Amazon created a shell company to obtain intelligence on competitors such as Walmart and Flipkart

According to a report, for a number of years, Amazon ran a shell company called Big River Services International to gather intelligence on competitors like Walmart, eBay, FedEx, and others. Although the project's primary goal was to target US-based rivals, it also reached Flipkart in India, mostly as a result of Walmart's 2018 acquisition of the company.

At Amazon, the project was initially called “Project Curiosity” and employees of Big River Services International posed as sellers on multiple platforms to gather exclusive information beforehand and pass it on to Amazon which later used the information to tweak its offerings as per the competitive landscape.

These developments come at a time when Amazon and Flipkart are constantly fighting it out with each other in India to grab a bigger piece of the e-commerce pie. Analysts at Bernstein earlier said Amazon lags Flipkart in India despite an investment of over $6.5 billion.

Keeping an eye on rivals is not new by any means. The intensity, however, varies. It had been previously reported that Flipkart had set up a war room comprising 20-30 executives dedicated to track the moves of SoftBank-backed Meesho.

Employees of Big River Services International were given non-Amazon IDs to communicate and ensure their cover was not blown. They operated multiple brands that were listed as mere sellers on platforms. In India, Amazon gained access to e-commerce giant Flipkart in March 2018 with the Crimson Knot brand, around the time rumours of a Walmart acquisition swirled in local media. Walmart bought a majority stake in Flipkart in May of that year.