Amazon claims eyeball leadership, rewards shoppers

Graph puts Amazon in lead with over 30 mn monthly unique visitors as of Oct 2015

Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of American online major Amazon, has made a leadership statement in India’s intensely competitive e-commerce universe. He has thanked shoppers for making Amazon.in a top site, while stating that the group would continue to invest.

“Just two-and-a-half years from our launch, Amazon.in has become the most visited e-commerce site in India,” Bezos wrote in an e-mail to customers on Monday. The message is also posted on the Amazon India website.

Bezos cited data analytics firm ComScore data to say Amazon was on top with over 30 million monthly unique visitors as of October 2015, against Flipkart’s at around 27 million and Snapdeal at below 20 million. The numbers reflect unique visitors to e-commerce sites through desktop or laptop, rather than through apps. The October data captures the busy Diwali shopping period as well.

To celebrate its leadership position, Amazon announced a gift card of Rs 200 for every purchase of at least Rs 500 on Monday. Amazon.com in the US is offering 50 per cent discount on a selection of Bollywood digital videos for a limited time for the lead in the India market, international reports said.

Earlier this month, Naspers, a South African Internet company, said Flipkart, along with Myntra, had over 50 million monthly active users on its smartphone app, three times larger than those on Snapdeal and Amazon during the September quarter. Naspers owns 17.4 per cent in Flipkart.

Bezos stressed in the mail that ‘’we will keep growing our investments in India’’. Last year, Amazon announced investment of $2 billion in India.

In a recent interview to Business Standard, Amazon India head Amit Agarwal had said, “We have an open cheque book. We don't manage to a number but to the customer's expectation.”