Are we past peak Amazon India?

Feb 3, 2025

Srikanth Rajagopalan, CEO of Perfios and former Amazon employee, along with Vishal Karungulam, a professor at the Indian School of Business, discuss Amazon India's challenges. They explore how Amazon has lagged behind competitors like Flipkart and Meesho, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 markets. The conversation highlights Amazon's potential shift to AWS and the need for a customer-centric approach. They delve into the changing consumer behaviors and strategic adaptations necessary for Amazon to reclaim its competitive edge in India.

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ANECDOTE

Bezos' Grand Entrance

Jeff Bezos' first India visit (2013) featured him in traditional attire, atop a lorry, with a $2 billion check.
This was seen as a sign of Amazon adopting an Indian approach, different from its US strategy.

INSIGHT

Amazon India's Struggles

Amazon India is losing market share, failing to capitalize on new markets like quick commerce and apparel.
It was also the last major player to enter the quick-commerce race, despite its reputation for execution.

INSIGHT

Amazon's Potential Peak

Vishal Karungulam believes Amazon's peak isn't in retail but AWS cloud services.
He suggests Amazon may exit e-commerce, focus on quick commerce, or double down on AWS investments.

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Amazon India has fallen behind in the e-commerce race to Flipkart and now to Meesho as well, in tier-2 and tier-3 markets. It is the last large player to enter the quick-commerce race in India. Everything that made Amazon largely successful in the U.S. has not fully cut it for them in India, even though they understood India is a very different market and the approach they took in the U.S. might not work well for them here early on

Yet, they have missed out on capitalising on a lot of opportunities because they were slow to react to changing consumer behaviour.

And this losing advantage in some of their verticals makes you think, what are the other businesses where Amazon has a right to win. Is it AWS, streaming or something else? Or will they push forward to make up for the lost opportunities by pouring more money and change their fate.

What does the future hold for Amazon India? And how will the company, famed for its execution, turn things around in India?

Of course, there have been other regulatory pressures as well, which have halted them from realising their full potential in India and forced them to think outside the business model in which they usually function.

In this episode of Two by Two, hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan bring back one of our first guests, Srikanth Rajagopalan, CEO of Perfios Account Aggregation Services and a former ‘Amazonian’, to discuss whether Amazon has lost the e-commerce race in India. Professor Vishal Karungulam, who teaches a breadth of subjects at the Indian School of Business, including software product management, digital innovation, and disruptive technologies, is our second guest.

And they try to uncover over the hour-and-a-half-long discussion where the next big opportunity lies for Amazon India.

Welcome to episode 23 of Two by Two.

Additional reading:

Amazon is not yet in quick commerce. But it’s already different from the pack

Amazon got rid of its largest seller only to replace it with other ‘preferred sellers’

Amazon’s Leadership Principles (recommended by Srikanth)
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This episode of Two by Two was produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN mixed and mastered this episode.

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