Son and the big gun

Alibaba trumped Amazon in China, and Bezos seems to have learnt his lessons there. Amazon is leaving no stone unturned in India in its quest for market leadership. And, it is fast closing in on Flipkart. According to Praxis Global Alliance, Flipkart has a 35 per cent market share, and Amazon 29 per cent, in the last financial year. While Flipkart’s gross merchandise value (total value of merchandise sold over a period) grew 29 per cent between FY15 and FY17, Amazon’s GMV grew 104 per cent.

Amazon is trying every trick in the book to get the customer hooked—from a subscription service (Prime) and video content to a wallet and private labels. Some of them are working well. One in every three customers subscribes to Prime. Amazon has been pushing customers to use its wallet, Amazon Pay, with tempting offers. The company has also been trying innovative methods for faster delivery, such as Service Partner Network, where individuals or small businesses act as courier partners, and ‘I Have Space’, where neighbourhood stores act as pickup points.

Amazon’s moneybag is loaded. Bezos has committed $5 billion to the Indian business. “Amazon looks better positioned to lead the e-commerce wave, for they have money—the most critical factor—and global expertise in running online retail. Amazon has also gone slightly heavier on discounts, attracting more customers. Their service excellence and India-centric innovations have worked in their favour,” said Aryaman Tandon, director of Praxis Global Alliance, a management consulting firm.