Amazon Looks to Launch in India Next Year July 26, 2011 Read more by Hannah Johnson One Comment

nt By Hannah Johnson According to The Times of India, Amazon.com is exploring ways to enter the Indian market. The online retailer is talking to Indian e-commerce sites including Flipkart.com, LetsBuy.com and Exclusively.in, presumably about acquisitions. The Times goes on to say that acquiring an existing Indian company is one of the preferred ways for foreign companies to gain a foothold in India eBay acquired Baazee.com and Groupon bought SoSasta.com. Sources told The Times that Indian e-commerce companies are resisting acquisition by outside companies, and that Amazon is considering launching on its own in India sometime next year. Another source said that the online retailers is building a team of over 200 people in Hyderabad, Banglaore and Chennai.

If Amazon launches in India, the site will join Amazons other seven international sites in Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Akshay Pathak reported earlier this month for Publishing Perspectives on a proposed amendment to Indias current copyright law, which would allow the import of multiple editions of books into the Indian market, rendering the whole point of territorial rights a bit useless. The launch of Amazon in India could exacerbate this problem by allowing Indian readers to cheaply purchase vast numbers of English language books published in the US, UK and other English-speaking countries, bypassing local Indian editions. However, Pathak also reported that more Indian publishers are preparing for the coming adoption of e-books and digital content: In particular, academic publishers have been the frontrunners in adapting to new technologies and offering content on multiple platforms, not only easing access for students and readers but also giving publishers the opportunity to innovate and develop new content.

A dedicated Amazon site for India could be the boost that publishers and readers need to quicken the adoption of e-books and possibly give Indian e-book editions an edge over foreign Englishlanguage titles. Amazon to Launch Its Services in India Next Year by Aakaron July 26th, 2011 3 inShare

Worlds largest online retailer Amazon.com is set to launch its services in India by next year, reports Times of India. Amazon is currently in talks with Indian e-commerce site such as Flipkart.com, LetsBuy.com and Exclusively.in to enter in Indias booming market in the first quarter of next year. According to Times of India, Amazon is looking to set up operations on its own as its discussions with many players on acquisition front havent seemed to work out. By quoting the source, Times of India reports,Indian players see the huge potential in the ecommerce segment here and so have so far been resistant to being bought out easily. Amazon is likely to ramp up through inorganic ways later, depending on market growth and their performance relative to competition. It is reported that, Amazon is going to establish a warehouse in Mumbai. Amzon has already bought 80,000 sq ft at SP Infocity, promoted by Shapoorji Pallonji & Co Ltd, in Perungudi in Chennai. The company already has a development centre in Chennai.

Amazon Coming To India Next Year, Will It Disrupt Indian E-Commerce? It was on the cards, wasnt it and the timing couldnt have been more interesting. At a time when Indian E-commerce sector is booming like never before, Amazon has started putting pieces together for its India launch. Talk about disruption! For all its worth, the Indian E-commerce sector may not be the same again once Amazon Indian operations start.

It seems that Amazon has initiated its India launch plans and is expected to launch its India operations by Q1 2012 Amazon is already in talks with the incumbent e-commerce giants in India including the likes of Flipkart, Indiaplaza etc. Possible partnership is what Amazon might be looking for because Amazon has faced resistance from the incumbents making acquisition difficult. This does not come as a surprise given the kind of valuations and funding e-commerce companies are attracting. However am wondering what will become of the e-commerce growth story once Amazon sets foot on Indian shores. Will VCs still buy into the Indian Ecommerce growth story? The scale at which Amazon operates might make it extremely challenging for other e-commerce companies to sustain Amazon is aggressively hiring and building its India operations team. A senior executive from Landmark has been hired as the Indian operations head for Amazon and a team of over 200 people is being built. I am not aware of the capabilities of the landmark executive in question, but I wonder if hiring some with e-commerce DNA would have worked better Amazon is also building a warehouse in Mumbai and has picked up a 80,000 sq.ft space in Chennai. Going by the typical operating standards of Amazon, it is going to play on its strengths and play the economies of scale game in India. It might be challenging to build the supplier network but trust Amazon to wade through the challenge either by partnering an existing e-commerce company or playing the volumes card to attract suppliers Will Amazons Entry Close The Door For New Indian E-commerce vendors? Too early to call but Amazons entry could cast doubts on whether the Indian E-commerce sectorwill have space for new entrants. Amazon with its deep pockets and reputation in the space can arm twist suppliers into driving a hard bargain and subsequently passing heavy discounts to customers. Forget new entrants, if Amazons India operations are anything close to its US operations, even the likes of Flipkart, Indiaplaza might feel the heat. It will also be interesting to see if VC perceptions will change towards the Indian e-commerce sector with Amazons launch. Given the exciting growth of e-commerce sector in India, VC

funding has been on the rise for e-commerce companies in India. Amazons launch in India will shrink the playing field for other players.

