Amazon adds toys, health and personal care products
The global e-commerce giant continues to add categories of products, and says more will come in time for Diwali
Amazon
India on Thursday launched three new categories on its website, and
added that more will be coming soon, in time for Diwali. When Amazon.in
launched in June, it was selling books, movies and TV shows, and quickly
expanded to include electronics devices such as mobile phones, cameras
and computers and accessories. The company has now added toys, baby
products, and personal care and healthcare appliances; home and kitchen
category will be introduced soon.
Amit Agarwal,
vice-president and country manager, Amazon India, said in the last
three months since the company has been active in India, it has been
focusing on three areas “selection, cost and reliability”.
In
India, Amazon works as a managed marketplace and not a direct seller,
and Agarwal said it has grown from 100 sellers to over 500 by now, and
added that the number of sellers who are choosing Amazon’s logistics
service (called Fulfillment by Amazon) is also steadily rising.
He
added, “On the customer side, we can’t share a country break-up, but
with the rising sellers, I think you can infer that customers are also
there. Another thing, which we think is very positive, is that the
sellers feedback has been that the number of people paying via credit
cards is rising compared to cash on delivery payments, which shows
increasing confidence.”
With
the new categories, Amazon.in has added over 8,500 products, and now
claims to offer over 9 million books, over 70,000 products, and over 1.7
million e-books. Agarwal also said the response to the Kindle hardware
in India has been encouraging. While he could not share the number of
Kindles sold, he said the response has been meeting expectations. Mobile
usage of Amazon’s website might have been lower than expected though.
Agarwal said, “In a country like India you’d expect everyone to be on
mobile... but it’s been only three months and the traction on mobile is
very good. Customers are discovering it, and we are committed to the
platform, and will continue to develop it.” To that end, Amazon will be
launching an India-specific Android app soon, he added.
When
asked why these particular categories were chosen for launch at this
point, compared to ones that are more established in the Indian
e-commerce market (such as apparel), Agarwal said the company is looking
at both the ecosystem to see what is feasible, and also looking at
unmet customer demands. He added, “Amazon will continue to launch in new
categories, and we’re not chasing events with category or products. I
told my team that Diwali comes every year, we can pick the categories
where we will make an impact.”
He
also reiterated that the company still has only one active fulfilment
centre, in Mumbai, and said more would be developed over time as the
needs in India grow, adding that Amazon has a long-term plan for the
market. Asked if recent fluctuations in the rupee might affect these
plans, he said, “Our strategy is to focus on the constants for long-term
planning. If you look at a month-long or a three-month event and plan
for that, then you’re not really planning for growth.”
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