Amazon has invested $500 million in India to enter the online packaged food delivery business, which will sell more of the local produce as compared to other packaged items. The company doesn’t have a retail store in India yet, and is planning to open one quite soon.
The Seattle-based company unveiled ‘Amazon Go’ which was touted to be the future of shopping. From new reports and tips, it seems like Amazon is going to launch the next chain of similar retail stores in India this year or next year.
According to a report by the ET, a person saw the application filed by Singapore-based Amazon Corporate Holding Pvt Ltd, which will hold 99 per cent of the proposed entity with the rest owned by Amazon.com Inc, Mauritius, to open retail stores in India for both online and offline sales.
Amazon has also sought approval from Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP) to develop infrastructure, including warehouses and distribution facilities. The company is planning to sell locally-produced items as well, since it will keep the costs down and help the Indian economy.
“Opening some stores in select locations, airports, high streets, malls to showcase the breadth of the offering – that might be done. In this case, it gives the flexibility to do that,” said Abhishek Malhotra, a partner at AT Kearney.
Amazon also has plans to invest Rs. 3,500 crore over the next five years, and these retail stores will be a part of this investment. The company could open a few concept stores to start this trend, and gradually move on to counter-less stores like in the US.
Amazon bets big on India!
The US-based e-commerce company has recently launched a ton of products in India, including Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Now and to-be-launched Alexa. However, after losing to Alibaba in China, India seems to be the most-attractive growing market in the world.
Amazon financials have continued to show the dedication in India, and even though there is stiff competition from Flipkart, the company has diversified so well so early on that it knows it will not be hurt at least for the next couple of years.
Another important fact is that India has a lot of unorganized business, like the hyperlocal market where there are no big players yet. Walmart, Target and other similar companies do not plan to enter India anytime soon, so it will give Amazon a big start if it gets into this industry now.
Source: ET
