Global strategy
A week after Amazon's surprise announcement that it would invest $2 billion in India, the American e-commerce major's country head, Amit Agarwal, told Business Standard that the company's business strategy - whether it was in Seattle, Bangalore or Mumbai - worked around a napkin sketch drawn by founder Jeff Bezos 15 years ago.
It is perhaps that flywheel drawn by Bezos, showing the path to growth and low prices, that is arming Amazon to take on Flipkart in an all-out e-commerce war in the country.
The battle gained more prominence recently, especially as Amazon decided to make its India war-chest known - and a rare public statement of its financials in a non-listed market - within 24 hours of Flipkart raising a stunning $1 billion.
Agarwal, with Mahendra Nerurkar, chief of Junglee.com, a price comparison and search website owned by Amazon, visited Business Standard's office on August 8.
In a telling sign of what time meant in the e-retail space, Agarwal and Nerurkar turned up early, as had Flipkart Chief Executive Sachin Bansal for a similar session a few months ago.
Text: Nivedita Mookerji, Business Standard
Image courtesy: Reuters