Amazon is deepening its relationship with India’s second largest retail chain, Future Retail, as the e-commerce giant widens its footprint in one of its key overseas markets.
The two said on Monday that they have entered into a long-term business agreement to expand the reach of Future Retail’s stores through Amazon India marketplace.
As part of the agreement, Amazon India will become the authorized online sales channel for Future Retail stores including Big Bazaar and Foodhall. Additionally, India’s second largest retail chain, which attracts over 350 million footfalls across its network, will list its items on Amazon’s two-hour delivery platform Prime Now, which is currently operational in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
The two giants said they have agreed to focus on grocery — a category that Amazon has been exploring for awhile — general merchandize, fashion and apparel, and beauty products.
Future Consumer, which is also a part of Future Retail, has also formed a long-term partnership with Amazon to secure an online distribution through the Amazon India marketplace. Future Consumer offers a wide-range of food, home care, personal care, and beauty products and has built a number of brands such as Tasty Treat for snacks, Voom for fabric care, Dreamery for dairy, Karmiq for dry fruits, Mother Earth for organic staples, Kara for personal care, CleanMate for household cleaning.
Kishore Biyani, Chairman and Managing Director of Future Retail, said, “This arrangement will allow us to build upon each other’s strengths in the physical and digital space so that customers benefit from the best services, products, assortment and price.”
The announcement today comes months after Amazon bought stakes in Future Retail’s Future Coupons — that effectively gave it a 3.58% stake in the retail chain group’s India business — and days after India’s largest retail chain, Reliance Retail, began its e-commerce venture.
Future Retail runs a wide swath of retail brands in India, covering a range of things from grocery to perishables to electronics to fashion apparel. But the company has yet to expand to e-commerce.
More to follow…
Amazon
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Manish Singh, Khareem Sudlow
