Amazon Inc announced on Monday that it is shutting down its wholesale distribution in India, which was the latest of the retailer’s series of retreats in key overseas markets.
The shutdown will affect small neighborhood stores in India, such as Bengaluru, Hubli, and Mysore, where the retailer giant’s e-commerce website was previously available.
According to the company’s spokesperson, they were taking the decision seriously, adding that they were gradually shutting down the program for the sake of their partners and current customers.
Before the shutdown, Amazon’s distribution networks were designed to help small neighborhood stores in India, including pharmacies and department stores.
However, the e-commerce giant did not give further details regarding the shutdown. Nevertheless, the decision came after the shutdown of its online learning platform Academy and food delivery services.
As a result of this string of announcements, many began to speculate that Amazon has begun slowly scaling down its South Asian market operations.
Although India was Amazon’s key overseas market, recent reports indicate that the American-based e-commerce platform lags behind Walmart’s Flipkart.
Analyst reports that the gross merchandise value of Amazon in India in 2021 was around $18.00 billion to $20.00 billion, short of Flipkart’s $23.00 billion.
UK Tax Bill of Amazon to Rise £29m
Amazon’s tax bill in the UK may rise by £29.00 million next year due to scheduled change in business rates that would hit online retailers the hardest.
In this change, the business tax calculation was set to be based on property values as of April 01, 2021.
This new calculation means that the taxes of those who profited during the pandemic will soar, while the taxes of those that had not benefited as much, such as physical stores, would fall.
In light of this, analyst predicts that the overall business rates of the e-commerce giant could rise as much as £28.75 million next year.
Consequently, Amazon’s business cost might soar up to £100.00 million in extra tax for the next three years.
