Retail giants Amazon and Walmart wage war on each other almost everywhere on the planet, including the country with the world’s second largest population, India. Amazon has just signed a deal with India’s second biggest retailer, after Walmart acquired online market leader Flipkart.
Amazon brings food online
Amazon has signed a long-term deal with Future Retail, India’s second biggest retailer with over 1,500 stores. Until now, the company had been slow to expand online, but now it will be a huge presence on the marketplace Amazon India – especially in the food department. The latter will even become Future Retail’s official online sales channel, including that of grocery store chain Big Bazaar and hypermarket chain Foodhall. As the group also joins Prime Now, ordered goods will be delivered within two hours in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
Moreover, all Future Retail stores will as of now feature a fulfilment and pick-up service for online orders. A test case with 22 stores is already ongoing, and the first results are encouraging, TechCrunch reports. CEO Kishore Biyani thinks the partnershihp will allow the companies to “build upon each other’s strengths in the physical and digital space so that customers benefit from the best services, products, assortment and price.”
India latest battleground
Amazon’s move continues a long-lasting battle with Walmart, which had already moved to India: both are looking for new ways to penetrate the booming Indian market – with almost 1.4 billion people on the verge of taking over China as the biggest in the world. The growing middle class will boost India’s predicted retail turnover to 188 billion dollars in the next three years. Online only holds 5 % of total retail sales now, but is expected to reach 200 billion dollars by 2030.
That astonishing growth is partly fuelled by market leader Flipkart, which currently holds a third of the total e-commerce market and keeps rivals Snapdeal and Amazon India at bay. In 2018, a bidding war ensued between both American rivals for the acquisition of Flipkart, in which Walmart was the final victor.
It is therefore not surprising that Amazon now makes a countermove, especially after acquiring a 3.58 % stake in Future Retail a few months ago. Days ago, the number one in India’s physical retail market, Reliance Retail, has launched its own e-commerce platform. If that puts Future Retail’s arch rival straight into Walmart’s crosshairs? Who knows…
