Amazon India has updated a cautious return policy on electronic items. According to the new updates, the electronic items are not available for refunds. However, the defective items can still be replaced. This policy has been updated only on items fulfilled by amazon. The similar policy is also enforced on large appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, dishwashers and microwave, washing machine etc. the company is steadily catching up with the Indian competitors like Flipkart. Flipkart had applied a similar strategy on mobile phones.

According to the company, the statement on the amazon website is given as, “Mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, monitors, cameras and camera lenses that are fulfilled by Amazon are not eligible for a refund and have a replacement only policy. In case you have received a defective or a damaged mobile phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, monitor, camera or camera lens that is fulfilled by Amazon, you will be eligible for a free replacement by the seller as per the product replacement policies provided on Amazon.in”.

There are 55 million products available on Amazon India. These products are sold by more than 85000 sellers. When compared with Flipkart, Flipkart offers more than 40 million products from more than 90,000 sellers. Similarly, when compared to Snapdeal, it gives 35 million products from 300,000 sellers.

As compared to the performance of amazon in 20114, it performed better by generating more sales in October-December last year. The gross sales of amazon, net of discounts and returns went up to 250%. In the quarter of January, its shipments grew to 150%. For the year ended March, there was 90% growth in gross sales, i.e., including discounts and product returns. But its growth fell in the second half of the year.

The change in policy is expected to raise the sales in the near future.