Amazon launches upgraded 'Amazon Easy'; eyes next 300 mn customers in India

These stores will offer a touch and feel product experience through a physical product display. They include assisted shopping and last-mile delivery for customers through a single touch-point.

E-commerce giant Amazon on Sunday launched the upgraded ‘Amazon Easy’ store format that integrates multiple Amazon services through a single touchpoint. The upgraded format of Amazon Easy stores will offer a touch and feel product experience through a physical product display. Customers can also place an order on Amazon.in with guided assistance from the store staff and either pick up the order from the store, or get it delivered at their doorstep.

Kishore Thota, director, customer experience and marketing, Amazon India, said, "The company sees Amazon Easy playing an important role in enabling the next 200-300 million customers to enjoy shopping on Amazon.in as well as creating local jobs and self-employment opportunities."

The store owners will now be able to leverage Amazon’s last-mile delivery programme – ‘I Have Space’ to deliver packages to customers in their area as well as facilitate pickups, creating an additional revenue stream for themselves. The first such exclusive Amazon Easy store is now operational in Mahalakshmi Layout in Bengaluru. Amazon will soon expand the upgraded format stores to other parts of the country with existing and new network partners. Amazon competes with rivals Walmart-owned Flipkart and Reliance Industries’ e-commerce venture JioMart which are rapidly bringing kiranas and local shops onto their platforms.

“We have been working with local businesses and entrepreneurs to lower the barriers to shopping online, especially for customers from lower-tier geographies,” said Thota of Amazon. “This latest Amazon Easy store format is another step in this direction, increasing the number of services to customers as well as creating additional sources of revenue for store owners,”  he added.

Adopting a vernacular first approach for communication, the upgraded stores are equipped with better brand and product visibility and a demarcated area for product demos. This helps in building trust and assurance for customers in their shopping experience. Alongside multiple established brands, customers can browse and shop from a diverse range of regional and local brands available. 

With a dedicated space set aside for these brands, Amazon said it is ensuring visibility for all, and offering a wide range of product selection for customers to choose from. The upgraded format stores will exclusively offer Amazon Easy services. All the upgraded stores are designed with care to abide by the social distancing norms.

Amazon works with several network partners across India like Vakrangee, Indiabuys, and Velocity among others to bring the Amazon Easy experience to new-to-e-commerce customers. Amazon.in appoints associates and trains store owners to help customers find and buy products of their choice. This is enabling additional revenue streams for entrepreneurs and businesses like kirana stores, medical shops and stationery stores.  Amazon has partnered with Velocity to roll out the upgraded format Easy stores starting with Bengaluru.  Amazon will further expand these stores to other parts of the country in collaboration with its other partners.

“The Amazon Easy stores have the potential to revolutionize the way customers approach e-commerce and online shopping, and the assisted shopping service will add further ease and comfort,” said Anil Sharma, Managing Director, Velocity Brand Server Pvt Ltd.

Amazon India started Amazon Easy as a pilot in 2015 and has since expanded to every state and union territory across the country with large network partners as well as thousands of individual entrepreneurs. Customers can continue to walk into their nearest Amazon Easy store present across the country to avail assisted shopping services for shopping on Amazon.in.