Amazon is known to be a global e-commerce pioneer, but it appears to have had to adapt to consumer needs in India.
Amazon has launched Amazon Bazaar, a special store for “affordable products”. Products on the Bazaar store would typically be unbranded and sell for less than Rs. 600. The Bazaar store is currently available only on Amazon’s Android app, where it is accessible in a separate section.
“We continue to invest and innovate on behalf of our customers and third-party sellers and are excited to introduce the Amazon Bazaar storefront on Amazon.in where customers can discover and shop ultra-affordable fashion and home products listed by sellers, especially from manufacturing hubs across India,” said an Amazon India spokesperson.
Bazaar allows customers to buy affordable items, such home decor products starting at Rs. 99 and dresses starting at Rs. 199. The delivery times are also longer, with products reaching customers in 2-3 days as opposed to next-day delivery on Prime products.
Bazaar is clearly a response to the success that homegrown e-commerce player Meesho has enjoyed in recent years. Meesho focuses on similarly affordable unbranded products for Tier 2 and Tier 3 consumers, and has managed to built a large business for itself — Meesho is now India’s third-largest e-commerce player behind Amazon and Flipkart. Two years ago, Flipkart too had launched a similar initiative known as Flipkart Shopsy, which sold affordable products.
Amazon appears to have finally bitten the bullet and launched its own play in the affordable unbranded space. Amazon has had to plan the launch carefully — Bazaar is a separate section on Amazon’s app, which insulates Amazon’s main business from the possibly lower-quality products which could be available on Bazaar. Also, Amazon would’ve had to work out separate contracts with such products — Amazon is likely to offer zero referral fees to Bazaar merchants, especially for products with a low average selling price. But Amazon probably didn’t have a choice in launching Bazaar — India’s e-commerce space is slowing down as per most accounts, so Amazon could need to open up new verticals to continue to grow its topline.
But it’s not clear if Amazon Bazaar will be an immediate success. Amazon is late to the unbranded game — Meesho was founded in 2015, and Flipkart had launched Shopsy three years ago. Also, Amazon’s many launches haven’t quite worked out in India — the company has experimented with everything ranging from food delivery to JEE coaching, but hasn’t always been successful. But Amazon going ahead and launching Bazaar in 2024 points towards not only to India’s slowing overall e-commerce space, but also how a homegrown player in Meesho has forced to to adapt its strategy in the Indian market.