Amazon Prime, which was launched in India earlier this week, will soon feature new Indian TV shows. Prime Video, to be shortly introduced, will also offer Bollywood and regional movies, besides Amazon originals and premium American TV shows.
In an investor call following its quarterly results, Amazon CFO Brian T Olsavsky said, “We have talked a bit about our Prime launch in India, and alluded to the fact that we will be having video soon, but also local content and Amazon originals.”
The membership of Amazon Prime, besides providing preferred service in terms of deals and delivery, also has a host of other features such as access to music, photo storage and e-books. Amazon has introduced a 60-day free trial period for Prime in India with an annual membership of Rs 499. For now, Prime is available only for the services of faster delivery and fresh deals.
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Amazon has placed big bets on the Prime launch. Olsavsky said, “It has seen great success in every country in the world, and we feel India is going to be no different.”
The introduction of Prime will certainly up Amazon’s ante as it rapidly gains market share against its key competitor, Flipkart. The Amazon CFO said that it has been encouraged by the response it has seen in the Indian ecommerce market. “We really like the opportunity in India. We like the initial results that we see from customers and also sellers,” he said.
Amazon has been making big investments in India. In early June, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced a fresh investment of $3 billion following the online retailer’s $2-billion commitment in 2014. In an earlier interaction, Amazon India vice-president and country manager Amit Agarwal had observed that if things went according to plan, India could become the second largest market for the retailer outside the US.
The Amazon CFO also complimented the team in India. “We have a great team who have been very inventive in India. Every time there is an obstacle or something that is different from the US or another major business, they will invent around it, whether it is a shipping method or a payment method or whatever,” he said.