<div style="float: left;">
	<img align="" alt="Amazon" class="imgCont" height="464" src="http://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/img/article/2016-10/29/full/1477679652-0665.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #DDD; margin-right: 10px; padding: 1px; float: left; z-index: 0;" title="Amazon" width="620" />
	<div>
		Seattle-based online retailer Amazon&rsquo;s losses in India are expected to accelerate in 2017 as the company focuses on new services such as Prime, Prime Video and its grocery delivery service, Amazon Now.</div>
	<br>
	<div>
		In the three months that ended September, the company reported a $541-million (Rs 3,570 crore) loss from its international business arm, attributing it largely to spending in India. In 2015-16, Amazon&rsquo;s losses in India more than doubled to Rs 3,572 crore from Rs 1,724 crore in the year-ago period.</div>
	<br>
	<div>
		The pace of investments will quicken as the company gets closer to market leader Flipkart, say experts. Amazon&rsquo;s India head, Amit Agarwal, has maintained he has a open cheque from his boss Jeff Bezos to conquer the Indian market and has a commitment of $5 billion so far.</div>
	<br>
	<div>
		&ldquo;Amazon isn&rsquo;t going to slow down its investments just because Flipkart isn&rsquo;t doing anything, in fact, they will see it as an opportunity to press the pedal,&rdquo; said Harminder Sahni, founder and managing director at Wazir Advisors. &ldquo;Flipkart is no pushover but there definitely is a challenge of raising money every time.&rdquo;</div>
	<br>
	<div>
		Prime, a loyalty subscription service Amazon launched in India earlier this year, offers free one- and two-day deliveries to customers. Apart from beefing up its logistics, the firm has also invested heavily in warehousing, with a capacity of&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		2.5 million sq ft, the highest among e-tailers in India.</div>
	<br>
	<div>
		Amazon has also debuted its Prime Video streaming service in the country with nine original titles from India. With an aim to produce high-quality content for Indian audiences, the company will spend millions of dollars producing these shows and will try to convert millions of its customers into monthly subscribers in the country. The firm&rsquo;s investments in warehouses, infrastructure, original video content and logistics, in addition to marketing and discounting, will ensure the figure rises substantially in 2017, again.</div>
	<br>
	<div>
		The marketplace arm of rival Flipkart had losses of Rs 2,306 crore in 2015-16, but since then, the company is rationalising costs and improving efficiency. At the same Flipkart, which fought back Amazon&rsquo;s aggressive push in the recent festival season by selling more goods, has cried foul over Amazon&rsquo;s tactics of deploying capital to win over customers.</div>
	<br>
	<div>
		Even though guidelines restrict e-commerce marketplaces from offering discounts, players have found workarounds such as reducing commissions from vendors.</div>
	<br>
	<div>
		&ldquo;Even though Flipkart has done a lot of things in the last one year to come out fighting, no one is sure if they are going to be there till the end. Investors too have grown wary because of demonetisation, the economic slowdown and the dollar becoming so strong, so they are scared if they will make money,&rdquo; added Sahni.&nbsp;</div>
</div>

In FY16, its India losses more than doubled to Rs 3,572 cr, from Rs 1,724 cr in the year-ago period

Amazon

Seattle-based online retailer Amazon's losses in India are expected to accelerate in 2017 as the company focuses on growing new services such as Prime, Prime Video and its grocery delivery service Amazon Now.In the three months that ended September, the company reported a $541 million (Rs 3570 crore) loss from its international business arm, attributing it largely to its spending in India. In comparison, in the fiscal year 2015-16, Amazon's losses in India more than doubled to Rs 3,572 crore, up from Rs 1,724 crore in the year ago period. The pace of investments will grow as the company gets closer to market leader Flipkart say experts. Amazon's India head Amit Agarwal has maintained that he has a open cheque from his boss Jeff Bezos to conquer the Indian market and has a commitment of $ 5 billion so far."Amazon isn't going to slow down its investments just because Flipkart isn't doing anything, in fact they will see it as an opportunity to press the pedal," said Harminder Sahni, found

Amazon's losses to rise as it aims to narrow gap with Flipkart

In FY16, its India losses more than doubled to Rs 3,572 cr, from Rs 1,724 cr in the year-ago period

More From This Section

Sahara diaries row: Congress reiterates demand for thorough probe

Coal price boom evades Coal India

Indian men emerge big online shoppers of 2016: Flipkart

Now pay for fuel, LPG at Bharat Petroleum pumps with Ola Money

Explore News