Amazon is huge and I mean really huge. However, there is a small catch, even with all of the power and market under their name they are only present online, so if a person wants to buy something from their trusted local shop then they can’t do it via amazon. This behaviour is very strong in India because of the sense of community, as the local shops become a place to buy things obviously but also to meet and have quick chat with your neighbours.
Before we move to the actual topics of local shops, I want to bring your attention to amazon another service that is working tougher with local shops to push amazon as a brand that is not only online but also on each small lane. Now, this another service is amazon’s wallet. Like every other company amazon has also come out with their own wallet and they are really trying hard to push their service. If this service gets picked up by the consumers then it would solidify Amazon as a major player in the unorganized shops in India.
Now on to the local shops.
The basic concept of this new program is to take to the best of both online and offline and merge them into one unified system. This new unified system is designed to help the end consumer by giving them an option to buy from the local shop which they already trust.
The underlying concept is very basic. The seller who has a physical shop can register themselves with amazon and in turn amazon will show your shop to the users who are using amazon. This is a win-win scenario for both parties involved. For sellers, they would be getting customers without spending in marketing and advertising with Google and Facebook to get new customers. On the other hand, Amazon will have a new source of revenue. This new source of revenue will not be solely dependent on online. Now it is not as simple as it sounds, Amazon has set up some criteria which a seller has to fulfil in order to get more customers either to the physical shop or send their product directly to the consumer. Below are the said criteria to register under the local shop program.
- Have a physical shop in India.
- Ability to deliver orders on the same day or by the next day either by yourself or with the help of a courier partner.
Now, this point is not mandatory but it will be very helpful for the consumer if you provide a little demo of the products which needs instillation on the consumer part. Again, this additional service is not mandatory but providing it will help in building a good reputation with the consumer.
How to join this program
This is actually very simple. It takes 3 steps and they are given below.
- Create your seller account on Amazon
- Upload your products with details and price
- Select those areas where you can deliver orders the same day, next day, or maximum within two days
The actual process is finished. If you already have a seller account on amazon and you fulfil all of the above-mentioned criteria then you are already set and ready to go. Just on the offset if you are new to amazon and you do not have an Amazon seller account then you can click here and read out the article on how to open an Amazon seller account.
How this platform will help the sellers?
This new program aims to help the seller with three main points.
- More visibility
- Boost in sales
- Flexibility
Let’s discuss them one by one.
More visibility.
Amazon is one of the biggest platforms with a global reach. If we go and dig in numbers then a seller can sell up to 2 billion $. This figure is provided by Amazon. If a seller decides to join the local shop platform then they will be able to reach out to all of the people in their city without spending money on marketing and advertising. Another advantage is that you will get people who are ready to buy. This helps the seller to sell more and grow their business easily. You also have the trust of a massive platform like amazon behind your shop. Now the biggest advantage is that the seller can not only sell in their own city but all over the county, this kind of reach was not possible before this program. Only big brands like jio store, big Bazar, and reliance fresh were capable to have a physical store with the ability to sell all over the country. This program will help the local shopkeepers go grow beyond what they previously could.
Boost in sales.
Now, this is a no brainer, If you have an account on amazon then you could reach out to people who never knew that you have a shop in the same city. This increase in reach will increase the number of inquiries in your shop which you could easily turn into sales. The advantage of getting online is comfort, now people can order something from their well know local shop. This comfort of ordering online mixed with the surety that they will get the product from the person they know. This combination takes the best of both worlds and offers it in a single package. As your business is online it becomes much easier for the consumer to look at all of the products which you have available without making it a long and irritating process.
As you have a seller account, you will automatically get access to all of the tools from amazon. With the help of these tools, you can easily keep track of all the things such as the number of products sold, shipping and delivery time, returned goods, customer reviews, and insights in your business which you might not know before. With the help of these insights, you would be able to better optimize your business.
Flexibility.
This is the ultimate flexibility while selling. As you don’t have to change anything to what you are doing now, but at the same time you would be reaching to people all over the world. This new program will take away the risk which comes with online selling. The risk is what if my products didn’t sell. With this program, you don’t have to worry about any of that. You already have a running shop, so even if for some reason your products are not selling well online you can still sell them on your shop. Another flexibility is that you can use amazon’s well-refined internal systems to better understand your own business and make adjustments to your local shop. In this program, you can’t go wrong.
As you all know we are still fighting with covid and due to lockdowns in various places, it has become difficult to deliver the products on time. Local shops are the answer to this problem as most lockdown does not affect transportation within a city. So if you are a local shop owner then there cant be a more perfect time to become a member of Amazon. Even after covid is gone for good, local shops will be an integral part of amazon. This pandemic has forced the world to change how they shop.
Click here to read about how to sell on Flipkart.
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