NEW DELHI: After the exit of Cloudtail, once the largest seller on its India marketplace, e-commerce giant Amazon has decided to close Appario Retail and delist it as a seller within the next 12 months.
Appario is operated under Frontizo Business Services- a joint venture between Amazon and the Patni Group and at present is one of the leading sellers on the platform.
“Amazon and India’s Patni group owned Zodiac Wealth Management LLP have agreed to renew their joint venture, Frontizo Business Services Private Limited. Partners have decided that Appario Retail Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Frontizo, will cease to be a seller on amazon.in, and amazon.in/business within the next 12 months. The partners will continue to explore new business opportunities, including helping businesses across India to scale up their online presence,” as per a Joint Media statement issued by the Patni Group and Amazon on Monday.
This development comes amidst tightening grip of Indian government and local regularity bodies to eliminate predatory pricing of big players and support smaller sellers on e-commerce platforms. At the centre of this issue is conflict of interest as Amazon and Flipkart, beside allowing listing of products, also have stakes in some sellers who list on their platforms.
An official source aware to the Appario delisting said that the move is aimed to avoid any conflict of interest and is being taken voluntarily. India’s Supreme Court last year ruled that Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart have to face antitrust investigations ordered against them in the country.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had earlier this year conducted raids on the premises of anchor sellers of Amazon and Flipkart across Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai to probe complaints of predatory pricing and deep discounting. The raided firms include Cloudtail, a joint venture between Amazon and N R Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran, and Appario Retail.