Amazon set to launch 'Bazaar' for unbranded fashion and lifestyle products

In a bid to woo Indian value customer, Amazon is launching a new vertical called Amazon Bazaar featuring low-priced, unbranded fashion and lifestyle products, reported The Economic Times. This comes, as demand for mass market products weakens and Amazon's growth loses pace.

Amazon's Bazaar

As per the Economic Times, Amazon Bazaar has begun onboarding sellers and is asking them to list unbranded products — including apparel, watches, shoes, jewellery and luggage — priced below Rs 600.

“Bazaar is a new store on Amazon where you can sell your fashion and lifestyle products online at no extra charges, thus making it more profitable to run your business,” a document from Amazon to sellers said

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The report further mentioned that the delivery timelines for Amazon Bazaar products will likely be two to three days. This will be a deviation from its fast delivery proposition offered to prime members.

“Consumer cohorts at the lower end of the market typically do not prioritise faster deliveries…They (Amazon India) have lost out on the segment so far and essentially want to tap the typical Meesho customer,” a source told The Economic Times.

Currently, Meesho has been successful in the segment, while Walmart-owned Flipkart’s Shopsy (through a separate app) is the other major player in the space. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is also working on a low-price platform, Ajio Street.

Price Set up

The Economic Times report also said, that the US e-commerce giant is proposing a zero referral fee to merchants, which is key for products with low average selling price (ASP). Meesho’s ASP is Rs 300-350 and it operates on a zero commission model while earning revenue from advertising and offering logistics services to sellers.

While Meesho doesn't operate its own warehouses, Amazon and Flipkart have their own storage spaces.

“Meesho has snapped up market share from Amazon in certain segments like fashion, homecare and others. For Amazon to acquire these users at low ASP segments, they would want to offer a similar product to merchants and consumers,” Satish Meena, an independent ecommerce analyst and advisor at Datum Intelligence told The Economic Times. “Amazon Fashion is not like Myntra… They never got it right in India and this would be another attempt.”

Meanwhile a January report from research firm Bernstein said Amazon India clocked only 13% user growth in December 2023 — primarily due to more premium offerings than peers. Flipkart and Meesho acquired 21% and 32% more users, respectively, in the period, according to the report.