West Bengal-based buyers show shift towards solar, AI-powered technologies, says Amazon India

An analysis of buyer trends of this year’s Amazon Great Indian Festival sale so far has revealed an affinity of Bengal-based buyers towards renewable and artificial intelligence appliances like solar panels, single-equipment home gyms, robotic vacuum cleaners

Updated - October 18, 2024 08:52 pm IST - Kolkata

K.N. Srikanth, Director of the Home, Kitchen, and Outdoors segment at Amazon India in Kolkata on October 18, 2024.

K.N. Srikanth, Director of the Home, Kitchen, and Outdoors segment at Amazon India in Kolkata on October 18, 2024. | Photo Credit: Moyurie Som

Buyers in West Bengal have shown a tremendous shift towards advanced and more sustainable technologies with over a 100% growth year-on-year (YoY) in the sale of solar panels on the Amazon India platform in Kolkata during their month-long Great Indian Festival sale in 2024, according to officials of Amazon India.

The Great Indian Festival is a sale hosted by Amazon India on its website and app during the festive season between September 28 and October 29.

“Kolkata-based consumers have shown significant adoption of renewable products this year, compared to the same sale period at Amazon last year. The HKO segment’s solar portfolio, which includes solar panels, solar lights, and solar-powered appliances, has seen a growth of more than 65% YOY,” said K.N. Srikanth, Director of the Home, Kitchen, and Outdoors (HKO) segment at Amazon India, on Friday. 

He added that Amazon India’s two-wheeler category, which includes both electric-powered and petrol-powered two-wheelers, has seen growth of 250% YoY, of which at least a sizeable 15% to 20% has been contributed by the West Bengal market. “While petrol two-wheeler sales grew by almost eight times, electric two-wheelers witnessed more than ten times growth YoY,” he said.

“We can attribute this growth to our selection of market-leading brands like Bajaj, Ola, Ather etc., and local distributors who have enabled the delivery of these products,” Mr. Srikanth said.

Amazon India started retailing electric two-wheelers in their HKO segment in Q4 of the financial year 2023-2024. From July this year, they have also started the sale of petrol-powered two-wheelers. 

According to Mr. Srikanth, an analysis of the buyer trends of this year’s Amazon Great Indian Festival sale so far has also revealed an affinity of West Bengal-based buyers towards advanced, artificial intelligence (AI) appliances. 

“From West Bengal, we are seeing a consistent change in consumer behaviour where most customers are moving towards upgraded, higher-value, better technology-based products. For example, health-conscious customers are buying more air fryers instead of the usual deep-frying equipment, cold pressed juices instead of mixers and grinders, no-burn electric irons etc,” the director of the HKO segment said.

To further explain this trend, Mr. Srikanth also mentioned a significant increase in the purchase of AI-powered home gym equipment and robotic vacuum cleaners in the West Bengal market. 

“We have seen very good response in West Bengal also with the home gardening segment at Amazon.in, which has grown 40% YoY. We recently introduced fresh flowers as a service, which saw 6,000 orders daily in the first few days after launch. The sale of live plants in Kolkata saw a 30% YoY growth,” he added.

Amazon India officials have also revealed a 30% YoY growth in the demand for home decor products, especially large furniture items, among buyers in West Bengal and Kolkata.

“Kolkata is an important market for us, and we have seen a robust growth of 20% YoY in our HKO segment,” Mr. Srikanth said.

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