Amazon to shut wholesale distribution unit in India

BENGALURU:  E-commerce giant Amazon is shutting down its wholesale e-commerce website for neighbourhood stores - Amazon Distribution. This is its third business closure in the country. Last week, the company announced that it will shut down the online learning platform ‘Amazon Academy’, and that it will discontinue its pilot food delivery business Amazon Food in Bengaluru.

“As part of our annual operating planning review process, we have made the decision to discontinue Amazon Distribution, our wholesale e-commerce website for small neighborhood stores around Bengaluru, Mysore & Hubli. We don’t take these decisions lightly. We are discontinuing this programme in a phased manner to take care of current customers and partners and we are supporting our affected employees during this transition,” Amazon said in a statement.

“We remain committed to India and will continue to invest across those areas where we can bring value to our customers including Grocery, Smartphones and Consumer Electronics, Fashion & Beauty, as well as our B2B offerings such as Amazon Business,” it added.

Amazon Business is a B2B marketplace where third-party sellers sell only to business customers.
Amazon Distribution, which is now being discontinued, operated in three cities in Karnataka.