Amazon India’s home, kitchen and outdoor business sees strong growth

Home, kitchen and outdoor is one of our fastest growing businesses at Amazon India. The category has over two lakh sellers who offer a wide selection of over 224 million products and features over 1.28 million brands. The furniture category (sofas, wardrobes, recliners, and beds) is growing at an astounding 1.3x YoY where customers are looking for the best deals and discounts.

KN Srikanth, Director (OHL), Amazon India in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz talks about trends observed on Amazon India with respect to the home, kitchen and outdoor business

The home decor segment is gaining popularity on Amazon India and premium and popular brands like Fabindia, Trident and Anko have been added to the wide selection on Amazon India. We have seen a 1.3 times growth in demand for cotton bedding and furnishings (namely: curtains and durries amongst others) as compared to last year and 1.7x growth in towels and bath essentials

We see demand for gaming chairs as the new trend within office furniture growing 1.2x YoY. With customers understanding the importance of having a good mattress, demand for large and comfortable mattresses are increasing; tier-2 and tier-3 cities are driving the maximum demand for upgrading mattresses

Tell us more about Amazon India’s home, kitchen and outdoor business.

Home, kitchen and outdoor is one of our fastest growing businesses at Amazon India. This business category helps accomplish simple day to day tasks by providing customers with a large variety of products like kitchen appliances, furniture, home décor, bathroom fittings, sports and gardening equipment among others. The category has over two lakh sellers who offer a wide selection of over 224 million products and features over 1.28 million brands.

Key trends observed this summer.

There has been a strong rebound in categories that support back to school/office trends. 1.4x growth has been seen across products such as lunch boxes and bottles. With the ongoing summer season, we have observed a spike in demand growing at 1.4x and 1.8x YoY for fans and coolers, respectively. Installation and post-sale service are helping strengthen customer service. Mosquito infestation peaks during season transitions. March was the biggest month in terms of both volume and value of pest control business on Amazon India (almost 1.5 times more as compared to other months). We saw this seasonality kicking in earlier this year and expect this spike to sustain for the upcoming months.

What are the unique offerings Amazon India is providing for customers to buy home, kitchen and outdoor category products on Amazon India?

Amazon India offers its customers to conveniently shop for reliable furniture and mattresses as part of its quality verified program. This program offers a worry-free purchase with quality assurance through 3Ps that are NABL accredited labs, on a wide range of products that undergo over 20 quality parameters such as workmanship, product functionality and stability, and many more. Customers can additionally enjoy a minimum one-year warranty under this program, adding more value to their purchase.

Kitchen and bath fittings in the home improvement category are growing exponentially. Our portfolio now includes the entire range of bath fittings (faucets, showers, mixers, diverters, cistern tanks, toilet seats, valves), Sanitaryware (toilets bowls, basins) and bath accessories (towel holders, towel bars, shelves, mirrors, vanities, toilet paper holders, soap dispensers) available on Amazon for customers to choose from.

To ensure a hassle-free post purchase experience, Amazon India offers free furniture installation, virtual demonstration across the country for all eligible products. Customers can also avail exceptional value-added services, including but not limited to extended warranty, furniture maintenance plan and easy warranty claims.

Many appliances like fans, inverters, water purifiers and water heaters are installation dependent. To ensure a seamless customer experience, Amazon India provides brand powered or in house installation services on these products. We have started seeing an increasing interest in new outdoor categories like gazebo/canopies, outdoor swimming pools and garden/promotional umbrellas. Recently, we have further expanded the brand portfolio for lawn and garden and included top D2C brands like Ugaoo.

Share some interesting consumer trends observed on Amazon India with respect to the furniture category? How has the premium furniture segment grown on Amazon India?

With the digitalization of furniture shopping, there has been an increased need for offering a seamless online shopping experience for high consideration products like furniture (average selling price usually over Rs 8,000).

The furniture category (sofas, wardrobes, recliners, and beds) is growing at an astounding 1.3x YoY where customers are looking for the best deals and discounts. Additionally, we see demand for gaming chairs as the new trend within office furniture growing 1.2x YoY. With customers understanding the importance of having a good mattress, demand for large and comfortable mattresses are increasing; tier-2 and tier-3 cities are driving the maximum demand for upgrading mattresses.

Consumers these days are more inclined towards enhancing the aesthetic element of their living space beyond functionality, what are the trends in the home decor segment that are observed on Amazon India?

The home decor segment is gaining popularity on Amazon India and premium and popular brands like Fabindia, Trident and Anko have been added to the wide selection on Amazon India.

We have seen a 1.3 times growth in demand for cotton bedding and furnishings (namely: curtains and durries amongst others) as compared to last year and 1.7x growth in towels and bath essentials.

How is Amazon India personalizing home décor for customers?

Amazon India has an interface called discover rooms which is designed to help customers shop for furniture and home décor. Our vision is to provide customers with an ‘inspiration first’ browsing experience and make it easy for them to get home design inspiration directly on Amazon. The product algorithm helps find ideas and provides with quality room design and product recommendations that enable customers to buy confidently.

Many industry reports indicate that the fitness products industry in India is experiencing a double-digit growth. What are the trends seen on Amazon India under the fitness products category?

Consumers have developed a newfound focus that has encouraged them to consider fitness as an essential component for ensuring a healthier lifestyle. Fitness accessories have seen a 1.3 times growth in units demand YoY. Some highly purchased products include hand grippers, resistance bands and many more. Interestingly, we have seen a continued interest in football ever since the football world cup was aired in December 2022. This category on Amazon India is experiencing an astounding growth of 1.7x YoY.

Tell us more about the Amazon Custom feature.

Starting April 2023, Amazon Custom offers a unique shopping experience that allows customers to customize a product as per their preferences before placing an order on Amazon India. Amazon Custom feature set is available as a free self-serve tool that allows sellers to configure text-based, image-based and/or options-based customizations (e.g. jewellery organizer, glass mug, song frame) and thus enables selection that would not have been possible via standard Amazon catalog (example: customized window blinds, blankets, home decor, engraved pen, necklace, water bottle and much more). Customers can change the size and placement of text and images while watching the customizations come alive through an interactive product preview. Amazon Custom feature is currently live in the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, Canada and Mexico.