The platform will compete with SoftBank-backed Meesho, which dominates value customers in India, and Flipkart’s Shopsy, and expand its reach beyond the metro cities and tier 1 regions across India.
Amazon is proposing a zero referral fee to merchants in the new platform that is important for products that have low average selling prices. The deliveries from Bazaar will be relatively slower for better cost economics.
As demand for mass-market products has slowed down, Amazon’s user growth was only 13 per cent in December last year, primarily because of its more premium offerings compared to its peers, a January report from research firm Bernstein noted.
Bazaar is available now on Amazon's Android app in India, and will be placed prominently for a select cohort of users.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)