Tag: E-commerce

Amazon.in launches India’s largest Kannada Books, Movies and Music Store

BENGALURU: Lovers of Kannada literature, movies and music now have a new destination to shop! Amazon.in on the occasion of the Kannada Rajyotsava Diwas announced the launch of its Kannada Books, Movies and Music store with a wide selection of more than 7300 books, 4700 movies, and 2500 music albums available at great prices and convenience of shopping online; making it thus the largest selection in India.

“The Kannada Rajyotsava is the time when the entire state celebrates the legacy of its rich culture, festivals and architectural elegance. To commemorate this day, Amazon.in has launched the new Kannada books, movies and music store on its marketplace. This new store provides an easy & convenient access to literary works, music and popular movies in Kannada for our customers across India who need not feel deprived of enjoying them from anywhere in India,” said Samir Kumar, Director Category Management, Amazon India.

This veritable paradise of Kannada books, movies and music store offers a wide selection ranging from classics, literature, fiction, biographies, business and finance, self-help, cook books and children’s books – from leading publishers and bestselling books by extremely acclaimed authors like S L Bhyrappa, Ravi Belagere, Kuvempu, Girish Karnad, U R Ananthamurthy amongst others will be available for readers. Additionally, readers can get their hands on Kannada translations of English best sellers. The store also offers has a wide selection of books for customers who wish to hone their Kannada skills or learn other languages like English, Hindi etc. with instructions in Kannada

Kannada movie aficionados can add to their collection by choosing classic as well as modern Kannada movies that have enthralled them all these years – movies of Dr. Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Puneet Rajkumar and other veterans, as also recent famous actors and blockbuster movies. The collection offers a vast selection of movies from various genres like action, adventure, romance and drama by popular directors like Yogaraj Bhatt, Dinesh babu, Puttana Kanagal and others.

In the Amazon.in Kannada store, Kannada classical and popular music lovers can now pick up their favourite albums by Harikrishna, Hamsalekha, Ilayaaraja and others. The collection spans across all genres- Kannada Folk music, classical, devotional, harikathe and also film albums.

The store has been curated in order to help modern Kannada speaking Indians who find it difficult to source books, movies and music for their family and themselves, especially if they do not reside in their state. Now shopping for their language products has become easier than ever before.

Consumers on www.amazon.in and Amazon’s mobile shopping application can shop anywhere with ease and confidence from over 18 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 Appliance store and now Gourmet & Specialty Food store and Kids Party Supplies store. Consumers across several cities in India are increasingly enjoying Amazon.in’s guaranteed next-day delivery on nearly 400,000 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 24×7 customer service support, and a globally recognized and comprehensive 100% purchase protection provided by Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee.

November 1, 2014
SoftBank invests $627 million in Snapdeal

MUMBAI: Seeking to tap into the growing e-commerce market in India, the Japanese telecom giant SoftBank announced a $627 million investment in the home-grown retailer Snapdeal, becoming the largest investor in the company.

This is the largest investment made by a single investor in an e-commerce company in India. Other existing investors have also participated in this round with a significant undisclosed investment.

Through this strategic investment and partnership with Snapdeal, the telecom group aims at strengthening its presence in India and leveraging synergies with its network of Internet companies around the world, according to the press release issued by the e-tailer.

While on the other hand, Snapdeal, will use the investments in expanding its chain of fulfillment centres. It will also look to make 3-4 strategic acquisitions in the coming few months specifically in the area of mobile technology and is planning to set up an incubation centre to hone and harness start-up businesses in the mobile technology space within next six months.

Talking about the investment, SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said, “Since SoftBank’s foundation, our mission has been to contribute to people’s lives through the Information Revolution. We believe India is at a turning point in its development and have confidence that India will grow strongly over the next decade. As part of this belief, we intend to deploy significant capital in India over the next few years to support development of the market.”

Adding to that, SoftBank’s vice chairman Nikesh Arora reckoned, “India has the third-largest Internet user base in the world, but a relatively small online market currently. This situation means India has, with better, faster and cheaper Internet access, a big growth potential. With today’s announcement SoftBank is contributing to the development of the infrastructure for the digital future of India. We want to support the leaders and entrepreneurs of the digital future; Kunal and Rohit are two such great leaders.”

Nikesh Arora will also be joining the board of Snapdeal as part of this strategic investment by the SoftBank Group.

