Amazon has launched AmazonBasics in India, starting with consumer electronics. The company mentions that it will expand to include other categories in the coming months. As of now, the platform is selling lightning cables, data cables, audio video cables and various adapters.
AmazonBasics is essentially Amazon acting as a seller and selling self branded products. These products are however likely not made by the company, but rather procured from small unknown manufacturers and rebranded as AmazonBasics. This is a win for everyone, as users can buy without having to worry about the warranty (Amazon provides it), while manufacturers (and Amazon) get to sell more units.
Interestingly, in our search we found AmazonBasics as a listed seller on Snapdeal, currently selling a single, out of stock laptop/tablet case and even Flipkart listed mobile accessories from the seller, however Flipkart’s listings have been subsequently pulled but can still be found cached here. From the looks of it, it seems like sellers were selling unauthorized AmazonBasics goods, although the very official looking logo on Snapdeal’s website makes us wonder if the company plans to list these products on competitor websites as well.
Launched in the US in 2009, AmazonBasics is currently available in most of Amazon’s major markets. Internationally, the company offers products in categories like video games, automotive, camera and photos, cell phone accessories and kitchen and dining etc. All products branded as AmazonBasics come with 1 year warranty from the company.
Other developments:
– Last month, Amazon launched Amazon Underground, a shopping app on Android that doubled as an app store. The app claims to offer various paid games and apps on Google Play as free apps on its platform, although it wasn’t available for India.
– The same month, Amazon India partnered with Surpluss.in to sell refurbished smartphones by Samsung and Xiaomi on its platform.
– In July, Amazon said that it would invest more than $100 million in the third quarter to produce original content for its subscription service Prime which allows users to stream movies, TV shows & music, and store photos.
– In June, Amazon.com said it would be extending its business loan programme to small sellers in India and seven other countries later this year. The Amazon Lending programme, which provides short-term working capital for sellers to expand their business, works on an invite basis only and is not open to all sellers.
– The same month, Amazon India launched advertising solutions for its website, allowing third party sellers to promote their products to consumers.
– In January, Amazon India said it would offer music and video streaming services later this year and had hired former Multi Screen Media executive Nitesh Kripalani to head its digital content business.
