Online retailer Amazon launched its India marketplace, ‘Amazon.in’, on Wednesday, offering books, movies and television shows for sale.
According to industry watchers, it notched up nearly 10,000 orders on the first day of operations.
In this current marketplace model however, Amazon will not own any merchandise sold but will act as platform for any retailer who wishes to sell his products.
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“Our vision is to become a trusted and meaningful sales channel for retailers of all sizes across India, enabling them to succeed and efficiently grow their business online,” said Amit Agarwal, Vice-President and Country Manager, Amazon India.
To start with, Amazon.in has over 12,000 movie and television titles and 7 million book titles for purchase. It plans to expand soon into categories such as cameras and mobile phones.
The company’s top executives met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma some months ago and discussed the creation of a favourable policy environment for Amazon to do business, which is otherwise not allowed in India.
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Hurdles side-stepped
The new marketplace model allows the company to sidestep regulatory hurdles that prevent foreign retailers from owning an Indian arm for direct sales.