Ecommerce in India has evolved quite a bit from when we had started in 2013. Over these last 8 years, we have not only introduced several significant India-focused innovations but the numerous incremental day to day innovations that are changing lives around us. Today we have more than 8.5 lakh sellers and over a million artisans using Amazon to offer millions of products to customers across 100% of pin codes in India. It is humbling that Amazon has become a daily habit and a livelihood for many, many people.
Over the last 18 months, we have seen ecommerce play a bigger, more important role in serving customers in the safety of their homes as there is a shift in consumer behavior, with consumers opting to make more of their purchases online. This accelerated online shift is also evident amongst businesses, with more and more SMBs leveraging coming online to cater to customers across the country.
Since Jan 2020, over 3 lakh new sellers have joined Amazon.in. Our new program Local Shops on Amazon has already grown to 50,000+ sellers in 450 cities within one year of launch and has played a key role in helping these retailers manage the disruption in the market with lockdowns and on-ground restrictions. Throughout this time, we have been working with sellers and partners to fulfill the ever-evolving customer demand with a focus on our three key pillars of convenience, selection and affordability, while taking measures to help them navigate through the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Looking ahead
As we look ahead, we will continue to invest in the success of India’s SMBs, the backbone of our economy and deliver on our pledge to digitize 10MM SMBs by 2025. Very recently at Smbhav, we made a series of announcements including:
- A $250 million Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund to invest in startups and entrepreneurs focusing on technology innovations in SMB digitization, Agriculture and Healthcare.
- We launched the ‘Spotlight North East’ initiative to bring 50,000 artisans, weavers and small businesses online from the 8 states in the North East region of India by 2025.
- And we announced our commitment to onboard 1 million local offline retailers and neighbourhood stores on Amazon.in by 2025
These commitments are more relevant than ever and will play a key role in the growth of millions of SMBs across India and contribute to the revival of the Indian economy.
