Amazon to expand seller base through Junglee

Taking a leaf from Flipkart’s book, Amazon wants to push for more offline sellers to get on board its ecommerce platform. Presently, Amazon is extending its customer reach in India through two routes. One is the obvious Amazon.in platform that is fast catching up with competitors in the online retail industry in India. The other, more clandestine method is through the products listed on Junglee– which is a product comparison site owned by Amazon.

With its new plans for progress, Amazon is inviting sellers from small offline general stores to list their products on Junglee, which can then be purchased by customers. This is currently available only in seven cities New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Chennai. The delivery method will again be split two ways- the customer either has the option to pick up the product from the physical store itself, or to get the product shipped by the seller.

The general manager of Junglee.com, Mahesh Nerurkar is extremely positive about the profitability of such a venture, both for the sellers as well as the comparison website.  “The potential is huge and plans are evolving right now. We are looking at Junglee as a profit centre,” he explained, clarifying that Junglee and Amazon will run as independent businesses, though with symbiotic business strategies.

Earlier, we had reported how Flipkart wanted more small sellers to get onboard as well. However, Flipkart is focusing more on producers of the goods- such as craftsmen and artisans; whereas Amazon is looking to tie-up with those involved in small business enterprises, not necessarily creating those products. Even Snapdeal wants to push for more Micro, Small and Medium businesses to get online.

Looks like the new motto of online marketplaces is, Seller is King!