Amazon is plunging headlong into India’s retail space, creating a distinct identity for itself across different segments that will help customers make better buying decisions.
In an interaction with BusinessLine , Amit Deshpande, Director and GM, Seller Services, Amazon, said the company wants to invest in improving both the customer and seller experience.
“We want to lift seller capabilities, most of whom are SMBs with physical stores selling to locals, so that they can participate in the huge online opportunity and grow their business.”
To do this, he said, Amazon has partnered with industry bodies like MAIT, Ficci etc to drive awareness amongst these small and medium-size retailers on the online opportunity. Investments are being made to train them via webinars, one-on-one sessions and classroom sessions on how to sell using Amazon’s platform and on how to design and create product catalogues with the right images and product listings.
“We are investing in payment and security solutions and have brought in localised features such as cash-on-delivery and net banking.”
Single-day delivery Deshpande said Amazon will invest in a new delivery system called Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), where retailers send their products to the company’s warehouses, which are then delivered in one or two days to customers. Another option is called Easy Ship, where sellers pack and ready the products at their stores, which Amazon then picks up from delivers in double quick time to the final buyer.
Today, 60 per cent of Amazon’s consumer demand is covered by guaranteed one-day delivery, which was launched last December and covers customers in 19 cities in India. Deshpande wants to expand this to the whole country. About 4,000 sellers from 40 cities who opted for the Easy Ship option saw their sales grow by 50 per cent because of faster delivery and the Cash-on-Delivery facility, he pointed out.
Amazon.in has sellers from over 200 locations across tier-1, -2 and -3 cities and it plans to invest in getting many more millions on board. “We have just scratched the surface with 9,000 retailers on board. Compare this with Amazon.com (the global portal) which has 2 million active sellers and 250 million active customers and you can see that we have just begun tapping this opportunity.”
According to sources, a significant part of the $2 billion additional investment announced for India will go into Junglee.com, an Amazon portal and shopping comparison site.
Hiring the best talent Junglee.com boasts the country’s largest organised catalogue of three crore products across 28 categories. According to a headhunter (who did not wish to be named), the 80-member engineering team at Junglee.com in Bangalore, supported by a smaller team at Seattle, is in the process of being augmented by a new development team in Delhi. Recruitments are on from tier-1 engineering colleges to pick the most talented new graduates.
Mahendra Nerurkar, General Manager, Junglee.com, said that an Android smartphone app will be launched next week to enhance the shopper experience.
“If you are in a store to buy a smartphone, you can log into the app and quickly check if you are getting the best price or being fleeced and then make a buying decision.”
According to Nerurkar, Junglee.com attempts to target all kinds of sellers and customers. “We have listings of 1 lakh offline retailers in different localities, so those who browse online but want to buy offline can be directed to these offline stores in their localities.”
He added, “Amazon.in is also listed amongst our sellers, along with thousands of other online shopping sites. Customers on our site can be directed to buy from listed sites or opt to buy those products on our site itself for a quicker and more convenient shopping experience.” Junglee partnered with classifieds site Quikr recently to allow customers the choice of buying used and second-hand products.