Come July, the two-day annual shopping festival exclusively for Amazon Prime subscribers across the globe is awaited with great anticipation by shoppers and sellers alike. This year is no different either, and the excitement around the mega shopping event is palpable, with small businesses on Amazon looking to repeat last year’s success on Prime Day 2019. Adding to the celebration this year, thousands of small and medium businesses, women entrepreneurs, weavers, and start-ups under Amazon’s various initiatives- Kala Haat, Amazon Saheli, Amazon Launchpad and Amazon Business from across the country will showcase over 500 new products first for Prime members.
Commenting on the inclusion and participation of Amazon’s small and medium business partners in Prime Day 2019, Gopal Pillai, Vice President, Seller Services, Amazon India, said: “Our longest ever Prime day gets even bigger this year with over 500 new launches by small and medium businesses exclusively for Prime members, a growth of 7X from last year! The two-day celebration this year will have some never seen before products from artisans, weavers, women entrepreneurs, emerging brands and start-ups. Prime Day helps SMBs reach millions of Prime members around the country, and provides an opportunity for the smallest of businesses to participate and grow”
Empowering small sellers
Amazon India has been supporting many such growing brands and small businesses in a host of ways, including events like Prime Day. Ankit Garg, of Wakefit Mattresses says, "We started selling on Amazon in 2014. And Prime Day 2018 was when we got a taste of the event! We never expected a one day sale can bring you 15 times the sale you are doing on a normal basis. Your brand is visible to so many people in India, it is very, very beneficial to participate in the sale because you get at least 3 or 4 times the sale of what you do on a daily basis. We were surprised that something like this can happen and looking forward to this year's Prime Day."
We never expected a one day sale can bring you 15 times the sale you are doing on a normal basis.
Endorsing this view is Ashok Mittal of Teamonk Global Foods, which specialises in speciality teas. He says that "Prime Day is one of the best opportunities for us to maximise the number of customers who shop for their products." He believes that to make this day truly exciting is to give great offers to customers. Saying that sellers should cash in on this golden opportunity is Himmat Jain from AS-IT-IS Nutrition, the health food seller.
He explains, "We were a part of Prime Day last year and we did 2.5x of business in just those two days. We added a lot of new customers. I would absolutely recommend sellers to participate in the upcoming Amazon Prime Day and make use of this golden opportunity."
Prime Day 2018 was a success for small and medium-sized businesses who put their passion and unique skill sets on display. Prime members around India purchased thousands of products from entrepreneurs, start-ups, artisans and mom-and-pop shops. Over 50,000 participating small and medium-sized businesses saw an average growth of 240% during Prime Day 2018 over an average day. Moreover, small and medium-sized businesses exceeded $1.5 billion in sales last Prime Day globally.
Enabling delivery service partners
If you thought that only sellers are benefitting from Prime Day, think again. Service partners of Amazon, who help in last mile delivery are looking forward to Prime Day with great expectations. Sanjukta who services over 30 pin codes in the North East from her delivery station, says that business is always great during Prime and she is looking to hire more delivery associates for Prime Day.
The event gives us the opportunity to build our on-demand logistics network while allowing us to stress-test our fixed capacity network.
Sunil, who runs his logistics firm Vcare from Vadodara, Gujarat, who saw their business almost doubling on Prime Day 2018, are also Amazon’s service partners, enabling last mile logistics. Partnering with Amazon has helped them grow their business, while generating employment in their local community and often empowering the local youth as well. "Last year our business grew two-fold during Prime," he says, adding, "This year we are looking to do top that!"
Speaking about last year’s Prime Day experience, Ramakrishnan, Amazon’s service partner from Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, says, "Prime Day 2018 was outstanding. Many new customers had ordered on that day, and they soon became regular customers. Since we were doing on-time deliveries, our delivery services were being apprecaited too.
As a result, our customer base increased even in small towns." In anticipation of Prime Day 2019, Ramakrishnan says that they have increased their man power. He goes on to say, "‘We have also planned extra vehicles, and are preparing our station for the huge delivery volume that we anticipate."
Ankit Mandhania, ZipZap Logistics from Hyderabad, says, "Prime Days are highly charged events for logistics partners like us. The event gives us the opportunity to build our on-demand logistics network while allowing us to stress-test our fixed capacity network. It keeps us on our toes and ensures that we are always aiming to deliver the experience that Amazon customers have come to expect."
"We are looking forward to a season of enhanced earnings for our delivery associates and drivers. Sale events like these go a long way in helping them realise their financial goals, be it their children’s education or down payment on a vehicle. And we are especially looking forward to increasing our business from small towns on this Prime Day."
