Mukesh Ambani's soft online approach may outsmart Amazon and Flipkart

The $200 billion e-commerce market Morgan Stanley is forecasting for India by 2027 just got a new contender -- with a very different plan.

Energy tycoon Mukesh Ambani has already disrupted the country's telecom industry. His next big foray may be online retail. India's richest man may not create a marketplace of his own. According to an Economic Times report, Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd. wants to leverage its Jio wireless service and hand out digital coupons, which customers can then use to get discounts at their neighborhood stores.

Why is this a smart move? There are clues in Morgan Stanley's research. India has 432 million internet users, but only 60 million online shoppers. The e-commerce industry, including online food delivery, is just $15 billion a year, or 40 percent less than Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Singles' Day sales in China.