Amazon is gearing up for a price war in the wake of confirmations about the Flipkart-Walmart acquisition deal. The American e-commerce giant is set to infuse its funds with fresh capital worth an eye-dropping $385.7 Mn (INR 2,600 Cr) into its Indian unit, Amazon Seller Services to rival Indian arch-enemy Flipkart, according to a Livemint report.
Amazon Corporate Holdings and Amazon.com inc. have distributed $385.7 Mn worth of funds in its Indian operations, confirmed by fillings to the corporate affairs ministry.
The entry of deep-pocketed Walmart in the Indian e-commerce market is alarming the US digital marketplace giant who bids to expand and strengthen its capital to rival dropping prices that will probably follow the acquisition of Bengaluru-based Flipkart.
The report also states that the board of directors of Amazon Seller Services conducted a meeting on April 26, 2018 to approve the bill.
A spokesperson for Amazon India stated,
As India’s fastest growing e-commerce player with a long-term commitment to make e-commerce a habit for Indian customers, we continue to invest in the necessary technology and infrastructure to grow the entire ecosystem.
The spokesperson added, “We are delighted and humbled by the trust from our customers, to lead in India on things that matter to our customers in five years of our business, while continuing to launch innovative India-first initiatives as well as completely new offerings like Echo, Prime, Prime Video and Prime Music.”
The competitiveness of the Indian e-commerce market led Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to invest over $5 Bn since beginning operations in India five years ago. The fresh funds poured in the Indian operations will allow Amazon.in to invest considerably in expanding its infrastructure and add features destined to improve customer satisfaction and seller experience.
Despite recording losses worth $ 622 Mn from its international operations worldwide during Q1 2018, Amazon’s CFO Brian Olsavsky stated that the company wishes to keep infusing additional funds in its Indian operations pointing out that the company sees “great progress” with both sellers and customers in India.
The world’s biggest company has been investing in more businesses apart from exclusively focusing on the Amazon.in e-commerce in India. Indeed, Amazon also owns businesses such as Amazon Pay, Amazon Prime Video, among others and pours astronomical sums in these as well. Nowadays, the American mammoth is focusing on directing its investments to build storehouses, increasing product assortment and strengthening logistics.
Irrespective of the trade war with Flipkart that has been recurrent for years already, Amazon has always shown great seriousness in its operations in India, funding staggering amounts in marketing and discounts on products in a bid to engage more customers to its online shopping platform. Amazon Seller Services had already received a funding sum of $289.3 Mn (Rs 1,950 Cr) from its parent company, Amazon.com, Inc. in January 2018.