WORLD WRAP
Growing Amazon Prime
According to Piper Jaffray (a full-
service investment bank and asset
management firm focusing on mergers
and acquisitions, etc.) Amazon Prime
grew by 51 per cent globally in 2015
bringing its total membership to an
estimated 55-60 million. And this
growth contributor is not just to the
US, but also Japan and Europe that
have started demonstrating traction.
With more than 1,00,000 customer
reviews, out of which 62,000 include a
five-star rating, the Fire TV Stick is the
most-reviewed product ever offered on
Amazon. On Amazon’s first-quarter
earnings, the management reiterated
its commitment to invest in content,
and said that the company had
spent nearly US $ 10 billion in
capex in the past year to grow its
fulfilment capacity.
Same-day delivery service
Amazon grasped the importance of
speedy shipping earlier than many
rivals and invested accordingly.
With more than 100 warehouses in
the US alone, it has kept accelerating
its delivery from 48 hours, to next
day, and to the evening of the same
day. The company has recently
expanded its same-day delivery
service, Prime Now, to Italy, Japan
and the UK. Cowen and Company
estimates that 25 per cent of Prime
members have used Prime Now.
Recently, Amazon has also signed
two separate agreements covering
the leasing of 40 Boeing cargo planes
to be used for Prime Air deliveries.
Amazon is also
building a US $ 1.5
billion hub for its
own cargo airline.
The online retailer
is aggressively
expanding in the
fashion business.
Apart from the above listings on
Amazon’s success, 2017 is going to be
another exciting year for the e-tailer
which plans to increase its emphasis
on logistics, open brick and mortar
stores, invest in original content such
as movies, documentaries, etc. and
looks at an overdrive in India. With
a remarkable end in 2016 marked by
the opening of Amazon Go, its first
store that sells prepared food and
grocery staples in Seattle, Amazon
is also making a small push towards
bookstores, which one can expect to
grow more from four in 2017.
While globally Amazon is putting
together specific strategies in place,
it became the second largest online
marketplace in India by shipments
and gross merchandise value, after
Flipkart. The e-commerce giant also
announced an additional US $ 3 billion
investment, taking its total investment
in India to US $ 5 billion. It also
launched its popular subscription-
based program Amazon Prime to drive
customer loyalty and announced to
soon introduce its Prime Video Service.
Recently, in October, the firm launched
its ‘Global Store’ for Indian customers
enabling them to buy products sold on
its US website while paying in Indian
currency. Prior to this, when customers
from India bought things on Amazon’s
US website, they had to pay in dollars.
With its growing focus on a seamless
logistic support and assortment of
products driven by technology, Amazon
has been able to clock a good holiday
season sales as compared to other
retailers. However, for this resolute
e-tailer, the journey doesn’t stop here
as it seeks to expand in other areas of
the retail industry globally.
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