Amazon. What more can be said. The global juggernaut has finally made it’s way into India. What is fascinating now is the competition between amazon and Flipkart, which is touted as India’s amazon. Given that amazon.in carries the reputation and goodwill of amazon global, does the shopping experience match up to global standards, or indeed, Flipkart’s standards? Let’s find out.
Marketplace model:
Like Flipkart recently, amazon.in has adopted the marketplace business model. What does that mean?
Simply put, like Ebay or Flipkart, there are various sellers who come and sell their product under the amazon banner. But like Flipkart, this is also not very obvious. While you do get a listing of e.g. Western Digital 1TB HDD. ’From Rs. 3, 905’, there also exist other sellers selling the same product, but that is mentioned in a small box on the right, which you have to click to see all listings for that particular product.
This kind of model ensured that amazon does not need to spend much on stocking and reselling, instead acting as a sort of middleman and leveraging its name. It does provide a guarantee against certain products which are ’Fulfilled by Amazon’. This setup however is not foolproof and has created many customer complaints, which we shall address later.
Categories of Products:
Initially started with just Books, Games, Movies and Music, amazon is well on it’s way to matching the extensive range offered by Flipkart, homeshop18 and Snapdeal. The following categories of products are currently available:
Kindle e-books
Paper Books
Movies, Music and TV Shows
Video Games
Mobiles & Tablets(incl Accessories)
Computers and Accessories(incl Laptops)
Cameras, Audio & Video(recently started televisions as well)
Home & Kitchen(appliances & furnishings)
Toys & Baby Products
Beauty & Health
Watches & Jewellery
Handbags & Luggage
One big category which is missing in clothing. However, they do compensate for it with their kindle store, which allows access to the vast amazon global e-book library.
Layout and User Interface
Amazon.in borrows the amazon US and amazon global interface and it works pretty well, for the most part. However, personally, I find that it is still missing proper product descriptions in a lot of categories and that the vast amount of white space makes it difficult to navigate at times. On the plus side, its user review come out very well, in comparison to Flipkart, and you also get to access the vast amazon.com user review database, which proves very useful when looking for reviews for electronics, mobile phones, books etc.
The recent history and product recommendations algorithm is also better than Flipkart, and recommends products that you may actually want to buy based on your browsing history. In addition, their wishlist is better organized than Flipkart as it allows you create and organize more than one wishlist. Still wish they had a smart list, like bigbasket.com does.
Discounts and placing orders
Placing orders like in most well reputed e-stores is a simple enough process, with the usual payment categories of COD, Netbanking or Credit/Debit Card available. They also have a comparable return policy to Flipkart, with either 30 or 10 day returns available depending upon reason and product type. I did not get a chance to try out the returns system.
Price wise, they are quite comparable to Flipkart in the categories of Mobiles, Electronics, Paper Books etc. Like Flipkart, prices do fluctuate and the price one day might be as much as 10 - 15% higher or lower as compared to the day before. Again, this is partly a result of having a marketplace model.
Caution Areas
A reason for a lot of the complaints that have taken place on amazon is the fact that the sellers credibility or rating is not really made apparent. Unlike Ebay, where you can easily see the seller rating next to their name (e.g. xyz seller has 99.2% rating and is a power seller), here you need to click on the seller name, which takes you to the sellers page. Only there can you see their rating, then also it is only a small box on the side with a positive, neutal and negative rating percentage indicated. You cannot sort our just the positive, negative or neutral ratings by different buyers. Hence, people can be easily fooled into a product listing with a very tempting price.
For e.g. a Few months ago, I was looking to purchase a Nokia Lumia 520 mobile phone. I found one listing for Rs. 7, 667 which at that time was a price unmatched by any other online seller, and at least Rs. 500 cheaper than the other sellers listing for the same product on amazon itself. However, when I clicked on the sellers name and went to his page, I found a rating on only 3.8/5 and a Negative Percentage Score of 30%!
Fact is, people think that they are buying from Amazon, with Amazon’s guarantee. But they are in fact buying from some other seller who may or may not be very reliable.
Shipping:
Shipping on amazon.in is good. Products reached about 1-2 days to my residence before their claimed delivery date. In this way, it is a bit like Flipkart, who overstate their delivery date and then delivery faster, in order to make the customer happy. Packaging was also in good condition, just like Flipkart. All in all, a good delivery service.
Kindle Store - e-books vs Paper vs Flipkart
One of the most unique offerings on amazon.in is the ability to purchase e-books which can be read on a Kindle e-book reader or any mobile/tablet/PC with a free kindle app. You also get to browse and purchase books from the entire amazon US category, which would make sense as it could be potentially cheaper than importing hardcover copies from the US which take time and cost a lot. Books get wirelessly delivered to your device and stay in your kindle account which can be accessed.
Thing is, does this make financial sense?
Well, to compare that, I have brought a collection oh physical and e-books from amazon and Flipkart which are presently bestsellers. Here is the price comparison
How to Win Friends and Influence People - Kindle(K) 101 Amazon(A) 179 Flipkart(F) 175
Two States(Chetan Bhagat)(K) 79 (A) 104 (F) 93
Twelve Years a Slave(K) 60 (A) 758(Import)(F) 149
Secret of the Nagas(K) 72 (A) 99 (F) 171
Sachin Tendulkar (espn Cricinfo)(K) 299 (A) 390(F) 485
The Secret(K) 161 (A) 488 (F) 485
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (K) 325(A) 399(F) 468
As can be seen e-books are generally cheaper than physical books, esp now that Flipkart has almost stopped all discounts since it has become popular. However, they are not as cheap as I would have liked, given that there is no printing, stocking and shipping costs involved. Still, if some of your books are only available as imported editions, it makes sense to buy the e-book version at a much cheaper price.
Conclusion:
Amazon.in is a good e-commerce portal. Backed by Amazon US, it provides a good range of products, the promise of good customer service and a relatively clean interface. However, one must be cautious and check the seller rating before committing to any purchase from amazon.in.