Amazon to Push Sales of Household and Grocery Essentials

India: In order to push the sales of bulk packs of grocery items and household essentials, Amazon has started a project called ‘Amazon Pantry’ in India. The project will replicate its global variant of Amazon pantry that will aggressively compete with retail chains such as Spencer's and Big Bazaar.

The company has plans to scale it nationwide, but for now, it is operating in certain areas of Hyderabad. Under this service, customer would be able to fill a box of grocery and household items with 15 kg of products and it will be delivered on the next day of shopping with a shipping charge of USD0.30. The online marketplace will sell some exclusive products through its Pantry including larger size packs of rice, atta, edible oils, pulses and other staples. 

The Amazon Pantry in India will be accessible to all customers, while globally, it is only accessible to customers who are a part of Amazon Prime, which is a paid subscription service and has recently debuted in India. The orders will be delivered in the next day of shopping, while globally, it takes 2-4 days for delivery.

The company has two other formats for Indian market, such as Amazon pantry one is ‘Super Value Day', under which, the customers will get cash back on their purchases on second day of every month, and the other service is 'Subscribe and Save', which allows subscription of a product to consumers for regular purchase and they get additional discount. 

According to TechSci Research, the online grocery market has a huge potential. The industry has been growing at a substantial pace and the companies operating in the market place are focusing on delivery of wide variety of products, managing the delivery timelines and have high fill rates, which will help in attracting huge number of customers in the long run.

According to a recent report published by TechSci Research, “India E-commerce Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020”, the country’s e-commerce market is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 36% during 2015-2020. E-services segment, which comprises online travel, online payments, online classifieds, etc., is expected to continue its domination through 2020. However, the e-tail segment that includes electronics, apparels & accessories, health and personal care, etc., is expected to witness significantly higher market growth compared to e-services segment over the next five years. During 2015-20, the western region is expected to remain the largest e-commerce market in the country. Major players operating in India’s e-tail market include Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon.