Amazon India has deepened its push into the growing social commerce sector with the acquisition of Glowroad, the homegrown women-focused social commerce startup, for an undisclosed amount. The all-cash deal will help the e-commerce juggernaut gain a foothold in the social commerce sphere in the world’s second-largest internet market.
This is hardly surprising, considering that the rise of social commerce has been a meteoric one. The root cause behind its growth is social media, which continues to thrive and create opportunities for sellers and brands to showcase and sell their products on social media platforms.
As part of the acquisition, Glowroad’s team of around 170 employees will join Amazon, and it will continue to run as an independent unit. It was last valued at around $75 million.
Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are becoming virtual shopping malls, helping create seamless shopping experiences and connect customers and small, mostly home-based sellers. This growth puts the global social commerce market on the threshold of crossing the $1 trillion mark (by 2025) while the same in India was worth $1.5-2 billion in FY20.
The acquisition happens to be the first inorganic acquisition for Amazon in the social commerce industry and will help it to achieve its goal of digitizing the 10 million businesses operating in India by 2025.
And it is a suitable one, given that Glowroad allows online retailers and small businesses to make money as it markets specific products and services through online and offline social networks. It enables them to work from the comfort of their home and be a part of the over 6 million resellers who are part of Glowroad’s network. With Glowroad, you can buy products and then resell them on platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook to earn money.
According to Amazon, this will help boost entrepreneurship among “millions of creators, homemakers, students, and small sellers from across the country. This acquisition will complement GlowRoad’s already loved service with Amazon’s technology, infrastructure, and digital payments capabilities, bringing more efficiency and cost-saving for everyone.”
