Amazon India country head Manish Tiwary will quit in October: Report

Amazon India country head Manish Tiwary will step down in October after an eight-year stint with the e-commerce giant, news agency Reuters reported.

Tiwary joined Amazon India in 2016 after a successful stint with Unilever. During his time at Amazon India, Tiwary played a crucial role in shaping the company's growth and operations in the region. He has been with the company since 2016, contributing to its expansion and success in the highly competitive e-commerce market.

Tiwary will be joining another company, Amazon said, without elaborating.

“Manish Tiwary, Country Manager for Amazon India, has decided to pursue an opportunity outside of the company. Manish’s leadership over the last eight years has been instrumental in delivering for customers and sellers, making Amazon.in the preferred marketplace in India. Manish will continue with Amazon until October to help ensure a smooth transition,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

Tiwary is departing the e-commerce firm at a time when Amazon has noticeably shifted its focus on cloud business in India. Amazon, which has invested over $7 billion in the Indian market, has encountered challenges in expanding its presence in smaller cities and towns within the South Asian nation.

This is due to the strong foothold established by domestic competitors, such as Walmart-owned Flipkart and Meesho, which is backed by SoftBank. Analysts in the industry attribute Amazon's difficulties in these regions to its constrained product offerings for customers who are sensitive to prices, as well as its less developed logistics infrastructure.

Meesho has outperformed Amazon in terms of mobile app monthly active user share within the e-commerce apps sector in India, as indicated by analysts at Morgan Stanley in a recent note. The daily active user count on Flipkart's mobile apps in India exceeds 50 million, while Amazon has under 40 million daily active users, as reported by analysts at Bank of America.

In urban India, Amazon has been facing challenging competition from quick-commerce companies such as BlinkIt, Zepto, and Swiggy. These firms are attracting customers with rapid deliveries completed in as little as 10 minutes. On Monday, Flipkart introduced its quick delivery service in Bengaluru. Additionally, reports suggest that Amazon has engaged in discussions regarding acquiring a share in Swiggy.