Mumbai: A week after Future Group’s Kishore Biyani alleged that online retailers were indulging in predatory pricing, he announced a partnership with Amazon India, the world’s biggest online store’s Indian arm, to sell his retail conglomerate’s fashion brands for starters and all other brands eventually.
Biyani’s comments were made in the context of the huge discounts offered by Flipkart during its Big Billion Day sale on 6 October.
Amazon India’s own Diwali sale is currently on.
In a statement announcing their partnership, Amazon India and Future Group said their alliance would leverage the product knowledge, brand portfolio and sourcing base of Future Group, and the e-commerce platform, customer base and reach of Amazon.in.
In September, Tata group company Infiniti Retail Ltd, which operates consumer durables electronics retail chain Croma, and Snapdeal.com announced a similar strategic partnership through which goods available at Croma stores were made available for purchase through Snapdeal.com.
India’s e-retail industry has grown at a swift pace in the last five years from around Rs.2,400 crore in 2008-09 to Rs.24,600 crore in 2013-14, translating into a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 59%, according to Crisil Research. E-commerce accounts for about 10% of organized retail.
However, by 2018-19, Crisil Research forecasts the market size of e-retail to expand to about 25% of organized retail. The speedy growth of the online industry has seen brick and mortar companies accelerate their own digital strategies. Last month, Future Group announced an investment of Rs.100 crore for rolling out its own so-called omni channel retail strategy in the coming year.
The partnership between the two organizations will bring together the best of consumer insight from the online and offline world and create the omni channel approach to serving customers, the statement from the two partners said.
Amazon.in will also partner Future Group brands in promoting the existing and new brands in markets, explore co-branding opportunities and accelerate new product development in categories which are currently not served by retailers, it added. The companies will also explore synergies in areas such as distribution network, customer acquisition and cross promotions, the statement said.
Source : Livemint
