Amazon India’s wholesale business has received Rs 160 crore in capital infusion, according to latest filings. In September too, Amazon Wholesale (India) Private Limited received a tranche of Rs 115 crore from the parent company.
The online marketplace’s wholesale arm, which started in 2013, runs Amazon Business – a business – to – business (B2B) selling platform – in Bengaluru and Mangaluru which includes fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), food and beverages, office supplies, IT products, health and personal products and cleaning supplies.
Apart from selling FMCG, the platform also serves as a marketing and distribution channel for brands such as Coolpad and Motorola that do not have offline channels. Amazon Wholesale has started shipping smartphones of these companies to other locations including Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Telangana where it is yet to start its FMCG and other category play. The wholesale platform works with 10,000 sellers in Bengaluru. Amazon Business generated more than a billion dollars in sales its first year in the US.
Under its current business model, Amazon Business has signed up corner stores, pharmacies and small outlets to order from its platform, extending credit lines to these businesses through a partnership with banks and non-banking financial institutions.
According to a 2014 report by Walmart, the Indian B2B market has the potential to grow to $700 billion by 2020. The sector has seen an increasing push from Walmart India which has been sounding out online marketplaces for an investment opportunity as well as retail partnerships.
