Digitization of MSMEs is the way for rapid growth: Suchit Subhas, Director, Amazon Business

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Amazon Business has digitized 2.5 million MSMEs across the country, a large percentage of which comes from Tier II and III markets. As the business completes 5 years in the country, Director Suchit Subhas speaks about continuing the momentum of helping more and more MSMEs in small towns grow with technology

Q: How are sellers on Amazon Business coping with changed consumer behavior in the new normal? 

In the past 24 months, consumers have realized that e-commerce is the safest way to get everything at their doorsteps, propelling the growth of the sector. 

MSMEs too have started embracing digital solutions to cater to the evolving needs of consumers. Rapid digital adoption will be an ongoing trend this year as well. Be it selling products or procuring business supplies, digitization is the way forward for rapid growth. 

Q: How is Amazon Business helping MSMEs digitize their business?

Our goal is to drive digitization for our customers and bring them on board with the advanced technology that is currently present in the market while making them future-ready. This includes offering multi-user accounts to allow businesses to replicate their procurement hierarchy on Amazon, allowing for creation of custom approval workflows to prevent rogue spends and enabling business payment methods such as NEFT/RTGS. 

Features and services such as Business PAN, Bill to Ship, and Business Days cater to the specific challenges faced by MSME customers, helping them save the hassle of manual processes and bringing down the overall cost. 

We have helped more than 1 lakh sellers create an online presence and aim to onboard 10 lakh sellers in the near future.

Earlier this year, Amazon Business launched the Android and iOS optimized mobile app that is specifically designed to improve the procurement experience of business customers.

Q: Can you elaborate on the new procurement experience? 

Prior to this, logging to a business account on the Amazon App required customers to logout from their personal account. The new app has removed this hassle, allowing business account-only login, 1-click access to Business Settings, managing GSTIN details, setting up shared payments and approving orders directly from mobile. The app further improves efficiency and helps customers complete actions through push notification alerts that drive attention to pending actions and critical announcements on a timely basis. 

Business customers can now conveniently access business exclusive features on-the-go with ease instead of waiting to access a computer to order supplies needed to run their businesses.

Q: What are the future plans for Amazon Business?

Amazon Business currently houses India’s largest GST-enabled selection. We serve 99.5% of pin codes across the country and have businesses from some of the remotest parts of the country buying from us. More than 30% of our customers come from Tier II and III markets. In terms of sellers, Amazon has digitized 2.5 million MSMEs across the country. 90% of sellers on Amazon.in use Amazon’s logistics and warehousing services out of which over 50% of our sellers are from Tier II and below cities. We plan to sustain this momentum in the near future by catering to our existing and potential customers through our thought-led services.