I wonder what answer will new e-commerce startups have if the proverbial VC question in ecommerce context is asked What If Amazon does It or What If Amazon enters India. Well, with Amazons launch inevitable selling a unique value proposition is going to be a tough ask. Only time will tell whether Amazon will be able to disrupt the Indian E-commerce scene but one thing is sure, despite all thats wrong, Indian E-commerce space just got even more interesting. What are your thoughts on Amazons India entry? Will it lead to consolidation in the Indian e-commerce space and would Amazon be able to replicate its e-commerce story in India as well Amazon to launch e-commerce services in India Tuesday 26 July 2011 | 13:43 CET

Amazon.com will offer e-commerce services in India next year, reports The Times of India. Amazon is in discussions with Indian e-commerce companies like Flipkart.com, LetsBuy.com and Exclusively.in, among others and may enter the market as early as the first quarter of next year. Amazon is reportedly looking to set up operations on its own as its discussions with many players on acquisition front have not seemed to work out. However, Amazon could turn to inorganic ways later, depending on market growth and the performance of local players relative to competition. Hiring is currently on in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai to fill up the various positions in this team, added Times. A team of over 200 people is being built, though all of them might not end up in the core retail arm. Amazon's retail chain Landmark has appointed its senior executive Madhu M to head its India operations. Madhu is currently holding the position of SVM at Amazon. He is based out of Chennai where Amazon's Kindle development team is also based. Amazon is also establishing a warehouse in Mumbai, a standard step before entering the ecommerce space going by what Amazon has been doing globally. . Online bookstore Amazon preparing for India debut Published: Friday, Jul 29, 2011, 12:00 IST By Praveena Sharma | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA The governments proposal to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) rules for overseas multi-brand retailers has thrown open the doors to Amazon.coms entry into the Indian market. If the buzz is to be believed, then the Seattle, US-based online retailer is all set to foray into India by next year. The online pioneer already

drawn plans and has begun hiring for local operations, sources said. According to a report in the Independent, these hired include software engineers, information technology specialists and other staff. The hiring comes ahead of launch in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Amazon is said to have poached a senior executive from online retailer Landmark to head its India operation, and appointed a human resources director Raj Raghavan. A same report said the company has put out recruitment ads on Twitter too. Queries sent to Amazon.com on its India plans remained unanswered till late Thursday evening. Recent changes in the rules on foreign direct investment (FDI) allow multi-brand foreign retailers to hold up to 51% of equity and be the majority shareholder in an Indian venture. As for Amazons local partner, a name doing rounds is that of online book retailer Flipkart.com, promoted by Binny and Sachin Bansal, due to the synergies between the companies. But Sachin Bansal, CEO of Flipkart, denied any dialogue. We are not in any kind of talks with Amazon currently, he said. Bansal believes the US-based online retailers foray into the nascent e-ecommerce space will spur the segments growth. E-commerce in India is at a very nascent stage. The categories are evolving fast and this growth will only escalate with the entrance of serious players. We do not view this as development impacting Flipkarts plan to a great extent, he said.

Amazon Kindle Comes to India

Techtree News Staff, Oct 22, 2009 1719 hrs IST

Offering over 280,000 books, magazines

Amazon has officially launched it's Kindle in India as a part of its planned global expansion. The erstwhile "only for U.S." product has now gone on sale in over 100 countries around the world - including India. In India, Amazon is offering over 280,000 books and magazines at various price ranges. There is some free content as well as low priced books with the lowest prices being $5.99 for select books available in the country. The model offered in India is the second generation Kindle 2 that was launched in U.S. earlier this year. The Kindle DX too will be launched globally early next year. Amazon will ship the Kindle directly from U.S. upon order and asks for 2-7 days for delivery. Once delivered, the product is ready to use and the user will have at his disposal over 280,000 books, periodicals and magazines. The Kindle can, at any given time, store almost 1500 titles and a complete book can be "downloaded" in less than 60 seconds. It uses a GSM/3G connection for network access and does not come with Wi-Fi, which might prove a deterrent for some. In fact, Amazon proudly advertises the lack of Wi-Fi on the Kindle as users do not need to look for Wi-Fi hotspots - which according to Amazon, is an inconvenience! Anyway, for countries that do not have 3G, Wi-Fi does actually make sense since most of us will be using slower EDGE/GPRS connections. Thanks to its grayscale screen, the Kindle boasts of an exceptional battery life. When using the Wireless connection (not Wi-Fi!), it can last for up to 4 days. If you do not use the Wireless connection, it can go upto 2 weeks without being charged.

Currently, all books are available in English only. Amazon, however, has plans to bring many more languages into the Kindle and eventually aims to bring "every book published in every language" to the Kindle. Amazon has tie ups with newspapers in many countries and if you're subscribed, a copy of the paper is delivered to your Kindle daily! There are, however, no Indian newspapers in the list. Just prior to the global launch, the international price of the Kindle was slashed from $279 to $259. Even with the new price slash, the total cost of getting the Kindle to India will be around $378 (Rs. 17,700) if you take the shipping charges and import duties into account.