Amazon.com Inc. said that’s its India operations were the worst hit due to the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic as the centre ordered the company to stop sales of almost all items but groceries during a 40-day lockdown.
“I think the biggest impact internationally has been in India where, of course, similar to all companies, we’re now only fulfilling essential goods such as grocery; so that’s cut back a lot on our offering and we will further expand when the Indian government announces that we’re allowed to resume operations. So we’re in a bit of a holding pattern, except for grocery in India,” said Brian T. Olsavsky, senior vice-president and chief financial officer, in an earnings call.
In India, e-commerce firms namely Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart have been allowed to only deliver essential goods during the lockdown that is now been extended by two more weeks from 4 May.
The listed essential items form only a small part of Amazon’s overall business, which depends majorly on the sale of electronic goods, mobile phones and fashion products.
Olsavsky further said the covid-19 crisis has brought different challenges in countries around the globe but that Amazon has also noticed a lot of consistency in the types of products that people are buying with the stay-at-home restrictions.
