Amazon.in Emerges as India’s Largest Online Store in 2014

In 2014, the second year of its operation, Amazon.in emerged as India’s largest online store. It launched 24 new stores, increasing its selection to over 19 million products, and grew its seller base exponentially to more than 16,000 sellers.

“It has been quite an exciting year and as a team we are very humbled by the response from our sellers and customers alike. It has been gratifying to offer our customers, from across the length and breadth of the country, a wide selection from several new and unique categories and some exciting exclusive products. We also introduced ‘same day’, ‘release day’ and ‘scheduled delivery’ services to meet customer expectations,” said Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Manager, Amazon India.

“We are especially proud of the success our sellers have had on the platform. Our seller group which has one crore plus monthly sales grew by 50% this year. We remain committed to enable more and more sellers, especially Indian SMEs, to grow profitably in the new digital age and explore opportunities to provide them easy and cost effective access to both domestic as well as global markets,” he added.

Key Highlights of 2014:

• New store launches: Amazon.in launched 24 new stores including the Gourmet & Specialty Foods, Pet Supplies, Party Supplies, Musical Instruments, Office & Stationary Supplies and the most recent Precious Jewellery store.

• Amazon Exclusive store:Brands are increasingly choosing Amazon.in as a preferred online partner. The ‘Exclusive Store’ currently features over 2000 products that are only available on Amazon.in. Some of the brands include the OnePlus One smartphone, X Box 360, Coke Zero, Victorinox travel gear, The Trunk Label, Canon Pixma MG 5670 printers and many others.

• Amazon.in witnessed huge traction from non-metro cities which now contribute to nearly 50% of the orders received. 

• Anytime, Anywhere Shopping:Today, nearly 50% of the traffic on Amazon.in comes from mobiles.

- Some exotic products like Newby Flowering tea were ordered from places like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, etc. to Bhatinda, Hoshiyarpur, Chamarajanagar, Tadepalligudem (Andhra Pradesh), Khelmati (Assam) and many other towns.  

- Orders for food products for birds, Turtles and Guinea pigs came from Nadiad, Guntur, Vishakhapatnam, Nagpur, Pondicherry, etc.

- Customers from remote regions ordered unique selectionssuch as musical instruments were ordered from Rajahmundry in rural Andhra Pradesh, Bokaro & Hazaribhag in Jharkhand.

• Amazon in partnership with QwikCilver launched the Amazon.in Gift Cards, a customized, personalized and multi-lingual cards store which is available in 9 Indian languages and in more than 200 designs for customers for special and memorable occasions and achievements in a person’s life.

• In the books category, Amazon.in launched threeregional language book stores- Hindi, Tamil and Kannadawhich have found a huge audience, especially innon-metro cities where regional books featured in the top ten best sellers list. The best example is the translated version of Amish Tripathi’s ‘Shiva Trilogy’ that continues to be a bestseller in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi as well as Kannada. ‘The Secret’, in its Tamil translation, topped the language books list in terms of sales with over 1425 units.

• Amazon.in also launchedHindi language phone support for customersenabling customers to select their preferred language option on the Contact Us page or through the Toll free & DID number.

• Enabling Sellers for the Digital Economy: Today, Amazon.in is unique in offering the most comprehensive suiteof services for sellers of any size or in stage of their life Amazon.in launched Self Service Registration and Amazon Easy Ship - two seller-specific innovations - this year. 

- In the second half of this year, Amazon announced the launch of the ‘Pay with Amazon’ service to  further aid and support the growth and integration of small and medium businesses in the new digital economy, and provide for sellers and customers  a ‘trusted’ payment bridge.

- Amazon Easy Ship, an assisted shipping service and an innovation for India, today accounts for over 15% of all units ordered on Amazon.in. This service is spread across 284 cities for sellers to effectively manage their shipping needs.

- Through Self Service Registration (SSR), highly motivated and good sellers - irrespective of their size, location and size of the product catalogue - can start their business on Amazon.in even in a day, using self-service. Over thousands of sellers from more than 700 Indian cities across cities in India including Ladakh, Goa, Aurangabad, Guwahati, Indore, Surat, Salem, Darbhanga, Bhilai, Karur, Panipat, Anand, Aurangabad, Udaipur and many more have opted to join the Amazon.in platform via this route.

• Storage capacity: This year, Amazon.in’s storage capacity increased from 150,000 sq ft to over half a million sq ft by setting up new Fulfillment Centers in 7 Indian statesincluding Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan – spreading its network across India. There are now 8 FCs operational in India.In 12 months, the in-stock selection has increased by 400% and today over half a million FBA products are eligible for next day delivery across hundreds of pin codes in India.

• Fast Delivery: More than 60% of its customers’ demand is now eligible for next-day shipping on products fulfilled by Amazon. Same Day Delivery, Scheduled Delivery as well as Release Day Delivery (increasingly popular in consumer electronics category) was also introduced this year. Amazon.in has the ability to service over 19,000 pin codes across the country.

• Spreading Cheer: Launched ‘Gift a smile’ program. 25 NGOs working with underprivileged children across the country have created their wish lists on Amazon.in. Till date, customers have gifted thousands of smiles worth lakhs of rupees to beneficiaries through this program. 

Consumers on www.amazon.in and Amazon’s mobile shopping application can shop anywhere with ease and confidence from over half a million products across a broad range of departments including Books; eBooks & Tablets; Movies & TV shows; Kindle Devices, Computers & Accessories; Mobiles & Accessories; Consumer Electronics; Toys & Games; Baby Products; Health and Personal Care products; Watches; Fashion Jewelry; Home & Kitchen products; Beauty Products; Video Games; Music; Luggage & Bags; Handbags & Clutches; Sports, Fitness & Outdoor equipment; Shoes; Men’s, Women’s & Kid’s wear; Pet Supplies; Gift Cards; Large Appliances, Gourmet & Specialty Foods, Kids Party Supplies, Musical Instruments & Professional Audio; Office and Stationary Supplies store and now Precious Jewellery store. Consumers across several cities in India are increasingly enjoying Amazon.in’s guaranteed next-day delivery on over a million products fulfilled by Amazon.

All Consumers on www.amazon.in benefit from a safe and secure ordering experience, convenient electronic payments, Cash on Delivery, Amazon’s 24x7 customer service support, and a globally recognized and comprehensive 100% purchase protection provided by Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee.

About Amazon.in

The Amazon.in marketplace is operated by Amazon Seller Services Private Ltd, an affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Amazon.in seeks to build the most customer-centric online destination for customers to find and discover virtually anything they want to buy online by giving them more of what they want – vast selection, low prices, fast and reliable delivery, and a trusted and convenient experience; and provide sellers with a world-class e-commerce platform.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.