Amazon targets $5 billion in Indian exports on its global marketplace by 2023

Indian sellers exporting their wares on Amazon’s global marketplace rose to more than 50,000 in 2018, and together sold goods worth over $1 billion. This was the third year since the online retail giant opened the service to Indian exporters.

By 2023, Amazon expects this volume to rise to $5 billion, the company’s India head told reporters in Bengaluru at a conference on Tuesday. Launched with just a few hundred sellers in May 2015, more than 50,000 Indian exporters are now part of the Amazon Global Selling programme, offering more than 140 million made-in-India products to Amazon customers in the US, UK, Australia, China, south-east Asia and other overseas markets, the company said in a press release.

Amit Agarwal, a senior vice president at Amazon, and country head of Amazon India, said on the projection to 2023, “The multiplier impact of this growth on the Indian economy will be significant with new infrastructure built-up and on employment generation, especially as the successful micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will in-turn reinvest in their local communities—creating jobs and supporting local economy, and thus boosting the entire ecosystem around them.”

Amazon released some data on the sellers from India and their exports too. The rise to 50,000 sellers is a 56 percent increase over 2017. The 140 million products represent a 55 percent rise in the selection of Indian products offered globally. And sellers who chose to be part of the ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ programme—meaning Amazon ships their products for them—rose by 71 percent over 2017.

Highlights for 2018 include the opening of Australia as a market for Indian sellers on Amazon. More than 500 Indian exporters are now offering more than 12 million products to customers down under. Sales to business customers in various markets is also growing, with 6,000 Indian sellers offering their products to businesses overseas in 2018.

Overall, an overseas customer base of about 300 million buyers was tapped in 2018 by India’s sellers on Amazon. Gopal Pillai, vice president, seller services, Amazon India said, “More than 80 percent of these exporters come from non-metro and tier-2 cities and beyond.”