e-commerce
e-comm: Amazon gung-ho on India sales; dares Flipkart
MUMBAI: Amazon, the global e-commerce giant, paid Rs 40 crore to acquire Westland Ltd’s publishing arm, thus giving it access to local content and a library of popular books, which continue to be a popular item on India’s e-commerce. It aims to push higher sales of its Kindle readers in India. The acquisition, which includes Mikros, Tranquebar and EastWest, may aid Amazon compete with Flipkart.
Westland, a unit of Trent, a Tata company, received Rs 9.5 crore from Amazon to part with 26%, with the option to buy out the remainder. Without disclosing the number of users, Amazon India offers over three million books to Kindle users. Amazon India vice-president and country manager Amit Agarwal said in a statement that their acquisition continues their commitment to India, enabling Amazon to bring Westland’s learned authors and their books to even more customers in India and around the world.
Amazon is gung-ho about its investments in India and the response it had received from sellers and customers. Amazon CFO Brian T. Olsavsky said Amazon, which just reported quarterly profits, indicated that its India investments are starting to show results but may impact international margins as it plans to go whole hog to conquer the significant internet market.
Amazon, which is investing in digital content, plans to launch its VOD platform Prime in India soon. Prime is one of the top selling units based on Amazon.in. Being a third-party market has caused a lot of invention for Amazon.
Amazon’s finance chief also indicated that the company would continue to add resources to India. Over the past two months, Amazon has outsold Flipkart in terms of monthly sales, Mint reported in September. However, including sales from Jabong and Myntra, Flipkart continues to leave Amazon behind. Amazon’s India business, which is aggressively expanding its consumer products and fashion categories, aims to launch its global programme for start-ups called Launchpad in India shortly.
Amazon’s team in India has been very creative — it creates on its own, from delivery stations to working with small merchants. Amazon is happy with both, the seller engagement as well as the customer engagement.
e-commerce
Instamart and Duolingo launch street spell check campaign for Instaprint
Duo the owl fixes signboard typos across cities to showcase instant printing.
MUMBAI: If spelling mistakes had a sworn enemy, it might just be a bright green owl with a printer. Instamart has teamed up with language learning platform Duolingo for a quirky nationwide campaign that turns everyday spelling errors into a public spectacle while promoting its instant printing service, InstaPrint. The playful activation takes aim at the many misspelled shop boards and public signs scattered across Indian streets. From “saloons” that promise haircuts rather than drinks to menus and posters peppered with punctuation mishaps, the campaign sends Duolingo’s mascot Duo on a mission to restore linguistic order.
Armed with Instamart’s instant printing feature, Duo prints corrected versions of the mistakes on the spot and pastes them over the originals. The result is a series of humorous street interventions that have quickly begun circulating on social media.
Photos and videos of the grammar correcting owl have been widely shared online, with amused users reacting to the unexpected spell check patrol. One user joked, “Ab ayega na maza bhidu,” capturing the internet’s delight at the unusual campaign.
Behind the humour lies a practical message. The activation is designed to showcase the capabilities of Instaprint, Instamart’s printing service that allows users to print documents and posters almost instantly.
The company says the feature is meant for everyday needs such as printing resumes, visa documents or last minute posters without the usual scramble to locate a print shop.
Instamart introduced Instaprint in 2025 across select metropolitan cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The service allows users to order printed materials directly through the platform, extending the quick commerce model beyond groceries and household essentials.
By combining Duolingo’s famously persistent owl with India’s street level spelling quirks, the campaign taps into the internet’s long running fascination with grammar mistakes while demonstrating a real world use case for instant printing.
After all, in a world full of typos, sometimes what you really need is a quick printer and a very determined language teacher.
