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Amazon India’s “Apni Dukaan”: branding strategy

Article  in  Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies · August 2018

DOI: 10.1108/EEMCS-09-2017-0230

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Amazon India’s “Apni Dukaan”: branding
strategy
Neetu Yadav and Mahim Sagar

After a successful debut in the American e-commerce market and presence in some other Neetu Yadav is Assistant
European and Asian countries, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, started identifying business Professor at Department
potential in emerging economies, and one of the growing countries was India. By the late of Management, Birla
2000s, the e-commerce business had already mushroomed in metro and urban cities of Institute of Technology
and Science Pilani,
India. It seemed the biggest challenge for Amazon was to compete with home-grown
Jhunjunnu, India.
e-commerce giants, such as Flipkart and Snapdeal. In 2013, Amazon made its debut in
Mahim Sagar is Associate
India through one of its subsidiaries, Junglee.com. As homegrown players had already
Professor at Indian
tapped the urban market, Amazon realized that Tier-II and Tier-III cities were its future Institute of Technology
markets in India. But, customers in these cities were still avoiding online purchases Delhi, New Delhi, India.
because of the fear of fraud, duplicate products and complicity in the transaction. How to
build trust factor among these customers seemed the management dilemma for Amazon
India’s top executives. Early in the year 2016, Bezos discussed and reflected upon different
ways to build trust among those potential customers of Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Were hefty
discounts sufficient to lure these customers or was there something more that Amazon
needed to do in India to capture this customer base?

1. Introduction
Amazon, a global e-commerce giant, has emerged as the largest online store in India and
Amazon.in was listed as the most visited website in 2015 (Times of India, 2015a). It strived
hard to attract Indian customers by providing them with more of what they want-vast
choices, low prices, fast and reliable delivery, an original and authenticated online
shopping experience and 100 per cent purchase protection (Company website, 2016).
India is one of the fastest growing markets for Amazon. It competed with two major Indian
players, that is, Flipkart and Snapdeal and operated under a marketplace model to provide
a platform linking buyers and sellers.
US giant Amazon, which launched in India in 2013, has gained a distant third position in the
Indian e-commerce market share (Mishra, 2015). Amazon India has vigorously adopted a
“GLOCAL” strategy to increase its presence in customers’ mind with its “desi” (local)
flavored advertisement campaigns. In this line, its famous branding campaigns as “Try to
kar”, “Aur Dikhao[1]”, “Kya Pehnu[2]” and “Apni Dukaan[3]” aimed at capturing Indian
consumers dilemma and fear about online shopping. The management is exploring
Disclaimer. This case is written
whether these “culture-specific” branding strategies would enable Amazon to become the solely for educational
number one choice for Indian online shoppers in the near future? purposes and is not intended
to represent successful or
unsuccessful managerial
2. E-commerce in India decision-making. The authors
may have disguised names;
financial and other
Over the past two decades, rising internet and smartphone usage have revolutionized recognizable information to
business and shopping. It has transformed the way business used to reach to its protect confidentiality.

DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-09-2017-0230 VOL. 8 NO. 3 2018, pp. 1-15, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 1
 customers. E-commerce or electronic commerce deals with the buying and selling of
goods and services over an electronic platform, mainly through the internet. The Indian
e-commerce market is expected to grow ten-fold to reach $100 billion in 2020 with support
from the increasing reach of internet, smartphones and spread of a digital network in rural
areas (KPMG, 2015). A KPMG report highlights that by 2017, India will have 350 million
smartphones and it will create huge demand. According to Amitabh Kant, Secretary
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), “While e-commerce has
mushroomed in India recently, by 2017 we would have 500 million Indians connected to the
internet, and it will create huge business opportunity” (Economic Times, 2015). The
e-commerce industry in India has shown promising growth with a 35 per cent Compound
Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) since 2009 from $3.8 billion to approximately $12.6 billion in
2013 (PwC Report, 2014).
e-Tailing comprises of online retail, and the online marketplace has grown at a CAGR of 56
per cent over 2009-2014. The direct selling market in India is estimated to be around INR
80 billion with growth at a CAGR of over 13 per cent between 2010 and 2015 (KPMG, 2016
Report). Direct selling covers both business-to-business and business-to-customer
aspects.
Some of the prevailing business models adopted by e-commerce companies are inventory
model and marketplace model. Under the inventory model, inventory is controlled by the
company, and they sell their products (E.g. Croma, big basket, Shoppers stop), whereas
under a marketplace model, one of the dominantly used models, the e-commerce company
creates a platform for linking sellers and buyers for business transactions (e.g. Amazon,
Flipkart, Snapdeal) (Details about business to customers (B2C) segments with dominant
business models are exhibited in Figure 1).
Looking at the Indian e-tail pie, Flipkart is top with 44 per cent, Snapdeal is a close second
with 32 per cent, whereas Amazon is a distant third with 15 per cent (Mishra, 2015). The
remaining nine per cent is fragmented with some small players. For Flipkart, 34 per cent of
its gross merchandise value (GMV) as of 2014 is from electronics followed by clothes.
Flipkart and Snapdeal are among the most funded companies in Indian e-commerce. Cash
on delivery (COD) is the most preferred mode of payment in India with 45 per cent of
shoppers using it, while 21 per cent opts for debit cards and another 16 per cent go for
credit cards. With Government initiatives for financial inclusion such as Jan Dhan, payment
bank licenses, other initiatives like Digital India, emerging cashless payment solutions
enabled a boost in the e-commerce sector (ASSOCHAM Report, 2015).

Figure 1 B2C e-commerce market in India

PAGE 2 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 8 NO. 3 2018

3. Amazon India
Amazon is an American e-commerce and cloud computing company with its headquarters
in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos as an online bookstore and
later diversified to sell DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads/streaming, audiobook downloads/
streaming, electronics, apparel, furniture, food and jewelry. Amazon has its presence in
many continents around the globe, like Asia, Europe, North America, Australia and South
America. In 2015, it became the world’s biggest online retailer by market capitalization
surpassing Wal-Mart with a value of $247.6 billion compared with Wal-Mart’s $230.5 billion
market capitalization (Bloomberg, 2015).
Amazon entered India in 2013 as Amazon.in or Amazon India where India was Amazon’s
12th country with its dedicated website (Economic Times, 2013). It flowed into India using
one of its subsidiaries Junglee.com; Amazon started operating as an interface platform
between customers and sellers. Amazon had to adopt this model for India as Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) rules did not allow foreign retailers to sell a wide variety of brands to
operate in India (Sahni, 2012).
“India is the second biggest investment country for the company after the USA, and it has added
new customers at the fastest rates in its history of operations in multiple countries”, said Diego
Piacentini, company’s head of international consumer business (Times of India, 2015b). Experts
say, “For Amazon, India is not a patchwork of strategy from any other country in the world. Its India
strategy has been endorsed directly by the top management” (Forbs, 2014). India is the only place
where Amazon came up with motorbike delivery center, Cash-on-delivery option for payment,
Kirana Now (to bring local retailers online), Amazon pickup (select pickup points for package
delivery), etc. (Fortune, 2015). Within two years of its operations in India, it has added over 55,000
products per day, grew its seller base by 250 per cent and expanded its fulfilment infrastructure by
300 per cent in 2015. It has invested over INR 6,700 crore in Indian operations since January 2015
to beef up services like warehousing and improve logistics and marketing (Economic Times,
2016a). It has reported a six-fold jump in sales to INR 1,022 crore even as losses soared to INR
1,723 crore for the year ending March 31, 2015, on account of heavy spending on discounts,
advertising and logistics (Mint, 2016). Three major sources of Amazon sales were-collecting
commissions from third-party sellers, providing marketing services to other Amazon-controlled firms
and wholesaling of Kindle e-book readers and accessories (Mint, 2016). To expand its services, it
has come up with unique services such as “on-demand” delivery services, “fulfilment by Amazon”,
“Amazon global selling”, hyper-local grocery delivery service app in Bangalore, etc. It has spent
INR 743.9 crore and INR 661.6 crore on advertisement and sales promotions, respectively, in the
financial year ending March 2015 (Mint, 2016). Its expenses and losses showed its eagerness to
become the dominant e-commerce firm in India. How has Amazon’s hefty advertisement expenses
helped the company to create differentiation in a crowded Indian e-commerce space?

4. Branding strategy
When all other e-commerce biggies were dealing with the primary challenges of growing
their market in India, Amazon was focusing on brand positioning and attracting Indian
customers in “desi” (English word-local) style. With its popular festive season sales,
creative advertisement campaigns and “Apni Dukkan” phrase, it attempted to increase its
brand presence in Indian consumers’ mind who were concerned with authenticity,
originality and trust. Those branding campaigns launched in an attempt to attract those
potential customers from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, some unique and famous advertisement
campaigns were:

4.1 “Try To Kar” campaign

Amazon launched this campaign in 2015 “Ek baar Amazon try to kar [. . .] ho kar befikar” to
address the fear and inhibition of consumers. It highlights the fact that 100 per cent original
products are sold on the website and the easy-return policy of products purchased on the

VOL. 8 NO. 3 2018 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 3

 website. In-spite of customers’ acceptance of e-commerce websites for online shopping,
still there is a section of Indian customers who are hesitant of indulging in any online
purchase on account of fraud, defective products, returning of products, etc. So, this
campaign asks customers to try shopping from Amazon at least once and to be assured of
original products and authentic services (View advertisement at www.youtube.com/watch?
v⫽zaH23nmw-ps).

4.2 “Aur Dikhao” campaign

Another campaign launched in 2015 to highlight the power of choice, “Hindustani dil
kahta hai [. . .] aur dikhao, aur dikhao” emphasizes that Indian consumers love to review
many options before making a final purchase decision. Amazon offers a wide range of
products to choose from and according to Manish Kalra, Director Integrated Marketing,
Amazon India, “We offer customers a wide choice of over 22 million products across
hundreds of categories to choose from and this campaign will resonate with Indian
shoppers who love to have more choice” (Campaign India, 2015). Thus, it portrays
real-life elements of Tier-II and Tier-III shoppers who want to explore unlimited options
with a limited budget. The campaign successfully establishes Amazon as a brand of
India that shoppers would love to shop from (View advertisement at www.youtube.com/
watch?v⫽jssITlGSR4w).

4.3 “Kya Pehnu” campaign

Amazon Fashion has been introduced to provide a one-stop destination for all stylish
apparel, shoes, watches and other accessories for men, women and kid. Its “Kya Pehnu”
campaign targets to solve the “What to Wear” fashion dilemma of Indian consumers by
turning a moment of dilemma into a moment of joyous celebration by offering a wide fashion
range for important occasions. Thus, with this campaign, it attempts to establish itself in the
fashion category that is one of the most profitable segments of e-commerce (View
advertisement at: www.youtube.com/watch?v⫽Q07xIowQzqQ).

4.4 “Apni Dukaan” campaign

For decades, Aapni Dukaan” or traditional “Kirana” shops have been the preferred place
of Indian consumers to shop. Amazon attempts to build trust with Indian consumers as their
traditional shop by assuring genuine products, experience easy returns, quick and reliable
delivery. With the campaign “Ye Apni Dukaan Hai”, it wants to make people aware that
Amazon.in is also one of these stores. “With an entertaining jingle based execution, we are
hoping to capture people’s attention, put a song on their lips and have them say that
shopping on Amazon.in is like shopping in “Apni Dukaan”.
The spokesperson added (Gupta and Gupta, 2016) (View advertisement at www.youtube.
com/watch?v⫽8IkDsEvrtjI).
In the crowded Indian e-commerce space, where a plethora of websites offered deep
discounts and attractive offers, building trust and presence in consumers’ minds were the
biggest challenges. Expectations from e-commerce players were the same as people had
from their mom-and-pop Kirana shops, such as trust, reliability, easy returns and
hassle-free transactions. Amazon India has adopted such a brand positioning strategy by
targeting “culture-specific” issues to make a presence in every Indian’s mind. With its
famous branding campaigns, it attempted to push one message at the right time without
overloading consumers with too many messages. Emphasizing middle-class shopping
issues in very simple yet catchy language and relating them with every-day phrases as
“Kya pehnu” and “Apni dukaan”, it aimed to reach out to a wider mass across age groups,
cities and gender.
Moreover, these campaigns were in the Hindi language that related well to the Indian
audiences. These campaigns had a strong recall, and regarding advertising, it was

