With Amazon’s disruption of U.S. retail arguably ebbing, emerging e-commerce markets like India’s may be especially enticing. It may seem surprising that Amazon would join an effort that aims to even the playing field in India’s still developing e-commerce landscape, presumably to the detriment of giants like Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, but the area is increasingly important to Amazon’s long-term growth.
Speaking to analysts earlier this month, CEO Andy Jassy said that inflation and the war in Ukraine are complicating its prospects in Europe. By contrast, less established markets, while they require “a certain amount of fixed investment” of finances and time, are on a trajectory that resembles the company’s previous growth in North America, he said.