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Tag: Samir Kumar

  • Amazon to start a wholesale portal in India?

    Amazon to start a wholesale portal in India?

    MUMBAI: After launching an e-retailer Amazon India and a product-comparison site Junglee.com, the US online retail giant is all set to launch a new portal in India.

     

    According to a report by economic times, the Seattle-based company is preparing to launch a portal for wholesale merchants in India, the first country outside the US where such an initiative is being planned.

     

    The report also said that the wholesale portal could be launched as early as next year and the team has been working on this secret project for the past few months. Talks with potential suppliers and the hiring process have also begun. The initiative could be led by Samir Kumar, who is currently director of category management and the team will report to Amazon India head Amit Agarwal.

     

    “It will be similar to what Walmart is doing online in India and what Alibaba does in China,” sources said to economic times.

     

    Amazon refused to comment to the report. An Amazon India spokeswoman said, “As a policy, we do not comment on anything that we may or may not do in the future.”

     

    Amazon’s online retail business has grown rapidly since its debut in India. It is already the biggest competition to the home-grown e-commerce site Flipkart. Just a day after Flipkart raised $1 billion, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon is going to invest $2 billion in its Indian arm.

     

    The India wholesale portal is said to be similar to AmazonSupply, its online site in the US focused on business consumers. The India platform will target small and medium enterprises. However, it is not clear what categories of products will the company sell under its wholesale platform. For instance, AmazonSupply does not sell apparel and other soft lines such as furnishings.

     

    Launched in 2012, AmazonSupply sells products ranging from office supplies to electrical equipment.

     

    Since June last year, Amazon in India has set up a network of seven warehouses across the country and has over 8,500 merchants selling products in over 28 categories on its platform.

     

    Recently, US retail giant Walmart also estimated that India’s wholesale market will grow to $700 billion by 2020 from the current $300 billion. Earlier this year, it launched a business-focused site bestpricewholesale.co.in for its wholesale club members in Lucknow and Hyderabad.

     

    It is estimated that the retail market in India currently at $525 billion will double in size by 2020.

  • Philips teams up with Disney India

    Philips teams up with Disney India

    MUMBAI:  Philips Lighting India has announced the creation of an imaginative LED lighting portfolio offering with innovative, inspiring and playful lighting products designed to bring the Disney magic to life for kids and their families. The range will be available exclusively on Amazon India’s e-commerce platform.

     

    The new Philips and Disney imaginative lighting range of products combines Philips’ ground-breaking and meaningful innovation in lighting with the magic of Disney characters and story telling to transform a child’s bedroom into a more imaginative place for them to read, play and sleep. It represents the latest achievement in Philips’ journey to transform the home lighting experience and make it digital.

     

    Philips Lighting India president Nirupam Sahay commented, “The blend of Philips’ expertise in lighting and Disney’s beloved characters will transform kid’s rooms to a more imaginative place for them to learn, play and sleep. The e-commerce tie-up with Amazon will help us in making these digitally interactive lighting solutions easily accessible to our target consumer, who is online most of the time and likes to shop without hassle.”

     

    “This product range is a perfect example of how Disney storytelling can extend into children’s bedrooms through an innovative and compelling product offering. We are thrilled to work with Philips to help create comforting reading and bedtime environments for families,” added Disney Consumer Products vice president and head Abhishek Maheshwari.

     

    “The launch of Philips Disney Imaginative Lighting range exclusively on Amazon India is in line with our vision of enabling our customers in India to find, discover and buy anything that they desire online and provide them a unique, delightful and trustworthy shopping experience. This exclusive partnership also serves as a testimony of our commitment to offer our customers products of superior design at exceptional prices,” said Amazon India director category management Samir Kumar.

     

    The Philips Disney imaginative lighting range has been created to inspire children’s play and magical family moments as well as provide comfort to kids through Disney characters they know and love. The range also includes lights featuring ‘light that comforts’, such as nightlights that emit a gentle glow, to products designed to help promote a regular sleep pattern for children by letting them know when it’s time to get up.

     

    The portfolio is designed for kids of ages three to seven years and it has been designed with safety in mind through each product’s construction and the materials used. Smart Philips LED means the lamps are robust, stay cool to the touch and are kind to little hands – with the added bonus that they do not have to be changed often due to their extremely long-life. Each light is also designed to ensure there are no small parts or sharp edges to worry about, and cables can be tidied away using Velcro cable binders.