Amazon India Crosses 10 Lakh Sellers from Small and Medium Businesses

eCommerce giant Amazon has achieved a new milestone in India as the company announced that the company has grown to be a preferred online platform in the country. Starting operating in the Indian eCommerce space in 2013 with 100 sellers, Amazon is touching new skies of success by adding 10 lakh sellers on its platform. Reportedly, most of the sellers on the platform are small and medium local businesses belonging to tier- and tier-3 cities.

The company further revealed that more than 4.5 lakh new sellers had joined the platform in January 2020 as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted local offline businesses. Additionally, most of the small and medium players have joined the marketplace through the company’s ‘Local Shops on Amazon’ Program.

Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Amazon India, said, “Amazon’s role in empowering the small local businesses is incredible across the country. It is encouraging to witness that local offline retailers and neighborhood stores from every nook and corner are adopting the eCommerce model and getting along with the company to grow through online mediums. This further has pushed last-mile deliveries, assisted shopping, and much more.”

Amazon, since the beginning of its journey, in India has been focusing on developing infrastructure and ecosystem to support SMBs to use eCommerce as the way to go. It began with taking Chai Cart and Tatkal vans to markets and SMB hubs in various cities across India to create awareness. Since then, the company has been pioneering many innovations such as Seller Flex and Easy Ship.

In addition, Amazon has been indulging in creating focused programs to address key seller cohorts such as ‘Karigar’ for artisans and weavers, ‘Saheli’ for women entrepreneurs, and ‘Launchpad’ for new entrants in direct-to-consumer brands. The company thrusts upon strengthening small businesses to spread across the country by adopting the power of the Internet.

Reflecting upon the company’s journey in the country, Tiwary said, “The rapid growth of sellers joining in the company’s platform reflected the entrepreneurship potentials in the Indian businesses and established a strong threshold of eCommerce as the means to address the loopholes and discrepancies for achieving new success for SMBs. The fabulous achievement makes the company more dedicated and committed to the pledge of digitizing 10 million SMBs, including the ubiquitous dukaans; Amazon could play a prominent role in fueling the country’s economy to $1 trillion in the near future.”

Initiatives For Growth!

Amazon engages a vast number of local neighborhood stores, joining even the farthest corners of the country and integrating the network through a trustworthy eCommerce medium through smooth operations and focused programs. Introducing various focused programs, the company is revolutionizing its market.

The company’s latest focused program, ‘Local Shops on Amazon’ launched in April 2020, is meant for offline retailers and neighborhood stores. The initiative enables small players to get the necessary footfalls while serving the customers beyond the normal catchment. Customers can enjoy a safe and convenient shopping experience while establishing a trusting chord with the sellers.

Upon the program's initiation, more than 20 times of the total number of sellers have been added to Amazon’s platform, which has been expanded to 450 cities across the country beyond the metro cities. Most tier -2 and tier-3 cities sellers added to the programs are from Sangli, Osmanabad, Jamnagar, Gorakhpur, and Jabalpur. 

Commitment for the Future!

Amazon is eyeing to add 10 lakh stores through its Amazon Easy program by 2025. The program assists the shopping experience for new Amazon customers, especially those located in smaller towns and cities, opening new sources of earning additional income. These stores enable customers to walk through and place their orders on the platform with guided assistance. Once the order is placed, the products will reach the customers’ doorsteps without hassles.

Amazon Easy stores are expected to reach 1 lakh stores by 2021. The upgraded version of the stores will offer a touch and feel product experience while integrating multiple Amazon services through a single touchpoint. The launch of ‘I Have Space (IHS) program in 2015 has empowered and provoked the entrepreneurial potential of many neighborhood stores across the country. The program allows local businesses to deliver products within a 2 -4 kilometers radius of the stores while boosting sales and generating more footfalls in the stores.