Amazon partners with India’s Future Retail to boost omnichannel offering in the country

Amazon partners with India’s Future Retail to boost omnichannel offering in the country / Amazon

India has become a battleground for retailers and media businesses alike, creating a highly competitive landscape for e-commerce and online streaming. With both of these areas being Amazon’s global focus, the company has been making investments in the country for some time.

The latest sees it partnering with Future Retail, a business that owns over 1,500 stores across 400 Indian cities, giving Amazon an offline leg-up compared to some of its rivals.

Amit Agarwal, senior vice president and country head, Amazon India, said: “We are excited about the business collaboration with FRL. FRL’s national footprint of stores offering thousands of products across fashion, appliances, home, kitchen and grocery will now be available to millions of customers shopping on Amazon.in, in hours across 25+ cities.”

The deal will mean that people shopping for FRL items on Amazon will now be able to pick up the goods in person from the stores.

Kishore Biyani, chairman and managing director, Future Retail Limited, said, “Amazon and Future Retail share common values of serving customers everywhere in the best possible manner. This arrangement will allow us 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.”

According to Statista, Indian e-commerce revenues reached $11.1bn in 2019 but is projected to reach $24.5bn by 2024. The potential growth is why Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart are competing to gain the lead in market share in the country.