Amazon inks pact with India Post for exporters; launches digital assistant

Amazon on Thursday said it has signed an agreement with India Post to simplify cross-border logistics for MSME exporters.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh unveiled a postal stamp to commemorate a decade of partnership between India Post and Amazon at the e-commerce company's Smbhav Summit 2023.

Amazon introduced Sah-AI, a generative AI based personal digital assistant that leverages Amazon's experience of working with millions of sellers in India and globally to provide personalised assistance to new and existing sellers on its marketplace.

Sah-AI simplifies time-consuming and complex steps such as registration, listing, and advertising support, among others, the company said.

During the event, Amazon also announced its engagement with Indian Railways' Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFC), which makes Amazon the first e-commerce company in the country to leverage DFC for shipping customer packages through freight railway routes in India.

Amazon said it has pledged to digitize 10 million MSMEs, generate USD 20 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports and create 2 million jobs in India by 2025.

"For lakhs of small businesses across India, digitisation can offer economic growth, broader customer reach, reduced marketing and distribution expenses, and access to foreign markets," Singh said.

Amazon India Country Manager for India Consumer Business Manish Tiwary said, "We are focused on investing long-term in physical and digital infrastructure and building cutting edge technology solutions to serve customers and enable Indian businesses to scale and grow in India and globally, thus contributing to India's rising digital economy."

Amazon's annual event for digitisation of small businesses Smbhav Summit 2023 was held offline after two years. The event focuses on innovation, financial inclusion and sustainability for small businesses and consumers.