American ecommerce giant Amazon launched its Global Seller programme for Indian sellers in May 2015 with 200 merchants and 2 countries (UK and US) onboard. By January 2016, the number of sellers enrolled in this initiative reached 6000.
In just 6 months, the number has doubled with 12,000 merchants selling in nine international countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico and Spain, via Amazon’s global seller platform.
Gopal Pillai, Director & GM, Seller Services at Amazon India credits this growth to the rising demand for Indian products in the global market.
He affirmed,
“In recent years, the growth of global e-commerce has made export of products an intensifying force in India’s foreign trade, offering millions of enterprises, most of which are small and medium businesses (SMBs), an opportunity to expand beyond the domestic market. There is a great demand for Indian products, not only from the millions of Indians living abroad but global consumers across ethnicities.”
Global customers lap up fashion jewellery, wooden handicrafts, ethnic wear, and health & wellness products according to the marketplace.
Amazon’s global presence and popularity gives it an edge over national players Flipkart and Snapdeal. By allowing local merchants to reach 304 million active buyers across the globe, the American etailer is bound to attract more sellers.
Besides seller initiatives, the US-based marketplace is also working on a global shipping and logistics network.
“It might not make sense for every seller, but those who have a product that has a global demand will gain from this initiative. It also creates a differentiator from Flipkart or Snapdeal who do not have a global audience. Indian fashion and handicrafts have a great demand among not only Indians living abroad, but others as well,” according to Harminder Sahni, Founder and MD of consulting firm Wazir Advisors.
While vendors are miffed with Snapdeal and Flipkart, Amazon has managed to increase its seller base and become most preferred marketplace for merchants.
Surprisingly even Flipkart’s ex- Chief Product Officer Punit Soni believes that as of now, Amazon is the best stock to buy. The former Flipkart employee also said a thing or two about Amazon Prime.
In series of tweets, Soni wrote,
“If I was forced to invest all my money in one company today, it would be Amazon. Killer instinct, incredibly long view, deep product/tech. You gotta come to the US market to see Amazon’s dominance. Regardless of India where the jury is out, Amazon is the stock to buy!”
The American etailer is getting support from sellers, buyers and even ex-employees of rival companies. But like Soni said, in India the jury is still out.
Editor team is specialized in introducing the marketplace content targeting the Indian online sellers. They plan and coordinate to bring the appealing content for the small businesses on how to partner with the e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and strategies for improving their online business.
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