Amazon India announces key initiatives to digitize local businesses and boost exports from Uttar Pradesh

Amazon India has announced a series of key initiatives to digitally enable lakhs of local stores, entrepreneurs, traders, artisans and weavers across Uttar Pradesh (UP) and help them grow their business by selling to customers across India and the world. In presence of Shri Yogi Adityanath, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Uttar Pradeshat the Loan Mela event at Lok Bhawan Auditorium Lucknow, Amazon India signed two Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Export Promotion, Government of Uttar Pradesh.

As part of the two MoUs, Amazon will train and onboard MSMEs from the state on its Global Selling program and help them export their unique Made in India products to customers in over 200 countries and territories across the world. Additionally, it will focus on bringing sellers registered under the one district one product (ODOP) program on Amazon.in and help them serve customers across India. The Hon’ble Chief Minister also officially launched Amazon’s first Digital Kendra in UP to accelerate digitization of local stores and small businesses in Kanpur and nearby areas at the same event in presence of Shri Navneet Sehgal, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Export Promotion, Government of Uttar Pradesh and Mr Chetan Krishnaswamy, Vice President, Public Policy, Amazon India.

Shri Yogi Adityanath, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh said, “Digitizing small businesses and boosting exports from the state are key focus areas for us and I would like to commend Amazon for launching initiatives that are aligned with our priorities. Our state departments will work closely with Amazon for the benefit of lakhs of entrepreneurs across Uttar Pradesh. I believe that initiatives like these can help them grow their business and also contribute to growing our state’s economy to $1 trillion by 2027. We are committed to making Uttar Pradesh an attractive business and investment destination.”

Manish Tiwary, Country Manager, India Consumer Business, Amazon India said, “Our approach at Amazon has always been to use technology to empower local stores, entrepreneurs and small businesses across India to scale up their business, catering to customers anywhere in India and the world using ecommerce. With this association with the Government of Uttar Pradesh and under the guidance and leadership of Hon’ble Shri Yogi Aditya Nath, we aim to help lakhs of local businesses in the state to benefit from technology adoption and become digital entrepreneurs. These initiatives reflect our commitment to digitise 10 million small businesses including local stores and enable $20 billion in ecommerce exports from India by 2025.”

Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary, MSME & Export Promotion, Government of Uttar Pradesh said, “The role that technology has played in the growth of trade and commerce is undeniable, especially in the COVID era. We’ve witnessed how digitisation has supported MSMEs across the country by increasing their efficiency, efficacy and profitability. This association with Amazon will accelerate the digitisation of lakhs of MSMEs and boosting exports from Uttar Pradesh , while promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.”

Amazon launches its first Digital Kendra in Uttar Pradesh

Amazon India has opened its first Digital Kendra in Uttar Pradesh today in Barra 2 area of Kanpur. Amazon Digital Kendras are brick and mortar resource centres that will help digitize lakhs of local stores and small businesses from Kanpur and nearby areas and bring the benefits of ecommerce closer to them. It will provide them the opportunity to learn about benefits of coming online and avail a range of third-party services such as shipping and logistics support, cataloguing assistance, digital marketing services, GST and taxation, support to kick start their journey towards being digital entrepreneurs. Amazon India engages with local partners to set up and manage the Digital Kendras. It provides local partners additional revenue streams while playing an integral role in creating greater awareness and understanding of e-commerce, understanding the exports markets, and offering local stores and entrepreneurs the tools to grow their business. They can also avail onboarding services if they are interested in registering as sellers on Amazon.in or engaging with other Amazon programs such as Amazon Global Selling, Amazon Pay, Amazon Karigar, Amazon Saheli ‘I Have Space’, ‘Amazon Easy’ amongst others.

Boosting Exports from UP

Amazon will work with the Government of Uttar Pradesh to train and onboard MSMEs from the state on Amazon Global Selling, enabling them to sell their unique Made in India products to millions of Amazon customers across 200+ countries and territories. Amazon Global Selling lowers the entry barrier for motivated Indian MSMEs to expand their business and launch their brands globally, from anywhere in India. With this program, homegrown businesses get instant access to global markets from Day 1, benefiting from Amazon’s distribution capabilities and global footprint to scale rapidly and build sustainable exports businesses. Today, there are more than one lakh exporters from across India who are part of this program who have surpassed $5 billion in cumulative exports from India. Thousands of these businesses have been able to create globally loved brands from India through ecommerce exports.

Enabling Karigars of UP to reach customers across India

Together with the Government of Uttar Pradesh, Amazon will train and onboard artisans, weavers and MSME sellers, registered under the ODOP program on Amazon’s Karigar program. The program was launched in 2016 to uplift the Indian handicraft and handloom (H&H) sector by catalyzing digitization, skill development and market linkages for the artisans and weavers. Amazon Karigar has launched 450+ unique art & craft forms from over 28 states/UT. Over 30 state government emporiums and 7 government bodies have collaborated with Amazon to reach customers across the country. The program impacts over 13 lakh weavers and artisans across India.

Amazon in Uttar Pradesh

Amazon India has over one lakh sellers including more than 15,000 local neighbourhood stores on its marketplace. To support the needs of sellers and help them reach millions of customers across India and the world, Amazon continues to expand its reach including  Uttar Pradesh, where it has 3 fulfilment centres, with more than 3 million cubic feet of storage capacity and 1 sort centre in Lucknow with close to 50,000 sq.ft. of sortation area. The company also has over 50 owned and Delivery Service Partner stations in Uttar Pradesh, enabling work opportunities for tens of thousands of youth in the state.