Amazon digitises 2.5 mn small firms in India, enables exports worth $3 bn

Amazon top executive Amit Agarwal sees a massive opportunity to empower millions of SMBs across the country

Amazon India said that it has digitised 2.5 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), enabled cumulative exports worth $3 billion and helped create nearly one million jobs in India till date. Last year at the inaugural Smbhav Summit, Amazon had announced an investment of $1 billion to digitally enable 10 million MSMEs, enable e-commerce exports worth $10 billion and create 1 million additional jobs in India between 2020 and 2025. The Jeff Bezos-led e-commerce giant said it is on track to fulfil these commitments.

“As we continue to work with small and medium businesses in our ecosystem, we remain committed to bringing new tools, technology and innovation,” said Amit Agarwal, global senior vice president and country head of Amazon India. “This will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of Indian businesses, boost exports from the country, help create jobs at scale and contribute to the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

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

Today, more than 2.5 million MSMEs work with Amazon in India including sellers, artisans and weavers, delivery and logistics service partners. Amazon has been focused on simplifying online selling for small and medium businesses and since January 2020 nearly 250,000 new sellers have joined Amazon.in. Amazon has introduced seller registration and account management services in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Kannada. More than 75,000 sellers have registered on the Amazon India marketplace in regional Indian languages. Amazon also sharpened its focus on bringing the benefits of e-commerce to neighbourhood stores and had launched a new program called ‘Local Shops on Amazon’ in April 2020. The programme has grown 10 times since launch and today over 50,000 offline retailers and neighbourhood stores from across the country are selling on Amazon.in.

The company said that Amazon Global Selling, is witnessing rapid momentum. There are over 70,000 exporters on the programme who have cumulatively crossed $3 billion in exports. There is a strong demand from global customers for a range of Made in India products including STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) toys, jewellery, bed linen, healthcare products, tea and leather products. It took the programme 3 years to clock the first billion in cumulative exports, the second billion came in 18 months and the third one has taken just 12 months. Importantly, Indian exporters on Amazon Global Selling played a key role in serving customers across the world during the pandemic by leveraging Amazon’s technology and infrastructure. This helped them not only sustain and grow their business but also support thousands of people who directly and indirectly depended on them for livelihoods. With this programme, Indian exporters can list their products on 17 international marketplaces and websites of Amazon. They can get access to 150 million paid Prime members and over 300 million customers in 200 countries and territories across the world.

Amazon said the growth of exports and digital enablement of MSMEs is helping accelerate economic recovery for thousands of businesses to positively impact job creation as well as the overall economy. In a challenging year where saving livelihoods and creating new jobs was a top priority, Amazon helped create nearly 300,000 direct and indirect jobs. This was across industries including information technology, skill development, content creation, retail, logistics, and manufacturing. This includes job roles in the company’s corporate offices in diverse areas including machine learning and software development, direct and indirect jobs across its fulfilment centres, logistic centres, sales offices and data centres. It also includes indirect jobs created through its ecosystem that consists of sellers’ community. In total, Amazon has helped create over a million direct and indirect jobs in India since 2013.

The Amazon India initiative

. 2.5 million MSMEs, cumulatively digitised since inception in India.

. $3 bn worth exports driven.

. One mn jobs created in India.

. 250,000 new sellers have joined Amazon.in since the inaugural Smbhav summit in January 2020.

. Over 50,000 offline retailers and neighbourhood stores from across the country are selling on Amazon.in.

. 300,000 direct and indirect jobs in India since January 2020.

. $10 bn, the target of enabling e-commerce exports by 2025

. One million additional jobs in India by 2025.