Morrison & Foerster LLP acted as legal advisor to advising SoftBank on India law matters.

“Our entire team at Snapdeal is thrilled and honoured to have SoftBank as a strategic partner. With the support of Son-san and Nikesh, we are confident we will further strengthen our promise to consumers and create life changing experiences for 1 million small businesses in India,” said Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl.

Founded in 2010, the company also claims to have more than 25 million registered users and more than 50,000 business sellers. Earlier this year, Snapdeal had raised $133.77 million in a round led by eBay and $105 million from institutional investors including Temasek, Myriad, Tybourne, Blackrock Inc. and Premji Invest. Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata also made a personal investment into the company.

October 28, 2014
Shah Rukh Khan joins the e-commerce wagon

MUMBAI: From industry veterans to Bollywood superstars, everyone wants to be a part of the red-hot Indian online retail market. The latest to board the e-commerce train is the King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan who has signed on as the brand ambassador for the fashion e-tailer Yepme, which is his maiden association with an online commerce player.

The brand will introduce the legendary actor who is often touted as the national style icon as its brand ambassador, through an extensive television campaign for its upcoming Autumn-Winter collection 2014.

Expressing his excitement at joining hands with Yepme.com, the baadshah of Bollywood said, “This is the first time that I am endorsing an online fashion brand and I am very excited to partner with Yepme for this! For fashion to be impactful, it has to evolve with time and maintain freshness. Yepme, with its focus on fast fashion is an extremely innovative and fashion right brand, offering the most current fashion trends. I look forward to join the fashion revolution that they have started which is taking the youth across the country by storm!”

According to media reports, the deal with the Gurgaon-based company is structured in a way that lets the actor pick up a stake in Yepme going forward.

Speaking on the announcement, Yepme.com co-founder and COO Sandeep Sharma said, “We are thrilled to have Shah Rukh on board. This association will definitely help build a strong connect between the brand and his fans across the country. Shah Rukh commands a huge fan following across all age groups in India and abroad and his presence will drastically increase the aspirational value of Yepme.”

“He is the King of hearts, extremely hardworking and well read and carries himself with a sense of style that is a class apart. His style is effortless and casual and that is what we, at Yepme are all about,” he added.

Further it is also learnt that the four-year-old company has got on board Prasoon Joshi to work on the new campaign that goes live on 10 November. Their plan is to spend Rs 15-20 crore over the next three months on its multi-media advertising campaign featuring SRK in an attempt to fight its bigger rivals.

Earlier this year, Yepme had signed some of the other known faces of Bollywood like Farhan Akhtar and Sonu Sood its brand ambassadors.

October 18, 2014
Snapdeal takes the road less travelled…

MUMBAI: Be it acquisitions, deals or launches of products, Snapdeal continues to make headlines.

While Amazon India is partnering with Future Group and Flipkart has acquired Myntra to boost the fashion retail section, Snapdeal is attempting to break the clutter by filling its basket with products from diverse categories.

In the last few weeks, the e-tailer is ventured into selling homes, two-wheelers and four-wheelers, gourmet food. It has also inked some exclusive tie-ups with electronics retailer Croma and television manufacturer VU Technologies among others. Snapdeal is also one of the sponsors for the famous reality television show, Bigg Boss 8.

“We offer a platform where anyone can come and sell or buy anything that can be sold. We are trying to replicate the offline market place in its most democratic manner possible online,” says Snapdeal offlibe marketing senior VP Maneesh Goel.

“The intention is to try and cater to every single consumer,” he adds.

Snapdeal, as a strategy, is trying to capture the entire wallet share of Indian customers and has been quite successful so far.

“Snapdeal has been one of the sites which is constantly evolving with newer ideas both in terms of products on offer and marketing strategies”, says Team Pumpkin co-founder, Swati Nathani.

According to Trust Research Advisory CEO, N Chandramouli, “This approach is done to get involved in every aspect of a customer’s purchase. All products are the same in the purchase – one pays and the other sells but with the degree of purchase involvement and the price changes. If Snapdeal is successful in smoothly operating the entire purchase cycle, they will definitely grow in terms of the bond that they share with their customers and thereby increasing trust.”

Snapdeal has managed to raise over $233 million (over Rs 1,400 crores) this year from investors including Premji Invest, Temasek and eBay Inc. Industry veteran, Ratan Tata also invested in the site, giving it his stamp of approval. According to media reports, Alibaba is also said to have forayed into the Indian e-commerce space with Snapdeal as its partners.

With its ‘bachate raho (keep saving)’ tagline and focus on unbranded products sold by small manufacturers and retailers, Snapdeal has established itself as a mass-retailer, with over half of these 50,000 merchants selling fashion and lifestyle products that account for 60 percent of its orders.

“Most categories which are generally sold on the urban arena involve middlemen and hence their value is rising. With Snapdeal foraying into the sections, the involvement of middlemen is reducing leading to fall in their value,” Goel added.

Snapdeal recently crossed $1 billion (or Rs 6,000 crore) in sales (called gross merchandise value in the online world) taking on rival Flipkart, which had achieved the target a few months ago.

The new categories such as real estate, gourmet foods and automobiles are critical for the portal. For both Tata Value Homes and the new Mahindra Scorpio, the site let users pre-book online for an amount (Rs 30,000 Tata Value Homes and Rs 20,000 for the new Mahindra Scorpio) that is much lower than required through traditional mediums such as at a car dealer’s or property sales office.

Tying up with Tata Value Homes, the e-tailer announced 85 homes, worth Rs 40 crore, were sold in six days. It also introduced a new gourmet section on the site in partnership with Sanjeev Kapoor.

According to Nathani, “Gourmet is the section which should bring the next level of revolution in the e-commerce space. After Books, Electronics, Fashion and Home, Gourmet has been one section which everyone wants to explore. The category has also been a little underplayed in the offline space and therefore, we think that this can be the game changer in the e-commerce space.”

With Diwali coming soon, the online portal is planning a huge campaign for its customers. But more than that, they are concentrating on the marketing of it.

“The campaign will last around 40-45 days. The intention is that, depending upon day to day we will be clocking around 1000-2000 ads slots everyday, the campaigns will peak on several days, overall targeting around 50,000-60,000 slots,” Goel reveals.

“Intention is to double the revenue through Diwali sales,” he added.

Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal.com, has recently reported a loss of Rs 264.6 crores for the year ended March, compared with a loss of Rs 120 crores in the previous year.

“In terms of numbers and reach, currently we would say Flipkart is the winner but with its constantly evolving strategies, we will soon see Snapdeal getting into the top spot, “Nathani opines.

The battle is a close one for now. The company is venturing into various brands from auto, electronics, mobile phones, home furnishings, kitchen appliances, beauty, footwear to clothing to get them online.

October 16, 2014
And the e-commerce war continues…

MUMBAI: The day began with one of the most interesting ad wars on the front pages of leading newspapers of recent times and ended, on one hand with Flipkart apologising to its customers even after clocking $100 million in 10 hours while on the other hand Snapdeal, making a crore per minute, scoring its highest sale in a single day.

Even though the fight for the market share between e-retailers has been going on for some time now, the day 6 October seems to have made history in the e-commerce space with discounts and deals never heard of and the impossible to miss marketing by the e-commerce sites. The day signals the start of a marketing war that is set to intensify in the months to come.

In a bid to differentiate itself, Flipkart launched the ‘big billion day’ sale along with a matching television ad campaign for the past two weeks. It was projected as the mother of all flash sales, with the aim of surpassing the turnovers of multiple day sales in a single day. Though it did not turn out the way it was supposed to.

The sale not only affected the home-grown brand Flipkart, it also impacted its competitors like Amazon and Snapdeal majorly along with Indian retailers like Future group. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has also launched a probe into the sites and the government may also launch a separate policy for the sector soon.

According to Trust Research Advisory (TRA) CEO N Chandramouli the Big Billion day sale was merely a catalyst to a situation that has already been simmering for a while. “It is essential that the government looks into the matter as with the absence of legislative measures the online retailers exist in a state of anarchy,” he says.

Talking about the Big billion day fiasco, Chandramouli reckons, “The Big Billion day fiasco definitely has coloured the perception of people negatively. If this has not awoken all the e-commerce brands to ensuring they tighten their systems before embarking on such an offer day, then there will still be trouble.”

“On the other hand, this fiasco must have also strengthened the resolve of competing brands to prove that they will stand true to their promises, ensuring that their promise to the consumers is always met,” he adds.

Chandramouli feels that mature players like Amazon were the gainers in this fiasco backed by their years of experience and learning. “Everyone other than Flipkart has benefitted from this fiasco. The competition is being trusted more and Flipkart’s stranglehold is being broken, the consumer has got some good deals and they benefit too,” he points out.

