Amazon India, Future Retail announce omni-channel integration plans

Months after Amazon India acquired 7.3% stake in Future Retail (FRL), the companies have announced long-term business agreement on omni-channel. 

This will see Future Retail selling on Amazon india website and its stores offering packaging and pickup for online orders placed on the website for grocery, general merchandise, fashion and footwear products. The integration has been rolled out across 22 stores of FRL and will add more according to agreed timelines, according to a statement issued by the company.

The partnership also brings FRL on board Amazon Prime Now programme, the on-demand delivery app for grocery and general merchandise in select areas. The Prime Now app is also integrated with Modern Bazaar outlets, Spar Hypermarket and other local supermarket chains.

“Amazon and Future Retail share common values of serving customers everywhere in the best possible manner. This arrangement will allow us to build upon each other’s strengths in the physical and digital space so that customers benefit from the best services, products, assortment and price,” Kishore Biyani, chairman and managing director, Future Retail Limited in the statement said. 

Future Retail will also list its chain of stores including FoodHall and BigBazaar on Amazon India marketplace as part of the agreement. FRL operates 1500 stores across 400 cities in India, including flagship chain BigBazaar and small format neighborhood retail stores EasyDay and Heritage Fresh.

The agreement was signed with Amazon India’s affiliate, Amazon Retail India (ARIPL) which operates in the space of food retail. The affiliate was created after the government of India allowed 100% FDI in food retail with clauses on local sourcing.  

“As ARIPL ramps up its presence for online retail on Amazon.in, we continue to look for ways to expand selection for our customers. We are delighted to have Future Consumer’s strong brand portfolio added in, such as Golden Harvest and Desi Atta for staples, ready to eat food from Tasty Treat and dry fruits from Karmiq. Millions of our customers will have access to these products to ensure we work closely together to continue delighting our customers”, said Sameer Khetarpal, director, ARIPL in the statement.

Seattle headquartered Amazon had acquired 7.3% stake in Future Retail in August 2019 to strengthen its omni-channel business. The online retailer had previously acquired food and grocery business of Aditya Birla Retail in 2018 and holds equity stake in multi-brand fashion retailer Shoppers Stop.

The current move also brings Amazon India-Future Retail head to head with Reliance Retail’s omni-channel grocery business JioMart and Walmart-backed Flipkart’s steady foray into the grocery and daily essentials space.