Jeff Bezos Bets Billions On Amazon Winning In India

Amazon isn’t giving up hope to one day be the top eCommerce player in India.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos told company executives back in 2014 to “do what it takes to succeed” and not to worry about the cost when it came to operating in the Indian market.

While the eCommerce giant continues to dominate the online retail space in the U.S., Amazon has been unable to find similar success in its endeavors abroad. The company has invested billions into developing a logistics network across India to attract customers and has since rise to the country’s No. 2 eCommerce player behind local rival Flipkart.

But at a conference in San Francisco last month, the WSJ said Bezos argued Amazon is actually “the leader in India now.”

In August, Livemint reported that just three years into operations in India, Amazon pushed past Flipkart in terms of gross sales for the month of July.

Flipkart reported gross sales or gross merchandise value (GMV) of less than ₹2,000 crore in July, while Amazon’s gross sales crept up above ₹2,000 crore, according to “people familiar with the companies’ numbers.” Gross sales measure the value of goods sold on the site and do not necessarily track to revenue.

“We continue to have a significant lead over the competition on all important customer parameters, including sales. We are also the market leader in the biggest categories of eCommerce, including mobiles, fashion, home, electronics and appliances. Our sales are witnessing a steady growth, and in the recent months, we have significantly raised the bar of execution, speed of customer delivery and product quality,” a Flipkart spokesperson in an email at the time.

Amazon has more than 80 million products on its website in India and Bezos has committed another $3 million to invest in India since June.

“This is probably an inflection point,” Amit Agarwal, Amazon’s India head, confirmed to WSJ. “We have been investing very aggressively.”