Will Continue To Invest In Emerging Markets Like India: Amazon

Amazon Inc has said that it’s still early days in many of its international businesses, including India, and the tech giant will continue to invest in these countries.

Amazon reported a loss of $1.7 Bn in its international business in the quarter ended June 30, 2022 as against a profit of $362 Mn in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, the company’s net sales in the international market also declined almost 12% year-on-year (YoY) to $27 Bn in its Q2.

“I think it’s important to remember, it’s early in many of our international countries, particularly in some of our emerging or more recent launch countries, places like India, Brazil, the Middle East,” said Dave Fildes, director of investor relations at Amazon, during the company’s earnings call.

“In our emerging locations, there’s a healthy amount of investment we’ve done to drive expansion, and we expect to continue to do that given the strong competition across many of these markets,” Fildes added.

However, Amazon’s established international locations like the UK, Germany, and Japan have continued to improve the profitability, the company said.

Meanwhile, in its earnings statement, the tech giant also highlighted that the company has raised its pledge to enable $20 Bn in cumulative exports by 2025 in India and Indian exporters are on track to surpass $5 Bn in cumulative exports.

“Since launching in 2015, Amazon’s Global Selling program has grown to more than 100,000 exporters that are showcasing millions of Made in India products to customers worldwide through Amazon’s store,” the company said.

In November last year, Amazon had infused INR 650 Cr (approximately $87 Mn) into Amazon Wholesale India. As per latest reports, Amazon has digitised over 4 Mn MSMEs under its Amazon Global Selling Programme.

However, it is important to note that the US ecommerce giant is also under scrutiny in India. From coming under the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) scanner to its ongoing battle with Reliance for Future Retail, Amazon is constantly fighting for better market opportunities in the country.

Amazon’s Overall Performance

Amazon’s operating income decreased to $3.3 Bn in Q2 from $7.7 Bn in the corresponding quarter last year, beating Wall Street estimates. It reported a net loss was $2 Bn in the quarter versus a profit of $7.8 Bn in the year-ago quarter.

The company said that its Prime membership programme remains a key driver of its worldwide stores business.

“Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy, and transportation costs, we’re making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO.