Committed to creating conducive ecosystem for Indian brands to start exporting: Amazon

NEW DELHI: E-commerce major Amazon on Friday said it is committed to working with government agencies and partners to create a "conducive ecosystem" to lower entry barriers for Indian businesses to start and expand their exports business.


Amazon vice president (International Marketplaces and Retail) Eric Broussard said more than 70,000 businesses in India are part of the company's global selling programme that enables merchants to reach customers across the world.

"...thousands of our sellers from India played a key role in serving customers globally during this period (of pandemic)...In this changed world, the pace of technology adoption has accelerated. There has been a structural shift in online shopping behaviour," he said at the Amazon Smbhav Summit.

He pointed out that more customers are now coming online for their shopping needs, a trend that is being seen in the US, Europe, India and other parts of the world.

"As we emerge from this unprecedented pandemic, the cross-border e-commerce industry will usher in a new era of growth opportunities through digitisation and tech innovation. Businesses shall take this opportunity to reflect and reshape strategies for long-term growth," Broussard said.

Amazon Global Selling will continue to make exports easier, simpler and more accessible to businesses of all sizes, he added.

He cited the example of global sale events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, wherein Indian businesses on Amazon Global Selling had seen a 50 per cent growth in business year-on-year.

"The host of initiatives from the government to strengthen manufacturing, nurture entrepreneurship and promote digital enablement are playing a key role in supporting the development of global businesses. This puts India in a great position to expand further and build global Indian brands," Broussard said.

He added that the company's teams in India are working with industry players, state and central governments and other partners to "create a conducive ecosystem to lower the entry barrier for Indian businesses to start or expand their exports business".

The top executive said with Amazon Global Selling, Indian exporters can list their products on 17 international marketplaces/websites of Amazon, get access to 150 million paid Prime members and over 300 million customers in 200 countries and territories across the world.

In January last year, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos had announced an investment of $1 billion at the maiden edition of Amazon Smbhav event to digitally enable 10 million Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs), enable e-commerce exports worth $10 billion and create one million additional jobs in India by 2025.

Earlier this month, Amazon said more than 2.5 lakh new sellers have joined Amazon since the announcement, and that it has enabled more than $3 billion in exports through its Global Selling programme.

Broussard outlined a new initiative 'Spotlight Northeast' by Amazon India that is focusing on enabling e-commerce exports from the North East region of India. Under this, Amazon will forge partnerships with local trade organizations and work with SMBs to boost exports of key categories like tea, spices and honey.

"The way I see it, there is a huge opportunity to create global brands from India. Already we have some great examples (like Vahdam Teas and Wow Shampoo) of Indian businesses starting from scratch and building successful global brands with customers across the world," he added.

He suggested that brands looking at tapping into the international demand should "think global, build selection based on customer demand, and focus on building global brands that customers trust".