Amazon India boss Amit Agarwal promoted as senior VP at parent firm
Amazon India boss Amit Agarwal, who was earlier vice president at Amazon.com Inc., is already a part of CEO Jeff Bezos's S Team
Bengaluru: Amazon.com Inc. has promoted India country head Amit Agarwal to the level of senior vice president, after Agarwal brought the world’s largest online retailer within touching distance of market leadership in India in just three years.
Agarwal, who will continue to remain India head for now, was earlier vice president at Amazon.
“This (Agarwal’s promotion) indicates how excited Amazon is about the progress the company is making in India and the opportunity Amazon sees ahead," an Amazon India spokesperson said in an email.
Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos had already promoted Agarwal to his S team last April.
Mint reported last May that Amazon India has finalized the appointment of Manish Tiwary, the head of Unilever Plc in the Gulf region, as its second senior-most executive, with an eye on grooming him for the top job when country manager Agarwal moves to a bigger role in the parent company.
Amazon entered India only in June 2013, years after Flipkart (2007) and another rival Snapdeal (2010) started out, but the American online retailer is running neck and neck with market leader Flipkart.
In 2016, Amazon India raced past Snapdeal and even beat Flipkart in terms of gross sales in two months. Flipkart, however, had denied this.
Agarwal, who shadowed Bezos for three years as his technical adviser, has spent 18 years at Amazon. He has overseen Amazon’s expansion in India, which the e-commerce firm sees as a crucial market after it lost out in China.
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