Amazon Launches P2P Test In India

Amazon has just launched a test version of a new P2P marketplace in India, which will allow consumers in the country to sell their used items via Amazon’s online retail platform. As of now, the service is only operational in the city of Bangalore.

The online marketplace plans to attract consumers using other P2P online marketplaces by also covering the logistics process. After a transaction is completed, Amazon will pick up, box and ship items to the buyer. Sellers will pay Amazon per-item fees based on each item’s value — ₹10 for each item under ₹1,000 ($0.15, <$14.65), ₹50 for each item between ₹1,000–5,000 ($0.73, $14.66–$73.24) and ₹100 for items valued above ₹5,000 ($1.46, >$73.25).

India is one of the fastest-growing digital commerce hubs on the planet, which made the nation of some 1.3 billion a prime target for online retail giant Amazon. The company introduced its Prime service to India in July 2016, where it has invested billions of dollars in developing a logistics network across India. As of this past summer, Amazon had 21 fulfillment centers and 5 million cubic feet of storage in the nation, allowing the company to reach all serviceable postal codes.

Additionally, Amazon launched Prime Video in India in mid-December of last year, about a week before expanding the video service to 200 countries and territories worldwide to push back hard at Netflix. Amazon reported plans to spend around $300 million to fund original movies and series for its Indian market, said GeekWire.

In July of this year, Amazon displaced Flipkart as India’s top eCommerce destination in terms of gross sales. Flipkart reported gross sales of less than ₹2,000 crore ($293 million), while Amazon’s gross sales crept up above ₹2,000 crore.