Amazon Has Big Plans For Grocery in India

Amazon is expanding its grocery offerings in India, as the company anticipates that the market will account for over half of its business in India in the next five years.

Amit Agarwal, the head of Amazon India, said in an interview that groceries and items such as creams, soaps and cleaning products were already the largest product category on the site in terms of number of units sold in India.

“I would not speculate on when we would launch AmazonFresh — but, absolutely, if you ask me the next five years’ vision, from your avocados to your potatoes, and your meat to your ice cream, we’ll deliver everything to you in two hours,” he said, according to Reuters.

“Probably, in the next five years, groceries and consumables would be more than half of our business,” he added.

Currently, Amazon offers some groceries in India via a service named Pantry. In addition, local vendors in four cities work with Amazon Now, which guarantees two-hour deliveries.

And Agarwal revealed that the company had already started experimenting with fresh groceries in the country.

India is the eCommerce giant’s largest active customer base outside of the United States. In fact, Amazon already has over 100 million registered users in India — and the country’s online market is expected to grow to $200 billion in a decade, according to Morgan Stanley.

“We want to get the next hundred million customers shopping with us,” said Agarwal. He added that the company plans to attract new clients with product exchange and staggered payment offerings.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Amazon is looking to offer more private label products, with sources saying that new categories could include large and small appliances.

Of course, Amazon isn’t the only major retailer looking to expand in India. Walmart, which is trying to acquire a big stake in India’s leading eCommerce player Flipkart, has reportedly convinced some of its key shareholders to sell their stakes to the retailer.