Amazon India Celebrates Fifth Anniversary by Giving Cashback; CEO Jeff Bezos Says Humbled by Opportunities Ahead

Celebrating its fifth anniversary in India, Amazon is giving Amazon Pay cashback worth Rs. 250 to customers spending Rs. 1,000 or more on its online marketplace. CEO Jeff Bezos posted a letter on the Amazon India site to announce the new offer. The Seattle, Washington-based company launched the online marketplace in the country back in June 2013. After the initial success of the online marketplace, the company brought the Amazon Prime paid subscription service, Amazon Prime Video, Alexa voice assistant, and Amazon Music. The arch-rival of Walmart-backed Flipkart is reported to have a valuation of $16 billion (nearly Rs. 1,07,000 crores) with a market share of 30 percent - identical to the share owned by the homegrown e-commerce company.

Amazon India is giving the Rs. 250 cashback through Amazon Pay on spending Rs. 1,000 or more using any digital payment method. The cashback amount will notably be credited within three days of order shipping, and the offer is valid once per customer.

"On our fifth anniversary in India, I want to say thank you for your support and for making Amazon.in the most visited shopping site in India for the last two years," Bezos said in the letter addressing Amazon India customers. "The progress is energising. Customers from 100 percent of serviceable pin codes in India have placed orders on Amazon, thanks to local innovations such as Udaan and I Have Space. Hundreds of thousands of Indian businesses now sell on Amazon.in," he added.

Amazon India currently ships orders through 50 fulfilment centres in 13 states across the country, Bezos revealed. Earlier this year, the company also started focusing on groceries and household products that are projected to account for over half of its business in the country in the next five years.

Apart from the e-commerce business, Bezos' letter shed some light on the growth of Alexa in the country that debuted late last year. The executive stated that the voice assistant, which is competing against Google Assistant and Apple's Siri, already offers more than 15,000 skills and features and is supported by tens of thousands of third-party developers who are expanding its capabilities for Indian users. The voice assistant comes preloaded with Amazon Echo speaker lineup that was launched back in October last year.

Bezos also highlighted the growth of Kindle Book Store in the country that presently offers ebooks in five Indian languages, including Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, and Tamil. He additionally mentioned that Amazon is working with top Indian talent to bring various new Prime Original content to the country.

"We're five years into our journey, but as we say here at Amazon, it's still Day 1, and I'm energised and humbled by the opportunities ahead. Amazon.in is 'India ki apni dukaan'," he said.

The latest development comes days after Walmart formally announced the acquisition of 77 percent stake in Flipkart by paying $16 billion (around Rs. 1,07,000 crores). Last month, a report by Citi Research forecasted that Amazon India will reach gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $70 billion (approximately Rs. 4,70,000 crores) and touch $11 billion (around Rs. 74,000 crores) in revenue in 2027.