Brief: It’s still Day 1 for ecommerce in India, says Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon. Photo credit: Steve Jurvetson.

• “It’s still Day 1 for ecommerce in India,” says Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, in a statement on the company’s first quarter earnings. “I assure you that we’ll keep investing in technology and infrastructure.” Amazon has already committed US$5 billion to the Indian market. Jeff Bezos explained his idea of Day 1 in a letter to shareholders recently.
• Amazon has been bleeding in India where it’s in a war of discounts with local ecommerce players. Despite losses of US$481 million in its international business, however, it’s whopping US$3.66 billion quarterly earnings from Amazon Web Services gave it a billion dollar income for the quarter.
• Amazon cited data from comScore and SimilarWeb to claim it is the fastest growing marketplace in India and most visited site on both desktop and mobile. It also quoted App Annie’s finding that Amazon is the most downloaded shopping app in India.
• Amazon says a key driver of growth in India has been Amazon Prime’s rapid adoption and widening array of selection since its launch nine months ago. Tech in Asia had reported then that it could prove to be a key marker in Amazon’s efforts to win India.

See: Pros and cons for Alibaba in battle with Amazon on neutral ground in India

Sources: Quartz, Marketwatch, Mint