Amazon Global Selling Program Targets $5 Billion in E-commerce Exports from India By 2023

At the launch of the second edition of Amazon Exports Digest, Amazon has announced that its Global Selling program has now achieved the significant milestone of crossing $1 billion in e-commerce exports sales from India in just three years since its launch in the country! Launched with just a few hundred sellers in May 2015, more than 50,000 Indian exporters are now part of the Amazon Global Selling program, selling over 140M ‘Made in India’ products to Amazon customers across the globe through its marketplaces worldwide such as Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, etc.

“Six years ago, we started operating in India with a vision to enable every motivated Indian seller to reach customers across India and every country in the world. Amazon launched the Global Selling program in India four years ago, aligning with this vision. The program has scaled up extensively since then and has reached a cumulative $1 billion annualized from India. This program is helping government’s vision on exports, encouraging ‘Made in India’ products go global and enabling over 50,000 Indian MSMEs to reach the doorstep of 300MM+ global customers without leaving their homes. Over the next five years ‘India to Global’ has the potential to become huge and Amazon is confident that the Global Selling program will hit the $5 billion mark by 2023 fueling the growth of lakhs of Indian manufacturers, exporters and small enterprises.” said Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President and Country Head, Amazon India.

He added, “The multiplier impact of this growth on the Indian economy will be significant with new infrastructure built-up, employment generation especially as the successful micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will in-turn reinvest in their local communities – creating jobs and supporting local economy- and thus boosting the entire ecosystem around them.”

Amazon today released the second edition of its annual Export Digest, revealing a growth of 56% in the number of global sellers from India in 2018. Amazon's international marketplaces also saw a rise of 55% in the selection of Indian products offered globally and 71% growth in sellers who are part of Fulfilled by Amazon program this year vis-a-vis last year. Amazon Exports Digest in its second edition, reveals interesting insights and reflects significant increase in demand for Indian products across global marketplaces, growth of Indian exporters selling globally, and most popular and emerging product categories offered by Indian exporters abroad.

This year’s report also includes performance numbers about growth of Indian sellers exporting to Australia, a new marketplace for Indian sellers which was added as part of Global Selling Program in 2018. Within a short span of time, more than 500 Indian exporters are now offering over 12M products to customers across Australia. The report also highlights the growth of the Global Selling B2B program which allows Indian exporters to serve business customers across the globe. The Global Selling B2B program in just one year has over 6000 Indian B2B sellers.

The Annual Exports Digest showcases top Indian states & cities with international exporters and most popular product categories abroad. Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana emerged as the leading states with most international exporters on Amazon in 2018. Home, Books, Apparel, Jewelry, Kitchen and Health & Personal Care witnessed a huge demand from international customers across ethnicities.

2018 has been a breakthrough year for the Amazon Global Selling program in India which accelerated with partnerships with various trade bodies such as FICCI, CII, FISME and with export associations from Tiruppur, Karur, Agra, Surat, Guwahati and other towns and cities to empower micro, small & medium enterprises. Connecting Indian sellers to customers worldwide, Amazon has a dedicated team as part of the Global Selling program which currently enables thousands of exporters of all sizes and scale to sell across eleven Amazon marketplaces worldwide.

Gopal Pillai, Vice President, Seller Services, Amazon India said, “Amazon Global Selling program is a unique initiative that enables MSMEs to reach over 300MM global customers, empowering them with tools and technology and leveraging Amazon infrastructure in destination countries. It’s interesting how the program has scaled in the country, with more than 80% of these exporters coming from non-metro and tier 2 and below cities. Amazon wants to expand and grow the program further to bring more and more small businesses to unleash the potential of ‘Make in India’ initiative by enabling e-commerce exports and leveraging global customer access.

Amazon Exports Digest 2019 highlights-

Overall growth:
• Amazon witnessed a growth of 56% in the number of e-commerce exporters from India in 2018
• Amazon's international marketplace saw a phenomenal increase of 55% in selection of Indian products offered globally
• 71% growth in Indian exporters using Global Fulfilment by Amazon (Amazon’s own fulfillment channels)
• Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh emerged as the top 5 states with most e-commerce exporters
• New Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Indore and Surat topped the charts with most e-commerce exporters along with emerging cities such as Cuttack, Darjeeling, Kankroli, Peermade, Rampura Phul with exporters selling globally
• Emerging product categories- Art and Crafts, Musical Instruments, Baby Products, Video DVD, Pet Products
• Major sale events – Prime Day saw an increase of 69% in number of sellers, Cyber Monday saw an increase of 30% in seller base and Black Friday also witnessed an increase of 30% in seller numbers

Region-wise top emerging categories exported:

• North India – watches, camera, pet products, outdoors, home entertainment
• South India – board games, shoes, home entertainment, sports gear, camera bags
• East India – watches, furniture, personal care appliances, tools, electronics
• West India –  Arts & Crafts, Music, Luggage, Videos & DVDs, Personal Care Appliances

Top 5 cities in the US from where Indian sellers are receiving maximum global orders from and the top Indian products bought in the US:

• Top 5 cities - New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, Houston
• Top Indian products – Home, Health & Personal Care, Books, Beauty, Apparel

Top 5 cities in Europe from where Indian sellers are receiving maximum global orders from and the top Indian products bought in Europe:

• Top 5 cities –London, Manchester, Berlin, Madrid, Rome
• Top Indian products – Home, Health & Personal Care, Books, Office Products, Wireless

Top 5 cities in Asia Pacific from where Indian sellers are receiving maximum global orders from and the top Indian products bought in Japan:

• Top 5 cities – Tokyo, Beijing, Osaka, Busan, Seoul
• Top Indian products – Sports, Toys, PC, Musical Instruments, Health & Personal Care

Top 5 cities in Australia from where Indian sellers are receiving maximum global orders from and the top Indian products bought in Australia:

• Top 5 cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Portland
• Top Indian products – Books, Home, Beauty, Apparel, Health & Personal Care

Amazon unveiled its Global Selling program in India in May 2015 in an attempt to provide transformative opportunities for Indian sellers and help them grow & scale through e-commerce exports.  Currently, over 50,000 Indian manufacturers, traders and brands are using this platform to sell their offerings across eleven Amazon marketplaces worldwide. Through the program, Amazon provides the most comprehensive suite of services to sellers of all sizes and scale to enable them to sell across the globe. These services have been created to meet their specific requirements at every stage of their business lifecycle.

To smoothen the selling experience for MSMEs, Amazon offers fulfilment services under the program that allows sellers to focus on their product and pricing, offers imaging and cataloging support to sellers by getting their photo shoots done as per Amazon standards at nominal costs, provides access to third parties that can provide tax guidance services and other export related modalities by connecting them to concerned advisory agencies.

Furthermore, through its various spike sale events across the world, Amazon provides a lucrative platform for Indian sellers to engage with global audiences. Whether it’s Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, Amazon enables thousands of sellers to delight global customers with wide selection, greater value and a reliable and trustworthy shopping experience.

To enable sellers to familiarize themselves with the tastes & preferences of the destination country and to launch relevant selection, Amazon’s global teams also help sellers understand the demand patterns in various countries. The team also gives guidance on how sellers can improve discoverability of their products on each marketplace. Some of this includes guidance on the type of deals they can run, the kind of advertisements they can run on these platforms and how they can use social media channels to drive awareness about their listings on the various marketplaces.