Amazon.in goes live with books, movies and TV shows

Amazon.in, the Indian version of International online retail giant Amazon's marketplace, is now live. It's worth pointing out that Amazon.in is operated by Amazon Seller Services Private Ltd, an affiliate of Amazon.com.

At the time of writing of this post, Amazon.in only offers books, movies and TV series in physical form.  However, it intends to offer cameras, mobile phones and other products in the near future. The Amazon.in Book store claims to features over 7 million print books across 200 plus categories including fiction, management, children's books and academic publications. Amazon.in customers can search and preview the text inside more than 1.3 million books through its search inside feature. Listings include author and customer reviews sourced from Amazon.com.

According to Amazon, the movies & TV shows store features a collection of over 12,000 titles in English and Hindi across DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and Video CD formats. Customers can order from a full range of documentaries, kids' edutainment, music videos, TV serials, and films across several genres including action, romance, comedy, horror, drama, and musicals.

To mark the launch, Amazon.in has announced a limited period promotion wherein all customers will get Free delivery on orders fulfilled by Amazon.  Otherwise, free delivery is only valid if the order is worth Rs. 499 or more and is fulfilled by Amazon, else Rs.49 as levied as shipping charge.

The site works on a marketplace model with multiple sellers including uRead, UBSPD, BuyBooks India, Amegabooks, Crossword, Bookadda.com and StarMark, among others .

"Our vision, at Amazon, is to be Earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover virtually anything they want to buy online. With Amazon.in, we endeavor to build that same destination in India by giving customers more of what they want - vast selection, low prices, fast and reliable delivery, and a trusted and convenient experience," said Greg Greeley, Vice President of International Expansion at Amazon.com. "We're excited to get started in India and we will relentlessly focus on raising the bar for customer experience in India."

Amazon has also announced two new seller programs - 'Selling on Amazon' and 'Fulfillment by Amazon', claiming to offer  Indian retailers of all sizes a robust and scalable platform to sell their products online with no listing fees and a pay-as-you-go fulfillment services.

In February 2012, Amazon made its foray into the Indian market with the launch of Junglee.com, enabling retailers in India to advertise their products for free to Indian shoppers. With the introduction of 'Selling on Amazon' and 'Fulfillment by Amazon' sellers now have access to unlimited and free 'virtual shelf space' and a pay-as-you-go fulfillment and customer service offerings.

"Our vision is to become a trusted and meaningful sales channel for retailers of all sizes across India, enabling them to succeed and efficiently grow their business online," said Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Manager, Amazon India. "With Fulfillment by Amazon, we will do the heavy lifting for the sellers so that they can focus on core business functions like sourcing and pricing their products."

Under the 'Selling on Amazon' program, businesses can list an unlimited number of products and use  Amazon's payment infrastructure.  Additionally, sellers will get access to Amazon's seller coaching tools and a other integrated services. Listing on Amazon.in by sellers is free. To mark the launch of Amazon.in, the company is offering sellers a promotional referral fee and free monthly subscription for the first year.

 "Ever since we began advertising our products on Junglee.com our business has consistently grown month to month," says Gaurav Sabharwal, Founder, uread.com. "We are pleased with results on Junglee.com and are looking forward to selling on the Amazon.in marketplace. Integrating with Selling on Amazon has been smooth and easy as we listed millions of books for sale."

The other program, Fulfillment by Amazon allows sellers in India access to Amazon's fulfillment service, nationwide delivery and customer service. When using FBA, sellers across India can send their products to Amazon's fulfillment center located on the outskirts of Mumbai. Once an order is placed, Amazon packs and ships the order to the customer without the sellers having to do anything. Orders fulfilled by Amazon are eligible for Free Delivery promotions and Cash on Delivery, and Amazon provides customer service and returns management, enabling sellers to focus on their core business.

As part of the launch celebrations, FBA sellers will get promotional storage and fulfillment fees.