Team Pumpkin business head Swati Nathani has a different view. She says, “We did see complete social media backlash for Flipkart on 6 October and assumed that the e-commerce giant will definitely not achieve the targets set by itself. However, at the end of the day, we did see Flipkart breaking all records and emerging as a clear winner. Despite that, the co founders sent an apology note to all the customers. In our opinion, Flipkart has gained more than it has lost after the fiasco.”

When it came to ads, none of the e-tailers were behind. With Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Day’ sale ads flooding the pages of major Indian newspapers, Amazon’s response alluded to India’s recent successes in space with its “Mission to Mars” campaign, while Snapdeal tried to play it cool with a pitch that ran with the tagline ‘For others it’s a big day. For us, today is no different’.

The statistics show that a combination of #Flipkart and #BigBillionDay received approximately 57,600 mentions versus 15,000 mentions for #CheckSnapdealToday. #Flipkart and #BigBillionDay collectively received approximately 2,137 million impressions across Twitter, while #CheckSnapDeal received around 859 million impressions. Emotions favoured Snapdeal where it received only seven per cent negative sentiment mentions compared to 23 per cent for Flipkart. The conclusion could be that while Flipkart got the numbers, Snapdeal, even with the smaller numbers it could manage, kept customers happy.

And now, even after the dust has settled on the 6 October fiasco, the ad wars continue. As Amazon now comes up with its latest Diwali Dhamaka sale, Snapdeal continues with its trending #CheckSnapdealToday tagline. Full page back to back ads can be viewed in leading newspapers like the Times of India.

Even as customers continue to shop with sites offering astonishing discounts, the retailers and the government have started expressing concerns over huge discounts being offered by e-commerce firms.

While Chandramouli believes that there are only two possibilities in such cases, firstly that the offer is coming from manufacturers or the e-tailers are absorbing the losses of the discounts.

“Either way, it is not sustainable. If the objective is to pulling in new e-buyers by offering them unheard of discounts, it will help, but it only builds the entire market, not loyalty to any particular brand,” he opines.

Nathani reveals that the current focus of e-commerce players is more to gain the market share in customer mindsets rather than profitability. “Jabong has incurred a net loss of Rs 293 crore in the last fiscal year. So we would say that the e-tailers will even sell products at a loss to ensure that customers keep returning to them. Customers, therefore, are at the best spot right now in terms of advantages,” she says.

But even with the losses, the discounts do not stop. “E-commerce is a rapidly growing sector and often due to the absence of a physical manifestation of the store, online advertisers tend to promise in superlatives,” says Chandramouli.

Adding to the same, Nathani reckons, “Customers expectations have definitely risen in terms of discounts. For eg Snapdeal offered iPhone 5S for Rs 24,999 in its newspaper ad and now, this price has become benchmark for the customers who are looking out to buy the phone.”

According to the pre-dominant consumer sentiment, Flipkart which holds 50 per cent market share in the Indian market may have to now work harder to get its back after the fiasco.

Though, she clearly believes that In terms of numbers and reach, Flipkart is the clear winner currently. “But with the constantly evolving strategies, they see Snapdeal getting closer to the top spot soon.”

But with Diwali coming near, it would now be interesting to see how the #bigbillionday fiasco will or will not affect the sales of the portals and how prepared they are to give their customers a good time. But till they #happyshopping.

October 14, 2014
Future group inks pact with Amazon India

MUMBAI: Future Group has entered into a strategic partnership with the online retail giant Amazon India under which the e-tailer will sell the retail group’s products online.

The deal will leverage the product knowledge, brand portfolio and sourcing base of the Future Group, and the e-commerce platform, customer base and reach of Amazon.in. The deal comes soon after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos visit to India during which he met Future Group group CEO Kishore Biyani.

Talking about the collaboration Biyani comments, “The bottom line in each of our retail success stories is ‘know your customer’. Insights into the soul of Indian consumers – how they operate, think, dream and live – helps us innovate and create functionally differentiating products and experiences. Partnership with Amazon, which obsesses to be earth’s most customer centric company, will enable us to leverage their strengths, investments and innovations in technology to reach out to wider set of consumers across India.”

According to the joint statement issued by the companies, the partnership will initially focus on the Future’s Group fashion brands and will subsequently cover all other categories. The company’s current portfolio has over 40 brands and around 10,000 unique styles that will be exclusively retailed online through Amazon.in platform. Once operational, customers on Amazon.in platform can buy Future Group’s fashion brands Lee Cooper, Converse, Indigo Nation, Scullers or Jealous21, among others.

Moreover, Amazon India will also assist Future Group in accelerating new product development in categories that are currently not served by traditional retailers.

Commenting on the latest alliance in the e-commerce space, Trust Research Advisory (TRA) CEO N Chandramouli reckons, “Today the e-commerce space is no longer limited by geographic boundaries in a sense as fixed as it used to be a few years ago. With its current offering Amazon already caters to a massive Indian.

“Future group which has been a leading retailer in the country understands the soul of Indian consumers. As one of India’s retail pioneers with multiple retail formats, they connect a diverse and passionate community of Indian buyers, sellers and businesses. The collective impact on business is staggering: Around 300 million customers walk into Future group stores each year and choose products and services supplied by over 30,000 small, medium and large entrepreneurs and manufacturers from across India, so with the Amazon tie up, this number is set to grow and venture into the on line spectrum,” he adds.

Partnership between the two organisations will bring together the best of consumer insight from the online and offline world and create the omni channel approach to serving customers, according to the company statement.

According to Team Pumpkin co-founder Swati Nathani, “The partnership is definitely a win win situation for both the companies. Amazon will get the support of millions of Indian consumers who have already trusted Future Group brands and Future Group will foray into e-commerce space again, but this time with the support of global leaders in this category. This partnership will not only lead to more people to purchase their favourite brands online, but will also get another door for Future Group to generate .”

“This definitely calls for more competition and harder marketing techniques. Future Group has been at the forefront of offline retail in India and its presence on amazon.in shall definitely be a cause of worry to some other leading e-commerce players,” she adds.

Amazon.in will also collaborate with Future Group brands in promoting the existing and new brands in markets, explore co-branding opportunities and accelerate new product development in categories which are currently not served by retailers. The companies will also explore synergies in areas such as distribution network, customer acquisition and cross promotions, the statement added.

Commenting on the new partnership, Amazon India vice president and country manager Amit Agarwal said, “We are excited to collaborate, leverage each other’s unique strengths and serve customers across India. The product portfolio of Future Group, their innate understanding of the Indian consumer mind set and our ability to serve and deliver a convenient, easy, trusted and reliable delivery experience to a nationwide set of customers is a win win for all.”

Amazon.in started its Diwali sale on 10 Oct, but did not go with the kind of heavy discounts that Flipkart and Snapdeal did last week.

“This is the coming together of two trusted brands, Amazon and Future. Even more, they are in complementary spaces of businesses which is bound to create a strength much larger than the sum of the individuals. Not only will Amazon get leadership due to the extremely well oiled supply chain, but Future will get a business outlet, that may be larger than many of its retail stores together. I am sure the competition is beating themselves as to why they didn’t think of this one,” Chandramouli comments.

“The partnership must not be seen as an attempt at ‘indianisation’ of Amazon. It is much more than that – this partnership stands on extremely strong business logic,” he adds.

Future Retail is the flagship company of Future Group and owns the Big Bazaar chain of retail stores. Future Lifestyle Fashions has a portfolio of over two dozen fashion and lifestyle brands.

Biyani recently criticised Flipkart and other e-commerce retailers in India for the deep discounts they offered during a promotional sale for the festival of Diwali, saying it would hurt other retail channels.

“Kishore Biyani reportedly lashed out against Flipkart.com, due to selling of goods below cost price, which according to him was unfair. He doesn’t seem to be against the e-commerce concept per se. Future Group already had its own portal www.futurebazaar.com, which was one of the first online e-commerce portals in India, “Nathani opines.

The Future Group’s electronics store, Ezone, already has an online presence and adopts a hybrid approach to sales involving both online as well as traditional brick and mortar stores. The group has also been speaking about ramping up its presence online.

In September, Tata Group Company Infiniti Retail, which operates consumer durables and information technology (IT) retail chain Croma, and Snapdeal.com also announced a similar strategic partnership through which goods available at Croma stores were made available for purchase through Snapdeal.com.

