A day after Amazon opened its virtual doors to Indian consumers, a study shows that that online retailer has brought along its razor-sharp pricing strategy.
According to analysis by MySmartPrice, a price-comparison website, Amazon.in has the cheapest price available for nearly 50 per cent of the top two thousand book titles across all genres. The prices that were surveyed include both the list price of the book in question and the shipping cost—Amazon.in currently offers free shipping to its customers.
However, domestic rivals such as Flipkart do not appear to be gearing up to the challenge.
In fact, the Bangalore-based e-tailer has started a process of reducing and discontinuing several categories of consumer electronics (televisions) and white goods (refrigerators).
According to company sources, Flipkart’s logistics services were not able to handle the shipment of these heavy items while maintaining high-quality delivered products.
Meanwhile, Amazon intends to build its India strategy with a customer-centric focus, according to Greg Greeley, Vice-President, International Expansion.
“We aren’t here only on pricing. We want to be customer focussed, and are here for the long-term. The company understands that getting into new markets will require staying power, and our investment here has been planned accordingly,” Mr. Greeley told The Hindu on Thursday.
Amazon, at present, has entered the Indian market through a marketplace model, which involves helping third-party sellers exhibit their products on its platform.
Current FDI regulations do not allow it to function as a full fledged e-commerce venture.
Win-win situation
“Our top officials have been speaking to the Government regarding this. While we don’t have a timeline for when we can operate fully, we want to be able to provide our customers a much wider selection. It will be a win-win situation for all stakeholders, including the Government, if FDI is allowed in e-commerce,” Mr. Greeley said.
