Abstract

The case is about the entry and expansion strategy of Amazon Inc. in India, the third largest e-commerce market in the world. Amazon India was launched in June 2013. Since foreign e-commerce companies were not allowed to hold their own inventory and sell directly to consumers in India, Amazon launched its marketplace model which enabled third-party sellers to trade their products. Since it was launched in India, Amazon has built up one of the biggest online product ranges in the country. The case discusses the strategies Amazon India adopted to win over the Indian market. However, some analysts felt that Amazon had made a big strategic mistake in trying to crack yet another emerging market after its fiasco in China and Brazil. Other than the regulatory quagmire in the Indian ecommerce industry, Amazon had to face competition from well-funded and aggressive homegrown companies such as Flipkart and Snapdeal that had better knowledge of the local market and also hard to please customers who were spoilt for choice.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the e-commerce market of an emerging country
• Study and assess the issues and challenges of running an e-commerce company in India
• Evaluate the entry and expansion strategy of Amazon in India

Keywords

International Management, Internationalization, Entry and expansion strategy, Competition, Competitive strategy, Differentiation, Customer service, Logistics, Regulatory quagmire, Emerging markets, Marketplace model, Indian ecommerce industry, Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal