E-commerce
Amazon India Starts Experimenting With ‘Hindi’ Mobile Website
Amazon India launched a small pilot wherein the interface features text in Hindi for its mobile website
The idea is to make the shopping experience convenient for customers in India
Number of Indian language Internet users has grown from 42 Mn in 2011 to 234 Mn at the end of 2016
The rising internet penetration in India has meant that more and more users are being exposed to ecommerce websites, the majority of whom will come from non-metro locations and will be from Tier 2- and Tier 3 cities which are high on aspirations.
The number of Indian language Internet users has grown from 42 Mn in 2011 to 234 Mn at the end of 2016, surpassing the 175 Mn English Internet users. Given the rise of vernacular content and improving smartphone penetration, digital companies are increasingly turning their focus on how to provide their services in the languages the users best understand.
Amazon India too has joined in on this bandwagon and according to a report, has started experimenting with a Hindi interface for its mobile website, its first move in vernacular languages.
Amazon, which has previously been working on enabling its voice service Alexa to understand commands as well as speak in Indian languages, has now also launched a small pilot wherein the interface features text in Hindi, the company said.
“We work backwards from our customer needs and continuously explore and experiment with new ways of making the shopping experience convenient and easy for customers in India. As part of that, we have started piloting the Amazon.in shopping experience in Hindi,” a company spokesperson was quoted as saying.
On August 14, Amazon launched a new category of Alexa skills this year that would enable customers to help Alexa learn Hindi and other Indian languages. Using the new “Cleo” skill, users can teach Alexa more about Indian languages and culture by interacting with the voice assistant.
Not to be left behind, Flipkart, the Amazon’s arch-rival in India, has also acquired AI-led speech recognition Liv.ai, in a bid to target the next 200 Mn, online shopper.
The Increasing Ecommerce Consumption In Tier II/ III Users
At the same time, the Indians in smaller towns account for around 41% of all online shoppers as per ReedSeer Consulting.
The consumption pattern and not just the number of consumers from Tier II and Tier III cities are very lucrative for digital companies as the hunger driven by aspiration and newfound instant gratification is more.
Ecommerce is increasingly attracting customers from Tier II and III cities, where people have limited access to brands but have high aspirations, according to IBEF.
“Consumption patterns of Tier II and Tier III customers differ from those in metros. They tend to favour the mobile channel, and due to a leisure-skew ( vs. corporate), have longer stays, more passengers per booking and more advance bookings. This results in Tier II/III users having higher transaction values vs metros,” wrote Aditya Agarwal, the head of corporate strategy at Cleartrip, in a report released last year called India’s Growth Paradigm by Earnest and Young.
The Others In The Vernacular Game
It is not just the ecommerce players but also Internet domain registrar and web hosting company like GoDaddy that is seeing almost half of their new clientele coming from Tier 2 and 3 cities in India due to the rise of e-commerce.
Another major player here is Google, which after expanding its ad products to support Tamil, Bengali and Telugu across Search, Display Network and YouTube, is now looking to add support for other Indian languages, starting with Marathi.
The Indian media companies, OTT players, video service providers are further joining this bandwagon at a fast pace. Preference of Indian consumers for vernacular and regional language content is on the upswing, with 93% of the time spent on videos in Hindi and other regional languages. Google estimates that, by 2021, content consumption in Hindi will be more than consumption in English.
The Indian ecommerce users are about 48% of internet users in the US and about 22% in China; and are just 10% of the total internet users in India, according to RedSeer.The backdrop to one of the battlefields where ecommerce wars in India will be fought is getting set and the story will be told in multiple languages.
E-commerce
Blinkit delivers Lenskart products in 10 mins.
In an announcement on Friday, Albinder Dhindsa, the founder of Blinkit, revealed that the quick commerce firm, owned by Zomato, will now offer delivery of eyewear products from Lenskart in under 10 minutes. This partnership allows Blinkit customers to access Lenskart.com products swiftly, initially focusing on sunglasses and Lenskart’s Hustlr range, which includes computer glasses. Dhindsa expressed curiosity about the evolution of the Hustlr brand over time.
The expansion of quick commerce services beyond groceries is evident as various categories such as beauty, toys, health, and electronics witness significant sales growth on such platforms. For instance, Arindam Paul, a founding member and CBO at Atomberg, recently shared on LinkedIn that the company has started selling its products on a quick commerce platform, maintaining the same prices as offered on other e-commerce platforms.
Additionally, Blinkit recently announced its availability of PlayStation 5 on its platform. Dhindsa noted that Blinkit customers in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru can now have the all-new PlayStation 5 Slim editions and controllers delivered within 10 minutes. However, due to high demand, the product quickly went out of stock within a week of its launch. Dhindsa reassured customers on LinkedIn that the company is actively working on restocking PlayStation 5 units at its stores to meet demand.
E-commerce
Amazon collaborates with neighborhood stores to offer community New Year items.
In Kolkata, approximately 15,000 local shops spanning across Bengal have partnered with Amazon India to provide a diverse range of items essential for various community New Year celebrations. These items include fresh flowers, rangoli, and puja essentials necessary for rituals during festivities such as Poila Baisakh, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Bohag Bihu, and others.
Furthermore, not only shops specializing in traditional festival items, but also those selling home furnishings, kitchen appliances, personal care products, computers, and peripherals have joined Amazon for this occasion. The collaboration aims to cater to the diverse needs of customers during the New Year celebrations of different communities.
These local partner shops of the e-commerce giant are situated in prominent locations across Kolkata, Howrah, Durgapur, Nadia, Hooghly, and Kharagpur. Abhishek Jain, the head of local shops at Amazon India, assured that orders placed would be promptly delivered to customers.
The festivals such as Poila Baisakh, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Bohag Bihu, Maha Vishubha, and Sankranti are celebrated with great fervor in various regions. In Bengal, these New Year festivals are embraced by the respective communities residing in the state.
Jain further elaborated that this year, nearly 4,700 sellers are offering approximately 60,000 festival-themed products across India through Amazon’s platform. The company anticipates an increase in the number of sellers partnering with them, thereby enhancing the variety and accessibility of festival-related products for customers nationwide.
E-commerce
Indiamart shakes up management, names new CFO, CIO.
Indiamart, a prominent B2B e-commerce platform, has announced the appointment of Jitin Diwan as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective May 15, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. Diwan brings over 17 years of experience to his new role, having previously served as the Head of Finance (Vice President) at Upstox Securities and holding positions at companies like Amazon India, Bharti Airtel Limited, and Vodafone.
Diwan will succeed Prateek Chandra, the current CFO, who will transition into a new role within the company as Chief Strategy Officer starting June 15.
The filing also revealed Indiamart’s recent investments totaling Rs 1100 Cr in pursuing inorganic growth opportunities across B2B, Fintech, Logistics, and business SAAS sectors. It mentioned acquisitions of Busy Infotech and Livekeeping Technologies, along with multiple minority investments. To further nurture and grow these investee companies while exploring organic and inorganic growth opportunities, Indiamart has created the new role of Chief Strategy Officer.
Furthermore, Indiamart has appointed Nikhil S. Prabhakar as its Chief Information Officer. Prabhakar, with over 13 years of experience, brings expertise in business management, sales management, product management, and leadership. Before joining Indiamart, he was associated with companies like Pristyn Care, Ola Financial Services, and Bharti Airtel.
In addition to these appointments, Dinesh Chandra Agarwal has been re-appointed as the Managing Director and CEO for a term of 5 years, effective from January 8, 2025.
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