Amazon India appears to be growing faster than overall online retail in India. Jeff Bezos-led company claims to have registered 88 per cent growth in gross sales volume for the June quarter. This growth is likely to have come from exclusive partnership with smartphone makers and erosion of Snapdeal’s market share.
Amazon India has witnessed an increase of about 60 per cent by value in the same quarter compared with a year earlier, as per Mint report.
“Amazon’s growth has been largely driven by both existing and new customers, with key market share gains in categories such as smartphones— where we have won key exclusive deals with brands such as Samsung, Moto and Redmi— and large appliances. We also continue to be leaders on key metrics such as website and mobile app visits, which is testament to our strong brand recall and loyalty among our customers. Over the past one year, most of our key initiatives—including the launch of Prime—has helped expand the e-commerce market in India, and we will continue to invest strongly to grow our business in India,” said an Amazon India spokeswoman to Mint.
Importantly, home-grown e-commerce major Flipkart also has grown with fast pace during the same period. Latest growth rates of Amazon and Flipkart imply that they are fiercely competing against each-other for grabbing market share. Snapdeal’s inability to raise funds also contributed them to gain quick market share.
So far, Amazon has poured in billion of dollars to over-power arch-rival Flipkart and Snapdeal. With the investment of Rs 1,680 crore in Amazon Seller Services this July, Seattle-based e-commerce major had deployed over Rs 13,800 crore ($2.1billion) in its Indian entity.
Last month, the company infused Rs 130 crore into its payments entity, Amazon Pay India. It also launched wallet – Amazon Pay wallet as a payment option for buying products on Amazon as well as other platforms in the same month.
A month prior, it invested Rs 341 crore in Amazon Wholesale India. Amazon Pay wallet as a payment option for buying products on Amazon as well as other platforms.
While both Flipkart and Amazon have been reporting strong sales growth, the online retail market in India continues to struggle. According to RedSeer Management Consulting report, in the June quarter, shoppers bought goods worth $15.5 billion on an annualised basis. It implies growth of just 5 per cent from the March quarter, and an increase of 19 per cent from the year ago period, RedSeer data reveals.
