Online retailer Amazon launched its
India marketplace, 'Amazon.in', on Wednesday, offering books, movies and
television shows for sale.
According to
industry watchers, it notched up nearly 10,000 orders on the first day of
operations. In this current marketplace model however, Amazon will not
own any merchandise sold but will act as platform for any retailer who wishes
to sell his products.
Amazon.in is
a trusted and meaningful sales channel for retailers of all sizes across india,
enabling them to succeed and efficiently grow their business online.
To
start with, Amazon.in has over 12,000 movie and television titles and 7 million
book titles for purchase. It plans to expand soon into categories such as
cameras and mobile phones.
The
new marketplace model allows the company to sidestep regulatory hurdles that
prevent foreign retailers from owning an Indian arm for direct sales.
Amazon.in
will not only compete with Indian online shopping services such as Flipkart,
HomeShop18 and Snapdeal but will also have to take on eBay.in, that runs on a
similar model.
Amazon's
India service begins with a limited offering in two categories - Books and
Movies & TV - but the company says additional categories would be added
soon.
Amazon is
also introducing two new programmes, 'Sell on Amazon' and 'Fulfilment by
Amazon', for Indian sellers. Amazon.in is operated by Amazon Seller Services
Private Ltd, an affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.in
provides retailers access to the company's fulfilment services, which allow
shoppers to pay for items after they've been delivered.
In a
statement on Wednesday, the company announced the launch of Amazon.in,
featuring over 7 million print books spanning over 200 categories, and over
12,000 English and Hindi movies and TV shows.
Unlike
Amazon sites in other countries, the site is strictly for third-party sellers,
according to a CNET report. The Indian site will not be selling Amazon own
inventory due to the country's regulations restricting multibrand retailers
from selling their own products online, it noted.
Instead,
Amazon will act as a fulfillment agent for hundreds of sellers across India.
Sellers can send their products across India from the company's fulfilment
center located on the outskirts of Mumbai, from where they are packaged and
shipped out by Amazon.
The US
company has been pressing officials to allow it to launch its full Amazon.com
service in India. Amazon Global Vice-President Paul E. Misener met with
country’s Commerce Minister Anand Sharma in February to put the issue on
the agenda. Misener said the meeting covered “all kinds of issues” and
that the firm is “trying to find a better way to serve our Indian customers,
both sellers and buyers”.
The timing
of that news, a day before Amazon.in’s launch, is almost certainly related. The
new service will allow Amazon to learn more about Indian e-commerce market and
consumer habits before the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) restrictions
are (inevitably) lifted for Web-based retailers.
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