Updated on 19/12/16:
Amazon has finally launched it’s much awaited service Amazon Prime in India. The announcement was made just a day after Flipkart owned Myntra acquired Jabong.
Amazon Prime offers guaranteed free one day and two day delivery of Amazon fulfilled products to all the Prime members. Members will also have daily 30 minute early access to lightening deals and ‘members only’ exclusive sales.
Membership subscription starts at a special introductory price of Rs. 499 a year against regular price Rs. 999. It has not been mentioned when the regular price will become effective. Before becoming a member you can try using Prime for 60 days for free.
Amazon has been too aggressive ever since it launched its operations in India posing serious threat to its closest rival Flipkart. Now with the launch of Amazon Prime in India, Amazon is all set to capture large base of Indian online shoppers.
It would be interesting to see how Flipkart will promote its service ‘Flipkart First‘ with membership fee of Rs. 500 a year. Its members get benefit of discounted same day, free one day deliveries and other benefits.
As the real exciting service ‘Prime video’ is soon to be added, Prime members will have access to all the videos. Then it would be a tough challenge for Flipkart to give answer to Amazon Prime.
Amazon has not specified if its members will have to pay extra for prime videos or not.
How will Amazon Prime in India benefit sellers?
Sellers will have to choose FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) to market their products to Prime members. This is how FBA works:
- Enroll for FBA. It’s free.
- Send your products to Amazon’s fulfillment center on your own or by scheduling a pick up.
- Amazon will store your products in their fulfillment centre.
- When you receive orders, Amazon will pack the products and ship to the customers.
All FBA sellers have the advantage of free and faster delivery options. They also receive more orders than non FBA sellers as these products have more visibility.
Now with announcement of Prime starting in India, customers are assured of delivery within a day or two. In USA, these listings have Prime logo that will make buying decision easier for customers. You can expect the same in India too.
Prime customers will be a significant portion of overall consumer network of Amazon India. So, if you sell your products through FBA you will have great chance to sell your products to the Prime customers.
Now is a good time for sellers to get started on Amazon and choose FBA to give boost to their sales. Because, you can’t afford to miss out on sales from large base of customers who will choose to be Prime members.
Update 19/12/16: Amazon has also launched Prime Video service in India.