Amazon India Helps Retailers Flourish Through Zoho CRM

When Amazon expanded its operation to India in 2013, they had their work cut out for them, to put it lightly. As the second most populous country in the world with roughly 1.37 billion people, India's diverse and populated marketplace harbored a major opportunity for the Seattle-based firm. However, only about one-fifth of the population has internet access, and only a small fraction of that demographic have ever shopped online. Given the varied levels of exposure to technology, Amazon realized they needed to make it easier for their less tech savvy sellers to get familiar with the ecommerce marketplace. To make it happen, Amazon's goal was two fold:

Establish a network of service providers to help sellers make the adjustment, and create the best online shopping experience for buyers and sellers alike. They knew they couldn't do it alone. They needed a CRM. "Not just any CRM," the team said. "One that was flexible enough to support our distinct operational needs and expand as we grow."

The Challenge

Finding The Right Platform

Amazon India had to find a CRM that was customizable and easy to learn. With such a large volume of motivated sellers wanting to get online to start selling ASAP, Amazon needed to find a CRM post-haste. eCommerce operations in India were growing rapidly, and Amazon India needed to stay ahead.

"We decided that Zoho was the tool to use because it met our usability requirements, and we could easily customize it to meet the unique needs of our operation," the team said.

Nevertheless, the organization chose to shift without the help from an outside consultant. In fact, Tolbert oversaw the entire migration to Zoho CRM himself. He says that it only took four days to manage the data migration and about a week for the company to fully transition.