Amazon chief Bezos, during his visit to India, spoke about the potential he saw for the fashion industry in the online space and the deal with Future Group could help boost its battle against Indian competitors like Flipkart that acquired online fashion retailer Myntra. Amazon is also reportedly in talks to acquire online fashion retailer Jabong.

October 13, 2014
Diwali Dhamaka Week flags off on Amazon.in

MUMBAI: The Diwali Dhamaka Week flagged off today morning on Amazon.in. Every day of the week, there will be great deals across hundreds of products from all categories enabling Amazon.in customers to make great savings on their Diwali shopping every hour. Amazon.in will be introducing new Lighting Deals every hour starting 7am to 6pm. In addition, the next seven days will also witness launch of new categories, access to exclusive selection and many new surprises each day.

“Customers can look forward to Amazon.in as their one-stop Diwali shopping destination this week. Each of the seven days, we will offer our customers in India the great savings on thousands of products every hour,” says Amit Agarwal, Country Manager & VP, Amazon India. “We have been receiving an overwhelming response from customers since morning for the deals & offers that are being introduced every hour as part of the Diwali Dhamaka Week,” adds Amit.

Some of the exciting offers that customers can look forward to in the Diwali Dhamaka Week include –

•         Rs. 2000 off on Kindle Paperwhite
•         Flat 20% off on laptops
•         Flat 30% off on mobiles
•         FLAT 40% off or more on luggage & bags from brands like American Tourister, Wildcraft, Puma and more
•         Flat 25% off or more on Home & Kitchen products
•         Upto 70% off on Books
•         Flat 55% off on Handbags
•         Flat 50% off on Shoes
•         Flat 60% , 50%, 40% off on Men, Women & Kids wear respectively
•         Flat 50% off on Jewellery
•         Flat 50% off or more on 1000+ watches from Timex , Giordano, Maxima Eg0 and more
•         Upto 40% off on Video Games
•         Flat 40% off on Sports, Fitness & Outdoor products
And more
Some important deals coming up tomorrow include –
•         25% off on Philips HD4419 2300-Watt Smooth and Ribbed Plate Table Grill
•         23% off on Samsung Multi Function Wireless Printer
•         30% off on Easyfit Adult Diapers (Large)
•         34% off on Canon Lide 110 Flatbed Scanner
•         Philips HL 7720 750-Watt 3-Jar Mixer Grinder
All deals are available for a limited time and till stocks last. Customers can join the waitlist on deals that are 100% claimed and Amazon.in will alert them when that deal becomes available again.

Special festive packaging

Amazon.in has introduced special festive design packaging for this Diwali season. The festive design packaging has been launched in select but most frequently used sizes. Customers can shop for Diwali gifts on Amazon.in and get them delivered in these special packages without requiring to gift wrap them.

Exclusive Offers

Customers continue to enjoy exclusive access to some of the most sought-after products like the Micromax Canvas A1 with Android One™, the Canon Powershot SX520 camera, Blackberry Passport, Hidesign’s new ICONIC range for both men & women, Timex Weekender collection of watches, audio products from House of Marley, etc.
Customers should download the Amazon Shopping app and visit often to keep track of exciting offers every hour!
Women customers have a lot going for them this Karwa Chauth as Amazon.in has curated a special Ethnic Jewellery for Karwa Chauthand a Jewellery Gift Store for them this week to celebrate the festival

October 11, 2014
Amazon reportedly in talks to buy Jabong in India

MUMBAI: With the rivalry rising in the e-commerce space, it looks like the Indian arm of Amazon is ready to heat it up a notch. The e-tailer is reportedly in talks with Indian fashion site Jabong to acquire it.

According to a report in a leading daily, the talks are at a preliminary stage and despite being valued at around $500 million in a recent regulatory filing, Jabong is holding out for $700 million as it reports to have multiple suitors.

Denying commenting on the speculations, Amazon said, “We do not comment on anything we may or may not do in the future.”

The report quoted a person working with the US e-tailer as saying that Jabong was ideal for acquisition since Flipkart had acquired Myntra in May for around $330 million.

Flipkart-Myntra reportedly has 50 per cent of India’s online fashion retail market share with Jabong at 25 per cent.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bozos had promised to invest $2 billion in its India operations with a big chunk of it going towards acquisitions.

Fashion e-tailer Jabong is part of a global group after its investors German venture capital group Rocket Internet and with Swedish investor Kinnevik announcing a merger of five emerging market fashion start-ups. The merged entity is called Global Fashion Group (GFG) and worth about worth 2.7 billion euros or around Rs 21,000 crore.

