Amazon started relatively late in India. It commenced operations in 2013 while Flipkart and Snapdeal started in 2007 and 2010, respectively. However, it has been extremely focused on becoming successful in India.
And as many other successful multinationals in India have done, Amazon has localised its presence in India in many ways, rather than replicate its strategies from the US. It has followed its competitors in strategies that are largely unique to India such as cash-on-delivery and motorcycle delivery. It is also gradually fulfilling regulatory requirements such as a marketplace model rather than an inventory-led one. Also, its advertisement campaigns, especially the "aur dhikao" (show me more) appeals to the Indian buyers' psychology. The company had even an "aur dhikao" button on its website to press for more options. The publicity around Jeff Bezos's India visits has also had a local touch, whether it be photographs of him on a typical Indian truck or of him in traditional Indian attire.
Also, Amazon is fast filling the missing pieces in its product portfolio. For example, in smartphones (the single-largest revenue generator for e-commerce firms), Amazon had struck important exclusive partnerships with key smartphone brands such as Motorola, Xiaomi and OnePlus via Cloudtail. Flipkart earlier had a significant lead in this category, which may have reduced with Amazon's tie-ups.
Amazon has recently launched its Prime Video services in India and has tied up with several local production houses for content. Amazon is also looking to bid for IPL's media rights (IPL is a widely followed cricket league in India), as per news reports.
At the time, its peers were trying to curtail their growing cash burns, while Amazon continued with its aggressive investment in India. Over the past one year, Amazon has increased its logistics infrastructure, brought on board several merchants and has been working on garnering customer loyalty. It has committed US$5 bn for the India business versus about US$3 bn and US$1.6 bn raised by Flipkart and Snapdeal, respectively.
