BENGALURU:
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India unveiled the Amazon India ‘Exports Digest 2020’, strongly reinforcing that boosting exports is the key to the quick revival of the MSME sector.
At the launch, Amazon announced that cumulative exports through Indian sellers on the Amazon Global Selling program have crossed the $2 billion milestone. In January 2020, Amazon had pledged to enable $10 billion in cumulative exports by 2025 helping Indian businesses grow by selling online worldwide.
Amazon Global Selling today enables more than 60,000 Indian exporters to sell millions of ‘Made in India’ products to customers worldwide through its 15 international websites in countries such as USA, UK, UAE, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey, Brazil, Japan, Australia and Singapore. In 2019, more than 800 Indian MSMEs on the program surpassed $131, 375 (INR 1 crore) in e-commerce exports sales.
Speaking on the occasion, Nitin Gadkari said, “I would like to congratulate all the MSMEs who have been working with Amazon to take their locally manufactured products, global. It is a testament of the skill and entrepreneurial spirit of Indian MSMEs. The MSME sector is a major job creator and the backbone of the Indian economy, contributing over 28% to India’s GDP and about 48% to the country’s exports. They will continue to play a critical role in the country’s economic revival and help overcome the current pandemic. Exports is a key priority for the Government and we are focused on supporting the Indian MSMEs be more successful in the international markets and increasing the MSMEs’ share of exports to 60%.”
Amit Agarwal, Senior VP and Country Head Amazon India, said, “We are excited with the rapid growth being witnessed by Indian MSMEs and brands on Amazon Global Selling. It took the program three years to hit cumulative exports of $1 billion and it has grown 100% to hit the next $1 billion in less than 18 months, to cross the $2 billion milestone in cumulative exports from India.
The program is rapidly boosting exports from India and helping build global Indian brands. We are excited to build a strong foundation for MSMEs to realize their export potential and contribute to the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. We will continue to make exports easy for Indian entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes and fulfil our pledge of enabling $10 billion in e-commerce exports by 2025.”
Highlights of Exports Digest 2020
The just published third edition of Amazon’s annual Exports Digest provides insights into the success and scale of exports from India through the Amazon Global Selling program, reflecting a significant increase in demand for Indian products across global markets and the growth of Indian exporters selling globally.
Indian MSMEs are increasingly seeing e-commerce exports as an opportunity to grow their business. The number of exporters on the Amazon has grown to over 60,000, with sellers joining from metros as well as tier 2 and tier 3 cities. In 2019, several Indian entrepreneurs and businesses including Wow Skincare (Hair and Beauty), California Design Den (Bed Linens), Chandrakala Creations (Indian Fashion), Aheli (Jewelry), SVA Organics (Herbal products) emerged as globally successful brands, underlining the popularity of ‘Made in India’ products in international markets.
Rishabh Chokhani, Founder & CEO of Naturevibe Botanicals said, “For us, it was a strategic decision to sell directly to customers across the world and Amazon Global Selling provided us the right channel to start quickly. In 2017, we started exporting with Amazon to the US and Canada and after seeing the customer response, quickly expanded to the UK. In the last 3 years we have seen consistent demand for our range of organic products across international markets and it reflects in our growth from a 3 member set up back in 2017 to nearly 150 member strong team now. Last year, the business grew at 56% YOY and with people opting for natural, healthier options – we are seeing even greater demand in
the recent months.”
Exports Helping Indian MSMEs in the crisis
In the beginning of 2020, as the world faced an unprecedented situation that necessitated people to stay at and work from home, thousands of Indian MSMEs helped serve customers globally through e- commerce exports. Made in India products across categories like Health and Hygiene, Nutritional Supplements and Home essentials saw heightened demand from customers in markets like the United States of America, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Japan, Australia amongst others.
“As people worldwide stayed at home over the last couple of months, it has been heartening to see thousands of Indian MSMEs who are part of the Global Selling program successfully fulfill customer needs around the world. In these challenging times, e-commerce exports has provided a robust model for these Indian exporters helping them sustain their business and support the people and families who depend on their business. Amazon Global Selling will continue to provide an easy and quick-to-scale channel for exports for Indian MSMEs”, added Amit Agarwal.
