e-commerce
Amazon saw most ever Prime subscriptions in Q4 2018
MUMBAI: E-commerce giant Amazon beat analysts' expectation for the fourth quarter of 2018 after falling short of revenue expectations for the last two quarters. The company posted revenue of $72.4 billion and a record net profit of $3 billion. Despite the strong result, Amazon’s weak guidance for quarter 1 in 2019 dragged the stock down in after-hours trading.
While the revenue was of $72.4 billion against consensus expectation of $71.89 billion, earnings per share(EPS) came at $6.04 compared to $5.65. Though the result represents 20 per cent increase in revenue, the pace was slowest till the first quarter of 2015. Moreover, Amazon finished the year with $232.9 billion in annual revenue, passing the $200 billion milestone for the first time.
In the earnings release, the company claimed that tens of millions of customers worldwide started Prime free trials or began paid memberships during the Holiday season. It also added that more customers signed up for Prime worldwide in 2018 than ever before but did not reveal exact number.
The success of Alexa has been especially mentioned in the release. “Alexa was very busy during her holiday season. Echo Dot was the best-selling item across all products on Amazon globally, and customers purchased millions more devices from the Echo family compared to last year,” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said.
Amazon Web Service’s growth has again shown unbeatable revenue growth of 45 per cent reaching to $7.43 billion in the quarter. The company’s “other” category which primarily comprises advertising services jumped 95 percent to $3.4 billion in revenue.
Jeff Bezos led company called out the introduction of localised Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu language user interfaces in Amazon Prime Video India. It also mentioned the nomination of Inside Edge as the first Indian show from a video streaming service for the International Emmy Awards.
“Amazon partnered with ICICI Bank to launch the Amazon ICICI Bank credit card to preselected customers in India. This is the first card in the country to offer Prime members 5 per cent in reward points for their purchases on Amazon.in and reward points for all other payments where Visa is accepted,” the release read further.
However, the new FDI e-commerce rules in India, which include an e-commerce company with a marketplace model will not exercise control or ownership over the inventory that will be sold, is highly concerning the investors of Amazon. E-commerce restrictions can hit Amazon badly as it prevents to drive down prices in the country also. Moreover, it comes at a time when the company’s international sales growth also slowed to 15 percent compared to the previous year's 29 percent growth rate.
e-commerce
Flipkart and Uber team up to let users earn Supercoins on rides
New partnership turns everyday commutes into rewarding journeys for millions of Indians.
MUMBAI: Flipkart and Uber have joined forces to give riders a little extra mileage this time, in the form of Supercoins. The two platforms have announced a collaboration that allows Flipkart users to earn 4 per cent of their Uber fare as Supercoins on every eligible ride, up to a maximum of 150 coins per trip, with no cap on total earnings. The coins are credited directly to the user’s Flipkart account and can be redeemed across the Flipkart ecosystem, including Flipkart Minutes, Cleartrip, and partner offerings.
New Uber users or those who haven’t used the app in the last 84 days can earn an additional 150 bonus Supercoins by completing their first ride within 28 days of linking accounts. Users who link their accounts between 15 and 30 April 2026 and complete their first ride within 28 days will receive another 50 bonus SuperCoins.
Flipkart vice president, payments and supercoins Gaurav Arora said, “Supercoins is evolving into a broader rewards layer across everyday use cases. Mobility is a natural extension, and this partnership with Uber allows us to integrate more seamlessly into how customers transact daily.”
Uber director of business development at India and South Asia Arnab Kumar added, “This integration allows us to extend additional benefits to riders in a simple and intuitive way, while building on how users engage with everyday services across platforms.”
The partnership brings together two high-frequency consumer platforms and reflects a growing trend of integrating loyalty rewards into daily mobility and lifestyle experiences.
In a country where commutes are a daily reality, Flipkart and Uber have found a smart way to make every ride a little more rewarding. With Supercoins now earned on the go, users can turn their everyday journeys into opportunities to save and enjoy more across the Flipkart ecosystem. The partnership is a win-win that puts loyalty on the fast lane.
