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Samir Kumar will be Amazon India’s new country manager
Kumar replaces Manish Tiwary, company's current head, who has put in his papers.
Samir Kumar will be Amazon India’s new country manager. Kumar replaces Manish Tiwary, company’s current head, who has put in his papers.
Amit Agarwal, senior vice-president for India and emerging markets who is based out of the US, announced about this development through an internal email. Agarwal said that Samir is closely working with Tiwary on the transition and will assume operational responsibilities for India starting 1 October.
Samir’s appointment comes when the e-commerce giant explores entering into the quick commerce segment and is also considering to buy a stake in the food delivery app Swiggy’s quick commerce platform, Instamart.
Agarwal said that Samir Kumar will be responsible for leading India as its Country Manager in addition to his current charter of leading Amazon’s consumer businesses in the Middle East, South Africa, and Turkey.
Samir joined Amazon in 1999 and was part of the original team that planned and launched Amazon in 2013.
With this change, the current Amazon.in the leadership team of Saurabh Srivastava (Categories), Harsh Goyal (Everyday Essentials), Amit Nanda (Marketplace), and Aastha Jain (Growth Initiatives) will now report to Samir. Kishore Thota (Emerging Markets Shopping Experience) will report to Amit directly.
Commenting on the transition, Amit Agarwal, SVP for Emerging Markets, said: “I am deeply appreciative of Manish’s leadership in steering Amazon.in to become the de facto starting point for Indians to buy and sell.”
Citing India as an essential priority for Amazon, Amit Agarwal, SVP for emerging markets, said he is excited about the opportunity ahead as the company continues transforming lives and livelihoods.
Agarwal added, “We have a strong local leadership bench and, along with Samir’s experiences across Emerging Markets, I am even more optimistic about our future plans to deliver for customers and the business in India.”
Amazon India faces steep competition from Walmart-owned Flipkart and others, including Meesho.
The Indian e-commerce market is valued at $70 billion and is estimated to grow to $325 billion by 2030.