The company’s CEO Arun Chandra Mohan has also been pretty optimistic about the company’s outlook and had said in a recent interview to the paper said, “I believe the valuation of my company is going to be significant. We are going to be a billion dollar business.”

Amazon India started offering fashion products on its marketplace in May, and an acquisition offers a swift route to scaling up. In the US, Amazon chose a similar strategy to improve its fashion credentials by buying Zappos in 2009.

October 10, 2014
Amazon to get its first physical store soon

MUMBAI: Amazon.com, the online giant may soon open its first physical store, at a prime site in Midtown Manhattan, according to The Wall Street Journal.

It would be the first brick-and-mortar outlet in its 20-year history and attempt by Amazon to connect with customers in the physical world.

Expected to open in time for the holiday shopping season, the store may also display Amazon’s proprietary products, such as its Kindle line of e-readers and tablets, Fire smartphones and video-streaming boxes. If the store takes off, Amazon may also expand to other cities, the Journal reported.

The leading e-commerce platform plans to open its first full-fledged store across from the Empire State Building, at 7 West 34th Street, the report added. The site will double as a mini-warehouse to support same-day delivery, returns and order pickups within New York.

A store would mark a significant move for an online retailer that has capitalised on its Internet business model and the cost-savings of doing away with a vast physical network.

In recent years however, the company’s CEO Jeff Bezos has led a number of initiatives that have mandated a physical presence in cities. The company has also on occasion set up pop-up stores in malls, though those have been rare.

Amazon also has set up large metal lockers in convenience stores and parking garages around the country to accommodate deliveries and returns. The lockers don’t offer same-day delivery, however. The lockers have been a popular option, and Amazon has expanded them to a number of cities, including overseas, after initially just offering them in Seattle.

October 10, 2014
Future Group to now tie up with an e-commerce site

MUMBAI: A day after lashing out at e-commerce sites such as Flipkart for undercutting prices, Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani said that he would announce his ‘exclusive e-commerce partner’ soon, according to media reports.

As per the reports, Biyani agreed that he met Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in Delhi last week, hinting that he might partner with Amazon to sell its private labels.

“We discussed many things like the macro environment, the prime minister and so on,” Biyani told a leading business newspaper talking about his meeting with Bezos.

“We can learn a lot of things from e-commerce players regarding their supply chain and logistics, sourcing and so on,” Biyani added.

The buzz is also that Biyani is expected to meet other e-commerce players for a tie-up.

The group would first take its fashion products online, followed by FMCG, general merchandise, food and others, he further said.

The reports also add, “While tying up with e-commerce portal is a ‘brand strategy’ Biyani said, the group’s own omni channel strategy, set to go live after Diwali, is a retail strategy or extension of his physical stores. He said the group’s omni channel strategy will work simultaneously along with retailing on e-commerce partner.”

As part of the omni strategy, the group’s electronics format, Ezone, is expected to go online first, followed by premium food chain Foodhall and hypermarket chain Big Bazaar, a group executive further revealed.

Biyani recently came out strongly against the strategy of e-com firms, accusing them of predatory pricing backed with foreign funding.

Media reports quoted him saying, “Laws in this country do not allow sales below cost price. This is anti-competitive. We (at Big Bazaar and other retail brands) never sell below cost price.”

The future group also launched ad blitz, lashing out at the e-commerce portals with taglines like, “No deal can win the trust of a billion people, you have to earn it.”

His comments came after Flipkart announced that it clocked record sales of $100 million (Rs 610 crore) in just 10 hours of its Big Billion Day sale on 6 October. Rival Snapdeal also claimed to have matched it with its chief saying the portal saw sales of over Rs 1 crore per minute.

But the Flipkart Big Billion Day was far from perfect, the e-commerce portal later apologised for the glitches encountered admitting its ‘failure’ in living upto the expectations of its customers. Acknowledging that it was not adequately prepared for the sheer scale of the event, Flipkart promised to come better prepared next time.

Targeting the e-retailer after it released the apology letter, Future group released another ad with the tagline ‘You can’t take a nation for granted even for a day.’

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) too has expressed concerns over huge discounts being offered by e-commerce firms. It has asked the Commerce and Industry Ministry to take steps to monitor and regulate online businesses.

October 9, 2014