Amazon has plans to launch a “special store,” called Bazaar exclusively for unbranded and “trendy” fashion and lifestyle products, setting up a battle with rival Flipkart, Reliance’s Ajio, and Meesho.
Amazon’s Bazaar will cater to sellers offering products priced under 600 Indian rupees, and will not levy any “extra charges” to sellers. The company intends to provide sellers access to tens of millions of customers and hassle-free delivery with zero referral fee. In addition, according to Economic Times, Amazon will likely offer two to three days of delivery to the new venture.
The E-commerce giant’s new venture comes at a time when fast-fashion e-commerce space has gained traction in India, particularly as local startups take inspiration from global fast-fashion pioneers Zara, H&M and Uniqlo. The sector is fiercely competitive with Flipkart leading the category, yet facing mounting competition from Ambani’s Ajio, which has secured 30% market share.
Fashion analysts at Bernstein in their recent note said that Ajio owned by Reliance is acquiring users rapidly will Myntra, continuing to hold the highest market share in terms of active users with over a 50% share. Bernstein further added that the fashion market is fragmented, and the online market is seeing similar trends with various emerging players aiming to gain share.
Amazon’s Bazaar is one of the key new initiatives from the company, which has deployed over $7 billion in India, its second-largest market, following the firm shutting down three of its businesses in India in late 2022. The company has announced plans to invest about $2.3 billion in its e-commerce operations in the country by 2030, far lower than its rival Flipkart, while also focusing on doubling down on AWS in India, and deploying $12.7 billion in the cloud business in the country by 2030.
