71% Amazon sellers expect recovery of business during festive season: Study

98% sellers say tech adoption has helped their business, according to a survey by Amazon to gauge expectations of SMBs selling on its India marketplace

About 98 per cent of the surveyed sellers say that technology adoption and e-commerce have positively impacted their business, according to a  study commissioned by Amazon to understand the expectations of small and medium businesses (SMBs) selling on the company’s India marketplace from the upcoming festive season. The study shows sellers expect increased sales and reaching new customers this festive season that will help revive their business.

“One of the most important metrics for festive season events is how we contribute to the success and growth of the lakhs of sellers on the marketplace,” said  Sumit Sahay, director, selling partner services, Amazon India. “This festive season, we continue to strongly prioritize efforts to enable sellers to bounce back from the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and accelerate their business growth.”

Sahay said the findings from the study indicate that Amazon’s efforts are aligned with the needs and expectations of the SMB sellers. “We believe that Amazon is rightly placed to serve customers this festive season, create new opportunities for businesses to reach a wider set of customers across India, and generate greater value for their products,” said Sahay.

About 28 per cent of the surveyed sellers claimed that they will be launching new products this festive season. Nearly 50 per cent of sellers indicated that they will sell on Amazon during the festive season for the first time. Over 40 per cent of the surveyed sellers expect their business to grow by 50 per cent, while one in four sellers expect to double their business growth through festive season sales this year. Out of the 1000 sellers selling again during the festive season, 86 per cent expect an increase in sales this year vis-à-vis last year with over 50 per cent of them expecting at least a 25 per cent growth in sales vs last year.

The study was conducted in English and regional languages by Nielsen amongst almost 2000 sellers registered on Amazon.in from August 30-September 9. The study covered sellers from 21 cities across India. It also includes Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities including Lucknow, Ludhiana, Indore, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Kochi, Patna, Jaipur, Rajkot, Mysore, Guwahati, Vizag and Bhubaneswar. All sellers surveyed shared that e-commerce will help them reach a wider set of customers this festive season as compared to previous years.

Regarding the top expectations of surveyed Amazon sellers from this festive season, 78 per cent mentioned reaching out to new customers. About 71 per cent mentioned an increase in sales and  62 per cent mentioned an increase in visibility of products. About 71 per cent mentioned recovery of business post the lockdown.

Nearly one-third (31 per cent) of the surveyed sellers plan to make additional investments this festive season to achieve their business goals. About 35 per cent of sellers plan to invest in seasonal hiring to meet the increase in demand. Around 45 per cent of sellers claimed that they will invest in training of personnel. Also, about 36 per cent sellers claimed that they will invest in boosting their inventory and warehousing.

One such business is the health food firm NutraSphere, which has been associated with Amazon for over 3 years. The company’s presence on the marketplace helped it balance the disruption caused by the pandemic.  “With Amazon, we get orders from some of the remotest corners of the country which would otherwise have taken us years to achieve,” said Pratik Rao, CEO NutraSphere. “During the lockdown, we saw 200 per cent growth in our business on Amazon (for) sales. I feel the upcoming festive season will be extremely critical for the revival of Indian businesses. We are looking forward to launching a new range of products this festive season on Amazon and rally back from the recent challenges.”