from Alibaba, SoftBank and Foxconn, as Re/code first reported.
For Uber, the tie-up could help it acquire new customers as it competes with homegrown ride-hailing competitor Ola Cabs. An Uber spokesperson declined to comment, while Snapdeal representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
