Amazon drives festive strategy with 80% of growth powered by non-metro India

New Delhi: As the Amazon Great Indian Festival 2025 kicks off on September 23, with Prime members enjoying a 24-hour early access, Amazon is putting the spotlight on consumer experience. 

The focus is on new shoppers, especially from outside metros. “Data points to us that more than 80% of our new customers are outside of tier one towns. Acquisition is 80% outside of tier one every year, and that has been the trend for almost three years now,” highlighted Kishore Thota, Director, Shopping Experience, Amazon India, while speaking exclusively to BestMediaInfo.

Backed by infrastructural improvements, faster networks, powerful smartphones, and a full-featured app in eight Indian languages, Amazon is shaping a seamless first-time shopping journey. “For new customers, trust is central. We design the homepage differently for them, give welcome offers, and invest in those first few experiences because if you disappoint someone the first time, you can lose them,” said Thota.

Amazon’s big bet this year is faster deliveries beyond metros. According to the press release, “Amazon announced the opening of 45 new delivery stations ahead of the festive season across India. With this, Amazon has around 2,000 last-mile delivery stations across the country.”

The Director, Shopping Experience stressed the same. “Selection has increased, and delivery speeds have improved. We are delivering in two days, even in tier 2 towns like Vizag, which used to take five days earlier.”

“Compared to last year, we are already delivering same-day to 50% more cities and next-day to twice as many locations across the country. The launch of 45 new delivery stations allows us to deliver happiness with greater speed and reliability to customers across the country, including those in tier II and III cities,” Abhinav Singh, VP (Operations), Amazon India and Australia, highlighted.

AI, not a fad but an enabler

This year, Amazon is heavily pushing AI to make festive shopping more personal, interactive, and convenient. “From turning a shoe in multiple angles, to seeing a sofa in your living room or a dress on yourself, AR and AI-driven try-ons are changing purchase decisions. Accuracy has improved a lot; a year ago, angles could look odd, now with gen AI and LLMs, rendering understands context and perspective better,” Thota, explained. 

“With Rufus AI, Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant, customers can get product comparisons, quick answers, price history, product summary videos, personalised recommendations and lots more. With the new Lens AI, customers can simply take a photo and Amazon will help them find it instantly on Amazon.in. AI Review Highlights make it easier to grasp key points from thousands of reviews in just seconds,” stated in the press release.

Amazon’s influencer-first strategy

Moving away from celebrity-driven endorsements, Amazon’s festive season marketing is full of influencer-led campaigns this year. “We’re working with 1 lakh influencers this festive season,” said Thota.

Explaining the rationale, Thota added, “For us, influencers showcase the product, build trust, and allow scale. Our focus is to get the right product, selection, and services to customers fast and conveniently. That’s where we believe the biggest impact is.” 

Social commerce is being pitched as a differentiator. “Social commerce is giving a boost to Amazon. While some may feel it’s ‘not worth it,’ we are actually seeing growth from it,” Thota said.

Trust and safety during peak shopping

High-volume sales bring challenges like counterfeit products or fraudulent listings. For Amazon, this remains a continuous investment area. “Trust is a continuous improvement process. We constantly invest in detecting abuse, whether it’s a fake listing, a manipulated review, or misrepresentation. Thousands of associates worldwide work on ensuring a high-quality experience,” Thota asserted. The company has also created 150,000 seasonal work opportunities to strengthen operations this festive season.

Deals, launches, and entertainment

The shopping festival itself is loaded with deals and new launches. According to Amazon’s press release, “Customers can look forward to deals, lowest prices of the year on a vast selection of over 1 lakh products and new launches from the biggest brands including Samsung, Apple, Intel, HP, Asus, Titan, Libas, L’oreal and more. Get up to 40% off on smartphones; up to 80% off on electronics, fashion & beauty, home kitchen & outdoors; 65% off on TVs and home appliances; 50% off on Amazon Fresh, Echo with Alexa, Fire TV & Kindle and lots more.”

Entertainment is also part of the play. Prime Video will premiere films like Coolie starring Rajinikanth and Nagarjuna, including Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty’s Do You Wanna Partner, Rajinikanth and Nagarjuna’s Coolie, The Girlfriend, Gen V Season 2, Play Dirty, and the finale of Our Fault (Culpa Nuestra).

Celebrating India’s sellers

The festival is also designed to empower small businesses. “Over 17 lakh sellers are bringing their selection to Amazon.in this festive season, along with an array of exciting launches by sellers under special programs Launchpad, Karigar, Local Shops and Saheli,” the press release stated.

“The Amazon Great Indian Festival celebrates the spirit of Indian festivities by bringing together customers, sellers and brands for the country’s biggest shopping celebration. This year, customers can look forward to the lowest prices of the year on over one lakh products, blockbuster deals, exciting new launches, engaging entertainment and much more,” Saurabh Srivastava, VP (Categories), Amazon India, summed it up.