Exports from Indian sellers hit $3-billion mark for Amazon

Amazon India on Thursday said small and medium sellers on its platform have sold goods worth over $3 billion to foreign buyers since the company began its export-focused global selling programme in 2015.

The e-commerce firm said it has digitized 2.5 million micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) and helped create nearly 1 million jobs in the country till date.

During his visit to India in January 2020, Amazon.com Inc.’s chief Jeff Bezos had said at the inaugural ‘Smbhav Summit’ that his company would invest $1 billion in digitizing small- and medium-businesses in India and expected to export Indian-made goods worth $10 billion by 2025.

Amazon’s Global Selling programme, also operational in other markets, has helped around 70,000 India-based sellers to reach 17 international markets. The biggest market for Amazon’s Indian exporters is the US.

By July, last year, exports had touched the $2 billion mark for Amazon India.

“Last year was challenging by the pandemic but the pace of digitization was accelerated due to the pandemic. While e-commerce in India is still nascent, it will play a critical role in the economic recovery of the country,” Amit Agarwal, global senior vice president and country head of Amazon India said in an interview.

The second edition of the Smbhav Summit is in the second week of April.

Amazon said there is demand from global customers for products such as STEM toys, jewellery, bed linen, healthcare products, tea and leather products.

It took Amazon India three years to hit the first billion dollars in exports, the second billion came in 18 months and the third one has taken about a year.

“…As the world around us is more digital than ever with the internet and technology becoming an integral part of our lives, we see a massive opportunity to empower millions of SMBs across the country and remain committed for Amazon to be a catalyst for such accelerated progress,” Agarwal said.

Amazon has introduced seller registration and account management services in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Kannada and over 75,000 sellers have registered on the Amazon India marketplace in regional Indian languages.

Over 50,000 offline retailers and neighbourhood stores across 450 cities are now part of Amazon’s ‘Local Shops’ programme launched in April 2020. It plans to double the number of stores by this year-end, Manish Tiwary, vice-president, Amazon India, had told Mint in a recent interview.