Amazon India eases seller evaluation to encourage growth

The pandemic has put people and economies under immense pressure. Nobody could have foreseen the disruption that came upon the world last year and continues to impact every single thing we do even today. It pushed boundaries and realigned priorities. It created daunting challenges especially for small businesses around the world including in India. Many of them have gone through personal loss and hardship in their lives in recent months. We at Amazon recognize the immense responsibility that we have as a company during such challenging times – to our customers as much as to SMB and MSME partners. Hence, as India tries to get back on track post the impact of the COVID-19 second wave, we are prioritizing our efforts to help small businesses bounce back from the economic disruption.

So far, we have taken a host of measures to help our sellers navigate the economic challenges caused by the pandemic including a variety of fee waivers, on-demand disbursement, relaxation of policies on reimbursements and performance metrics, and more. We have also arranged for COVID-19 health insurance for sellers on Amazon.in and providing vaccination support to our sellers and their dependents. In addition to that, we are hosting Amazon Small Business Days, to help generate customer demand for offerings from small sellers on the Amazon India marketplace, thus helping them to get their business back on track.

To help sellers bounce back from the economic disruptions caused by COVID19, Amazon has taken an important decision on STEP- a performance-based benefits program designed to help sellers accelerate their growth on Amazon.in. During the upcoming STEP evaluation on 5th July 2021 which will be based on seller’s performance from 1st April 2021 to 30th June 2021, to help sellers Amazon.in will not move down any seller in STEP levels but sellers who are qualifying for higher level compared to their current level will move up in level. For example, if currently a seller is in Standard level and their performance from 1st April 2021 to 30th June 2021 makes them eligible for Basic level, they will not move to Basic level but retain Standard Level and continue to receive all benefits related to Standard level till 4th October 2021. But, if currently the seller is in Standard level and their performance makes them eligible for Advanced level, then they will be promoted to Advanced level and will start getting Advanced level benefits from 5th July 2021 to 4th October 2021.

This initiative is to help sellers whose performance has been impacted due to the pandemic. Sellers will retain their existing level as an opportunity to help them grow their business while those who have done well are given chance to move up in levels. Sellers will accordingly receive benefits from 5th July 2021 to 4th October 2021 i.e. until the next evaluation on 5th October 2021.

As we look ahead, we remain focused on helping SMBs and MSMEs bounce back from the disruptions caused by COVID-19 while also ensuring that our customers get all that they require safely. We endeavour to help sellers grow consistently on the marketplace.

For additional information, please visit: https://sell.amazon.in/grow-your-business/step.html