Amazon India’s Head of Consumer Electronics Resigns Amid Senior-Level Shakeup 

Amazon India’s head of consumer electronics, Ranjit Babu, has resigned from his position. Babu previously served as the CEO of Cloudtail, Amazon’s largest seller. 

This is as per an Economic Times report. This comes at a time when there has been a restructuring happening at the company. On December 7, media reports indicated that Amazon India’s head Manish Tiwari, also resigned. Tiwari was both vice president and country manager of the company since2016.  

Speaking about his departure, a spokesperson of Amazon told the Economic Times that Tiwari quit to ‘pursue an opportunity outside of the company.’ Now, Tiwari has been replaced by Amazon’s Samir Kumar for the role. Kumar, who has been a part of Amazon since 1999, was also part of the original team that launched Amazon.in in 2013.

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Speaking about the transition, Amit Agarwal, SVP for Emerging Markets, said in a blog post, “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 anything online.” 

Meanwhile, Babu was one of the key executives of Amazon India and had several roles in his portfolio, including being the head of consumer electronics, including smartphones. The transition is happening at a time when the company is also increasing its focus on quick commerce. 

Recently, the e-commerce platform also plans to come up with its quick commerce delivery code that is called Tez by December or early next year. 

While Amazon has been eyeing entering the quick commerce area for a while, the company has been reportedly accelerating the process. This comes at a time when the quick commerce race has been intensifying with the presence of key players such as Zepto, Blinkit, and Instamart. As per Redseer Strategy Consultants, in India the market size of quick commerce is $2.8 billion. It says, “Q-commerce, with a $2.8 Bn current market size, is set to become a disruptive force, poised to reshape the retail industry as we know it.”

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As of now, Amazon is focusing on the logistics of quick commerce, such as setting up dark stores, focusing on stock-keeping units, and the overall infrastructure. Several other new players in this race include Flipkart, Reliance, and more. 

Meanwhile, the intensified race in the quick commerce segment has also increased poaching for companies. Additionally, Blinkit has increased the notice period for employees amid the intensifying battle. To add to it, a report by Moneycontrol suggests that Zepto has been poaching employees from other quick commerce platforms and giving 50-60 percent hikes for the same.