Amazon opens global sale to Indian vendors

Places 12,000 Indian vendors on its international platform

A large number of the 100,000 Indian vendors on Amazon are preparing to be part of the estimated $5 billion Black Friday sales in November.

The e-commerce giant has placed 12,000 Indian sellers on its international platform and plans to place more. Clothes, handicraft and electronics will be the major draws.

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day and has since 1932 been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the US. Most major retailers open early and offer promotional sales on Black Friday.

Amazon on Friday organised an event for its top 200 sellers in India, where it encouraged them to sell more, offer better products, and provide top client satisfaction.

The company also spoke to its sellers about the upcoming festive season and its plans on taking more products to foreign shores.

"We are gearing up for Diwali. We are also telling our sellers how they can be discovered outside India and helping them get ready for Black Friday sales," said Gopal Pillai, director and general manager, seller services, Amazon.

Indian sellers will be part of Amazon's Prime Day sales in the US as well. According to the company, the second annual Prime Day in July was the biggest day for the company. Prime is a subscription-based service on Amazon.

Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba is a big player on blockbuster sales days.

On the Chinese holiday for singles in November last year, Alibaba sold products worth $14.3 billion on its shopping portals Taobao.com and Tmall.com.

Analysts pointed out an increasing trend of a "symbiotic relationship", indicating that global platforms would see integration with Indian counterparts from now on and Indian sellers will get a chance to go global.