Since the government imposed a lockdown on virtually everything on 24th March 2020, more and more sellers registered on the e-commerce platform Amazon as demand for online delivery jumped. The Indian arm of US-based e-tailer has witnessed a 50% hike in seller registration post the opening up of lockdown, Gopal Pillai, vice-president – seller services, Amazon India, told The Indian Express in an interview. Search terms such as “sell online” and “sell on Amazon” have also gone up when compared with the pre-COVID numbers. The government allowed e-commerce services to work even amid lockdown while restrictions on the opening of physical stores were lifted later.
Online selling and buying witnessed a spurt in the last few months as people remained confined in their homes firstly due to lockdown and later due to skepticism of public spaces. Many retailers moved businesses online as well during the time and others ramped up online offerings. The lockdown period also saw a major shift with industry leaders in FMCG tying up with online delivery channels to sell their goods. The demand for online shopping has not only jumped in essentials but items such as home goods, cleaning products, appliances, etc have also shot up. “This gives the opportunity to small businesses to showcase their offerings,” Gopal Pillai said. Amazon India is going to hold Small Business Day on 27th June.
Since the government allowed e-commerce companies to operate, Amazon has seen a spike from the pre-COVID numbers consistently. There are certain categories which are still not selling but the overall increase in sales has been persistent. “New sellers are realising that e-commerce and modern digital commerce gives them an additional opportunity to sell through a different channel,” Gopal Pillai said. Speaking about the impact of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘vocal for local’ initiative and how tagging products from the country of origin, Gopal Pillai said that there are numerous factors that affect a customer’s shopping pattern and customers are ultimately looking for good quality but rightly-priced products.
