The E-tail Giant

Four years ago, the e-commerce landscape in India was dominated by home-grown unicorns like Flipkart and Snapdeal. Everything changed in 2013  when Jeff Bezos-run Amazon decided to gatecrash the e-commerce party in India. Snapdeal is up for sale and Flipkart is facing heat like never before. And why not? Since its entry into India, Amazon has pumped in $5 billion to consolidate leadership as well as reputation. How did Amazon work out such amazing results in such a short time in India?  

The company launched the concept of guaranteed one-day delivery within six months of beginning its operations. The company also introduced the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee right from Day 1 to enable customers to shop with confidence anytime they made a purchase.

Then again, from Day 1, the company has focused on building Amazon.in as a destination where customers can find, discover and buy anything online. Today customers can shop for over 100 million products across categories.

The true potential of e-commerce is when anyone, anywhere has access to this choice and anyone with an intent to sell can participate in providing this choice. Amazon partnered with India Post right from the start, even before they formally launched Amazon.in. On the back of India Post’s extensive network Amazon.in services customers in over 19,000 pin codes through 155,000 post offices across all 35 states and union territories.  Contrary to what everyone believes, Amazon has shown over the past four years, that e-commerce is not a threat to existing ecosystems prevalent in the country. Instead, they offer an opportunity to innovate for India so that they can participate and contribute and grow along side.

With the launch of Prime last year, guaranteed one-day and two-day delivery became an everyday experience instead of an occasional indulgence. For sellers, FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) became an even more powerful opportunity to rapidly grow their business and at the same time, provide customers across India with a vast selection and unlimited fast free Prime delivery.

While on the one hand, Amazon has been investing in shaping the e-commerce industry in India, on the other, they are also sowing the seeds of transforming India through e-commerce. “What’s exciting for us is how the Amazon growth flywheel is really coming together with India’s economic flywheel and how India is transforming itself and we are excited we can significantly participate and contribute to this. Today, more than 24,000 weavers and artisans sell close to 57,000 products on the Amazon marketplace through 250-plus weaver entrepreneurs and cooperatives,  through our partnership with the DC Handlooms of the Textile Ministry,” says Amit Agarwal, SVP and Country Head, Amazon India.

Today over 400 product start-ups from India are part of Amazon Launchpad and selling their innovations to customers in India and abroad. Similarly, over 23,000 Indian manufacturers are offering over 65 million ‘Make in India’ products to Amazon worldwide customer base. Over 2 lakh sellers sell on Amazon.in. The company’s seller base has grown nearly 160 per cent in 2016.

“We have seen significant expansion in India with the focus on not only growing the existing customers’ share of wallet, purchase frequency but also in driving incremental new reach and penetration through market expansion,” adds Agarwal.