Will help generate more demand for SMBs' products in India: Amazon

"We believe Prime day is a huge opportunity for a lot of sellers to benefit, reach out to a wider audience and accelerate their growth," said Akshay Sahi, Amazon India

Amazon is all geared up to kick off the annual Prime Day sale this weekend. The company has announced to offer lucrative deals on several product categories including consumer electronics, kitchen appliances, sports, fitness equipment, gardening tools, fashion apparel, and more.

Ahead of the Prime Day 2022 edition, DH interacted with Akshay Sahi, Director, Prime and Delivery Experience, Amazon India, to delve on how the company's flagship promotional sale campaign has evolved and its plan to help Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs).

Here are the edited excerpts:

DH: Can you share details on changes in trends during the Covid pandemic-induced lockdown and post-restriction period?
Akshay Sahi: In the last two years, the pandemic created unprecedented challenges for people and economies globally and India has been no exception. As ‘stay at home’ and ‘work from home’ became the new normal, we saw the critical role e-commerce has played to serve people in the safety of their homes. In the face of this disruption, it was heartening to see how lakhs of sellers, delivery and logistics players, and others step up to serve and support customers. The pandemic has accelerated technology adoption which has brought a structural shift in online shopping behavior and we are seeing more and more customers coming online for their shopping needs across categories.

DH: What measures Amazon has taken to improve women-led self-help groups and local sellers' product reachability to consumers across India?
Akshay Sahi: Making the everyday lives of customers joyous and convenient, Amazon Prime has been a catalyst, providing an unparalleled combination of shopping & entertainment benefits to its members since its launch in 2016. Since our inception, we have worked and continue to work to support Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) and help generate customer demand for products offered by lakhs of sellers, manufacturers, start-ups & brands, women entrepreneurs, artisans, weavers, and local shops. Today, we have over a million sellers on the marketplace and over 4,50,000 of them joined in the last 24 months.

We believe Prime day is a huge opportunity for a lot of sellers to benefit, reach out to a wider audience and accelerate their growth. This Prime day, over 120 SMBs including start-ups and brands, women entrepreneurs, artisans, and weavers are launching more than 2,000 new products across categories like Home & Kitchen, Pet supplies, Beauty, Personal care, Fashion, Jewelry, Grocery, and Toy under various programs such as Local Shops on Amazon, Launchpad, Saheli, and Karigar.

Akshay Sahi, Director, Prime and Delivery Experience, Amazon India

DH: How has been Prime’s journey in India?
Akshay Sahi: We have had a fantastic response to Prime since its launch in India, and we have seen new members signing up as we continue to add benefits. Prime membership has continued to be a 'bestseller' during all key sale events, and we now see a lot of our members coming from smaller towns. For example, in 2021, more than 70% of new Prime members shop from outside of the top 10 cities including towns like Ananthnag (Jammu & Kashmir), Bokaro (Jharkhand), Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), Mokokchung (Nagaland), Hoshiapur (Punjab), Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu), Gadag (Karnataka) and Kasargod (Kerala). We continue to innovate on behalf of our customers with unique first for India benefits all of which make the Prime membership more valuable for customers

DH: What new exciting offers consumers can expect at this year's Prime Day sale
Akshay Sahi: To celebrate all Prime members, Amazon’s annual Prime Day event will be organized in India on July 23 and 24, 2022. The two days of great deals, savings, blockbuster entertainment, new launches, and much more will help Prime members sit back, relax and enjoy all the blockbuster entertainment and shop to their heart’s content. This year, Prime Day will offer the best deals and savings across categories.

Amazon Prime will see over 30,000 new product launches from over 400 top Indian and global brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, Intel, boAt, etc, and 2,000 new product launches from over 120 Small & Medium Businesses (SMBs) like XECH, Cos-IQ, Himalayan Origins, SpaceinCart, Mirakii, Karagiri, Nirvi Handicrafts across categories including electronics, fashion & grooming, jewellery, handmade products, and many more

There will be unique offers and deals from hundreds of young brands from the Indian start-ups under Amazon Launchpad; Amazon Karigar, Amazon Saheli, and Local Shops on Amazon.

Prime Video will have an exciting line-up of highly anticipated Amazon Original series and popular movies across multiple languages this Prime Day. There’s more in store for Prime members with two more blockbuster movies that will be announced closer to Prime Day 2022. Also, as a special Prime Day offer, many of our partners will be offering up to 50 per cent discount on add-on subscriptions through Prime Video Channels this Prime Day.

On Amazon Music, there will be the launch of two Marquee playlists in Hindi (Desi Vibes) and Telugu (Fully Tolly) featuring buzz-worthy and trending music. India's first Indic language marquee playlist starring artists like AR Rahman, Jubin Nautiyal, Ritviz, and more headlining from Bollywood, Indian Pop, and the independent pop scene in Hindi music.