In bid to woo MSME traders, Jeff Bezos becomes Amazon’s salesman for a day

Amazon partners with thousands of kirana stores all over India as delivery points. It’s good for customers, and it helps the shop owners earn additional income. Got to visit one in Mumbai. Thank you, Amol, for letting me deliver a package. #MSME pic.twitter.com/VpoHUoJOIH

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 18, 2020

The Amazon CEO had faced a backlash from various small scale trader communities on his arrival in India. Since 2015, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has waged a battle against online retailers Amazon and Walmart-controlled Flipkart, accusing them of deep discounts and flouting India’s foreign investment rules.

Aside from traders, Bezos also got a cold shoulder response from the government, with no minister from the central cabinet holding a meeting with him. He has also sought meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other government officials, but the meetings could not take place.

New Delhi had introduced rules last year to protect nearly 130 million people dependent on small-scale retail — a key voter base — by deterring large online discounts. The rules forced e-commerce firms to change their business structures, drawing criticism from the United States and straining the two countries’ trade ties.