Street vendors

Amazon takes to the streets of Mumbai to encourage small businesses to sign up as Amazon.in sellers. The online retail giant recently launched a new initiative called Tatkal (the Hindi word for instant), which uses “a specially designed studio-on-wheels” (aka a van) which will tour the streets of India welcome SMBs to come aboard and “get online and sell on Amazon.in, in less than 60 minutes”.

The Amazon Tatkal has been doing the rounds in Mumbai this week. According to local reports, it was stationed at Linking Road and Elco Market yesterday (26 April); Vashi Market and Nerul Market today and will be at Mulund Market and Dadar Market tomorrow.

Amazon posted a notice about Tatkal on its website on 17 February, but it only seems to have caught the attention of India’s national media this week.

According to Amazon: “Amazon Tatkal will visit seller-dense pockets across multiple cities in the country and engage with local businesses. Specially trained company representatives will educate sellers on the benefits of selling online, introduce them to the specialised seller services offered by Amazon.in including innovations like Easy Ship, Fulfilment by Amazon as well as Global Selling and launch interested sellers on the Amazon platform, helping them with on-the-spot imaging and cataloguing tasks.”