Amazon seeks to tap next 500 mn users in India, expands vernacular offering

Marathi and Bengali added to five Indian languages; Amazon to also launch voice shopping experience in Hindi

At a time when only 10 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion people know English and e-commerce services have mainly been offered in that language, Amazon is betting big to reach customers in their local languages and through voice-based shopping. The aim is towards building a platform that is inclusive and accessible for the next 500 million users which mainly reside in Bharat as well as Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and towns.

Kishore Thota, director, customer experience and marketing, Amazon India said for a diverse country like India, the 500 million customers when they come online, have unique needs and