The war in e-commerce space is hotting up in India. Yesterday, Flipkart had announced raising of $1 billion in fresh funding, which is the biggest ever by an Indian internet company in a single round. Today, Amazon has broken this record of funding and announced that it will invest an additional US $2 billion in Amazon India.
“After our first year in business, the response from customers and small and medium-sized businesses in India has far surpassed our expectations,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We see huge potential in the Indian economy and for the growth of e-commerce in India. With this additional investment of US $2 billion, our team can continue to think big, innovate, and raise the bar for customers in India. At current scale and growth rates, India is on track to be our fastest country ever to a billion dollars in gross sales. A big ‘thank you’ to our customers in India – we’ve never seen anything like this.”
According to the company, the customers on www.amazon.in and Amazon’s mobile shopping application can shop anywhere with ease and confidence from over 17 million products across a broad range of categories including Books; eBooks & Tablets; Movies & TV shows; Kindle Devices, Computers & Accessories; Mobiles & Accessories; Consumer Electronics; Toys & Games; Baby Products; Health and Personal Care products; Watches; Fashion Jewelry; Home & Kitchen products; Beauty Products; Video Games; Music; Luggage & Bags; Handbags & Clutches; Sports, Fitness & Outdoor equipment; Shoes; Men’s, Women’s & Kid’s wear; and more.
Moreover, a large base of small and medium-sized businesses are already benefitting from Amazon’s investment in its Fulfillment by Amazon offering. Customers across several cities in India are increasingly enjoying Amazon’s guaranteed next-day delivery on more than 300,000 products fulfilled by Amazon.
Because of widespread use of smartphones and tablets in India, there is vast potential of online shopping and all the established and big online portals want to get the maximum share of this surging business. Amazon, which has the biggest online retail business in India, will leave no stone unturned to increase its pesence in India and they have plenty of money to invest.
