How e-com giant Amazon is reinventing itself to win in booming rural India

The retailer is targeting millions of new online shoppers in India's countryside by adding Hindi and videos to its order screen and opening stores to help people shop; local deliverymen take cash

Eric Bellman | WSJ  |  Dhowachala, India 

Amazon Inc. is building a logistics network from scratch to target customers in India’s rural backwaters—the home of more than 800 million people, many of whom have little access to retailers. Most are new to online shopping and often don’t have smartphones, credit cards or even delivery addresses. What they do have is money to spend.

Amulya Bhuyan, 37 years old, lives in Dhowachala, in the northeastern state of Assam, and has few ways to buy new things. It takes hours to get to the nearest small town from the village of 1,000 people. Mr. Bhuyan, a teacher, ...

Note: Subscription will be auto renewed, you may cancel any time in the future without any questions asked.

Total Amount
Rs. 149.00
Requires personal information

What you get?

ON BUSINESS STANDARD DIGITAL

  • Unlimited access to all the content on any device through browser or app.
  • Exclusive content, features, opinions and comment – hand-picked by our editors, just for you.
  • Pick 5 of your favourite companies. Get a daily email with all the news updates on them.
  • Track the industry of your choice with a daily newsletter specific to that industry.
  • Stay on top of your investments. Track stock prices in your portfolio.
  • 18 years of archival data.
  • Requires you to share personal information like date of birth, income, location amongst other fields. This information alongwith your contact information will be shared with the partners associated with this program, who contribute towards subsidizing the offer. By subscribing to this product you acknowledge and accept that our Partners may choose to contact you with offers of their products and services.
  • This is an optional offer - Not comfortable with sharing personal data - please opt for the full price offer which requires you to share minimal information
Read our full coverage on Amazon
First Published: Tue, January 01 2019. 07:55 IST