Amazon plans to open over 100 kiosks across malls in India: Report

• Amazon is reportedly looking to open 100 kiosks in India by the end of 2019.
  
• The company has previously experimented with the concept in 2017 when it first opened a kiosk at Bengaluru.
  
• The move is in contrast with its recent decision to shutdown over 80 pop up stores in the US.
  

E-commerce giant, Amazon is reportedly planning to expand its footprint of offline kiosks in India, opening over 100 such small-format stores that will be located inside malls by the end of 2019.

The company has already started looking for 70-80 square foot space in malls, Economic Times reported citing sources. These kiosks typically sell devices such as the Kindle ebook reader, the Echo speaker and the Fire TV dongle. The company is also hoping to get a push for its entry into brick-and-mortar stores in India with this move.

Amazon started experimenting with kiosks in India when it opened its first retail store in Bengaluru in May 2017. It then introduced four more stores — two in Bengaluru, one in Mumbai, one in Ahmedabad.

According to the report , the kiosks will be operated by a third party. In 2017, Amazon received the Indian government’s approval to sell locally-produced and packaged items through its online as well as offline channels.

Additionally, Amazon is also planning to venture into brick-and-mortar stores in India similar to that in the US. Currently, Amazon sells food items in India through its website amazon.in.

The move to open additional kiosks is in contrast with Amazon’s recent decision to close over 80 pop-up stores in the US as part of its broader retail strategy.

Several players in India are betting big on offline expansion including Google and Zivame . Google introduced more than a dozen stores in India including High Street Phoenix in Mumbai and Select Citywalk, Promenade, Mall of India in the Delhi-National Capital Region to showcase its Pixel 2 phones and to let consumers know its features.

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Amazon may have found a way around India’s new e-commerce rules