Amazon to Expand in India With Booze Delivery Services

Reportedly, Amazon AMZN is looking to venture into the multi-billion dollar alcohol delivery market in India. The retail giant has already secured a clearance to carry out online retail of liquor trade in the country.

We believe Amazon’s presence in the country will get a boost with the enhancement of product and services offerings. Further, this will help the company to attract customers to its platform.

Moreover, the company is likely to give tough competition toIndia's top two food-delivery startups — Swiggy and Zomato — that started delivering alcohol in some cities last month to cash in on the high demand for booze, as many states are coming out of lockdown.

Growing Liquor Market in India

The alcoholic beverage industry in India is one of the biggest across the globe. Growing demand for alcoholic beverages in India is driven by the huge population base and increasing consumption of alcohol by the young generation.

The latest initiative of Amazon bodes well for its focus on expanding presence in India with liquor offerings in West Bengal.

According to a research firm, Goldstein, India’s alcoholic beverages market is expected to witness a CAGR of 7.4% between 2016 and 2024.

Further, the market is anticipated to reach $39.7 billion by the end of the said period driven by increasing alcohol consumption in urban areas of the country.

Though India had restricted liquor sales when it announced a nationwide lockdown in March, restrictions were eased in May, allowing online deliveries in many states.

Amazon’s liquor approval will allow it to further penetrate into the e-commerce market of the country.

Amazon.com, Inc. Price and Consensus

 

Amazon.com, Inc. Price and Consensus

Amazon.com, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Amazon.com, Inc. Quote

E-commerce Prospects in India

There is increased demand for delivery of food and on-demand goods at consumers’ doorstep and India is no exception to it. As consumers turn to digital options as a means to circumvent physical shopping environments, the change in behavior is evident.

According to GlobalData, a London-based data analytics firm, the e-commerce market in India is set to witness a compound annual growth rate of 19.6% between 2019 and 2023. The coronavirus pandemic will accelerate the growth of India’s e-commerce market, pushing it to $7 trillion by 2023.

According to Indian Brand Equity Foundation, India’s e-commerce market is expected to grow to $200 billion by 2026 from $38.5 billion in 2017, driven by rising smartphone penetration, the launch of 4G networks and increasing consumer wealth.

The company’s distribution strength, robust delivery services, huge online network and wide customer base will likely aid Amazon in capitalizing on the prospects of the e-commerce market of India.

Other India-Based Initiatives

This January, the e-commerce giant announced that it aims to reach the target of creating 1 million jobs in India by 2025 through investments in logistics, technology, skill development and infrastructure.

In addition to this, the company made an announcement of $1-billion investment in India at the Smbhav summit in New Delhi. With this investment, the e-commerce giant aims at building digital centers in 100 Indian cities and villages. We believe the proposed digital centers are likely to help more than 10 million small and medium businesses to come online, which in turn, will expand their customer exposure.

Moreover, this will help Amazon in strengthening the e-commerce business in India by expanding the seller base and product offerings.

The company also entered into a long-term agreement with Future Retail that will authorize it as the official online sales channel for Future’s retail stores.

All the above-mentioned endeavors should expand Amazon’sfootprint in India.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include Wayfair Inc. W, eBay EBAY and Inphi Corporation IPHI. While Wayfair and eBay sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Inphi carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth for Wayfair, eBay, and Inphi is currently projected at 23%, 12.4% and 37.7%, respectively.

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