Wednesday 24 December 2014

Amazon India expanding its Easy Ship delivery service

Amazon India is expanding its Easy Ship delivery service and has started a pilot on product returns in ten cities across seven product categories as part of a move to make it a complete end-to-end logistics service for sellers using its e-commerce platform. The world's largest e-commerce firm, which globally debuted Easy Ship in India in April, now plans to take it to other markets.

Under Easy Ship, the seller holds the inventory while Amazon undertakes the delivery when an order is placed. But this service did not support product returns, making it a headache for both sellers and customers. Amit Deshpande, general manager at Amazon Seller Services, said Amazon.in is piloting Easy Ship returns service to provide a seamless returns experience for customers who place orders with sellers using this service.
Amazon India expanding its Easy Ship delivery service"While customers would benefit as they no longer have to figure out how to return a package and which carrier to choose, sellers too will benefit from a better customer experience and do not have to worry about arranging returns," Deshpande said. Eventually, the company wants to make Easy Ship at par with its global marketplace model 'Fulfilment by Amazon' by eventually offering return services all over the country across product categories.

In the fulfilment model, the inventory is held in Amazon warehouses and service includes both delivery and returns. However, the company realised that to make rapid inroads into the Indian market it needed to create a new model where sellers controlled the inventory. So, it rolled out Easy Ship, which also provides cash-on-delivery option that accounts for more than half of all ecommerce sales in the country.

Amazon is piloting Easy Ship returns in Goa, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Vellore and Madurai across seven categories — books, precious jewellery, luggage and bags, music, sports and fitness, movies and DVD, and video games. Deshpande said Easy Ship has been a commercial success for Amazon India and already accounts for 25 per cent of all orders placed in the website with almost half of its 16,000 sellers using it.

Product returns is one of the biggest challenge dodging ecommerce industry in the country today. Product returns vary with categories and is as high as 30 per cent in fashion to 5 per cent for electronics and mobile phones. Deshpande said Amazon will also expand the 'Fulfilment by Amazon' service in India by setting up more warehouses. At present it has eight warehouses.

"Our seller base is rapidly expanding. Our desire is to give the sellers full flexibility of either using Easy Ship or Fulfilment by Amazon in every city," he said.

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