Amazon’s MSME Accelerate Will Help Startups Reboot Operations, Sales

In a bid to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), ecommerce giant Amazon has announced ‘MSME Accelerate’ programme to help startups kick start their operations as offices reopen across the country.

Sellers will be able to showcase their products to enterprise clients to get large quantity orders. On the other hand, it’ll help startups get access to deals which help them in defining the new social order at the workplaces.

Many sellers are expected to feature products that’ll help startups maintain social distancing at the office premises. “Companies which have employees coming back to the office can buy products to ensure the safety of employees, create clean and hygienic workspaces, ensure social distancing, have essential Covid-19 protection and screening equipment,” Amazon Business said in a statement.

The MSME Accelerate section will feature selections, deals, discounts and savings to promote MSMEs products. The online event, which will run till June 20, will feature products from over 3.7 Lakh sellers registered on the online marketplace.

Meanwhile, sellers are also expected to offer products which can facilitate the setting up of workspaces at home. The company said that it’ll offer exclusive deals, bulk discounts, cashback and GST input tax credit to increase the sales of MSMEs.

Peter George, director of Amazon Business, said that the event will help startups and MSME buyers conveniently discover and save on such products. “MSME Accelerate is our attempt to help lakhs of sellers reach millions of businesses,” he added.

Government Brings Sellers Online

Besides Amazon, the Indian government is also looking to help MSMEs maximise their revenues. For this, the textiles ministry is looking to onboard 50 lakh weavers and artisans on Government eMarketplace (GeM), government’s public procurement portal.

In an online meet organised by industry body FICCI, textiles minister Smriti Irani, on Tuesday (June 9), said that the move can enable the government to directly procure goods from them. “The government is jointly working with the National Informatics Centre “to ensure that we have a platform which can help commercialise the potential of our artisans and weavers and there can be a direct sale to the people of India,” she added.

In addition to this programme, the government has also tied up with Amazon and Flipkart for rolling out various programmes for supporting artisans and craftsmanship. Both these players also run their separate programmes in partnership with artisans. For example, Flipkart launched Samarth programme while Amazon also launched ‘Karigar’ section to promote artisans.