The US-based e-Commerce giant, Amazon has dedicated to invest over Rs. 11,400 crore during FY 2019-20 across its marketplace, payments and wholesale business units in India to bolster its position in the country’s burgeoning digital commerce market. The investments have been made even though most of the Amazon’s business units in India registered losses during the fiscal.
The e-commerce giant, which has been investing millions of dollars towards promotions, building infrastructure and logistics as it woos customers to shop online, has seen its losses mount on account of higher expenses. Filings showed that Amazon Pay’s total expenses grew 62 percent to Rs. 3,234.8 crore in FY20, while Amazon Seller Services saw its total expenses rising over 25 percent to Rs. 16,877.1 crore in the said period.
Data analysis from regulatory filings by various Amazon entities showed that Amazon Seller Services, Amazon Wholesale (India), Amazon Pay (India) and Amazon Transportation Services saw their losses adding up to Rs. 7,899 crore in FY20 as against a loss of Rs. 7,014.5 crore in the preceding fiscal. Amazon Seller Services, Amazon Wholesale (India), Amazon Pay (India) and Amazon Transportation Services had registered losses in FY20 at Rs. 5,849.2 crore, Rs. 133.2 crore, Rs. 1,868.5 crore and Rs. 48.1 crore, respectively. Amazon Internet Services, which had clocked a net profit of Rs. 71.1 crore in FY19, slipped into the red with a loss of Rs. 20 lakh in FY20, the data showed.
In January this year, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had announced $1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) investment in India to help bring small and medium businesses online. Previously, the online retail giant had committed $5.5 billion investments in India, one of Amazon’s most important markets outside of the US and a key growth driver.
When asked about the development, as a response one of the Amazon India spokesperson said “We continue to be invested in India with a long-term view enabling customers in India to enjoy the ease and convenience of e-commerce and other digital products and services.”