Amazon is reportedly dialing back some of its efforts in India.
The firm has announced over the past week that it’s closing three noncore businesses in the country: a food delivery service called Amazon Food; an education tech business; and a B2B eCommerce business called Amazon Distribution; The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday (Nov. 30).
The latter is especially notable because Amazon Distribution had been competing fiercely with Flipkart Wholesale, which is tied to Walmart, as well as JioMart, which is owned by local giant Reliance Industries, for an online B2B market that is expected to grow from $5 billion in 2021 to as much as $100 billion by 2030, according to the report.
The report attributed the moves to Amazon’s belt-tightening in the face of a looming recession and its disputes with Indian regulators that have targeted it and other American Big Tech companies.
Amazon did not immediately respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
As PYMNTS reported Sunday (Nov. 27), the company said it will shutter Amazon Food, which it had been trialing in the city of Bengalaru since May 2020. The decision was made as part of its annual operating planning review process.
“We don’t take these decisions lightly,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement emailed at the time to PYMNTS. “We are discontinuing these programs in a phased manner to take care of current customers and partners.”
Amazon has also clashed with Indian regulators and Reliance Industries over the fate of Future Retail, a local department store chain tied to another entity with which Amazon has an investment contract.
In June, India’s National Company Law Tribunal sent Future Retail into bankruptcy, despite claims by Amazon’s local division that the move was part of a conspiracy to make the once-mighty retailer insolvent.
The decision gave Reliance Industries another chance to buy out Future Retail’s assets after its 2020 attempt to do so was squelched by Amazon in a contentious court battle.
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