PAGE 4 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 8 NO. 3 2018

doing far better than any other Indian players. Amazon, a global player, showcased
itself to be truly Indian by adopting a “GLOCAL” strategy in its operations, delivery and
payment systems, and an increasing presence in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. It offered a
wide range of products to overcome fashion dilemmas, provided speedy next-day
delivery even on Sundays and easy and reliable returns to become “apni dukkan” of
Indian consumers.

5. Differentiation strategy
During the late 2000s, Indian e-commerce giants were fighting for market share by
offering deeper discounts, and creating differentiation among these websites was one
of the major challenges. All websites sold the same products from the same merchants
to the same customers at the same price, so higher GMV was only possible by
increasing sales volumes. During these few years, Amazon attempted to position itself
as a brand of India with its differentiation strategy in branding campaigns, fashion week
sale, Great Indian sale, etc. In the words of vice-president and country management of
Amazon India, “Our approach is to look at three dimensions: How to expand the
selection, make that available for immediate shipment, and how to widen our network
and reach throughout the country?” (Forbs, 2014).
Capturing local cultural aspects of Indian consumers and dealing with their everyday
shopping issues were the only ways to develop differentiation to make a presence in
consumers’ minds. These branding campaigns tout convenience, originality, trust,
extensive product range and their low prices to reach to Indian shoppers. Its local
competitors including Flipkart and Snapdeal had also turned to an advertisement to
boost sales, but this was noteworthy that none of these companies was profitable.
According to the Brand Trust Report (2016), “Amazon is India’s most trusted online
shopping brand with 36 per cent of the trust pie” (Economic Times, 2016b). A recent
survey by afaqs, advertising, media and marketing portal revealed that Amazon had
been hailed as India’s buzziest brand by beating Flipkart, which was the buzziest brand
in 2015 (afaqs, 2016).

6. Way ahead
Having its presence in other countries in Asia such as China and Japan, Amazon strived
hard to make its presence in the list of the top five e-commerce players. In contrast, looking
at the Indian scenario, in a short span of three years, it has given tough competition to its
local e-commerce giants. Amazon has realized the growth potential of e-commerce in
India, and hence, there were tremendous efforts to beat the existing local giants. It had
done extremely well in brand positioning with a lot of expenditure in creative advertising,
promotional campaigns and deep discounts during festive seasons. As Jeff Bezos’s clear
commitment to invest in Indian operations, it was evident that he would spend whatever it
would take to win. The slogans in Hyderabad warehouse “Transforming the way India sells,
transforming the way India buys” reinforced Amazon’s focus to succeed in India by
transforming Indian shopping by connecting traditional local sellers with masses through a
well-built internet infrastructure.
Experts emphasized that with big sales numbers in a very short space of time, the message
was very clear that it was all set to target the number one position in Indian e-commerce.
The million-dollar question was whether it would be able to de-throne the local players by Keywords:
acquiring them or by beating them? Being the most-visited website in 2015, would it Marketing,
become the most loved brand of the Indian masses? If Jeff writes a book on Amazon, then Brand management/equity,
India would be a chapter in it, but would the chapter would be titled “Bezos’s folly” or “The Strategic management/
Billion-Customer bounty”? planning

VOL. 8 NO. 3 2018 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 5

 Notes
1. English meaning of “Aur Dikhao” is “show more”.
2. English meaning of “Kya Pehnu” is “what to wear”.
3. English meaning of “Apni Dukaan” is “own shop”.

References
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PAGE 6 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 8 NO. 3 2018

 Sahni, D. (2012), “Amazon launches new website for India”, available at: www.wsj.com/articles/
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Further reading
Amazon.in (2016), “About us”, available at: www.amazon.in/b?ie⫽UTF8&node⫽1592138031
(accessed 15 February 2016).

Corresponding author
Neetu Yadav can be contacted at: neetuyadav@hotmail.com

VOL. 8 NO. 3 2018 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 7

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