The leading e-commerce platform Amazon has announced the launch of its first Hindi version of the Android app and website. This move has been primarily taken to make deeper footprints into India’s fast-growing e-commerce market, boosting up its battle with Walmart’s Flipkart.
This move clearly signifies the importance of the Indian market in the e-commerce sector. With the addition of Hindi language support, Amazon looks to capture a wider audience in the country. Also, a notable thing is that the app does not need to be updated to make use of this new feature.
“What we believe is, Amazon.in in Hindi is a critical step to actually address the next 100 million customers,” Manish Tiwary, vice president (category management) at Amazon India stated.
The language button now has the option to switch from English to Hindi, and it currently lists only top products and important shopping information in Hindi. No other e-commerce platforms in India till now currently have a local language version of their apps or websites.
The idea to launch a Hindi app and website could give Amazon access to a number of new customers in India’s small towns and villages. India head Amit Agarwal stated that the company is looking to win over the next 100 million customers in India.
Furthermore, the company is expecting to support more local Indian languages on its shopping app and mobile website. Also, it is planning to extend the service to mobile platforms beyond Android.
“Our aim is to ensure any customer can find anything they want on Amazon.in, anytime and anywhere, irrespective of the language they speak or where they came from. The launch of the Hindi shopping experience is a significant step towards bringing the next 100 million customers online. The first Indian language launch will enable crores of Hindi-preferring customers across India to shop in their preferred language,” Manish Tiwary added.
This move will be a great one towards fighting a competition with Flipkart and it might be interesting to watch what changes in the customer base does the launch of Hindi language brings in for Amazon.