President Barack Obama, Carney was scheduled to talk with India's ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C. In Delhi, the Indian government had just announced foreign direct investment regulations that threatened to disrupt Amazon's business in the world's second most populous country.
All this information was indeed politically sensitive. If it got out, it could give fresh ammunition to small Indian retailers who allege that Amazon harms their businesses by flouting federal regulations and favoring a few big sellers. It could have annoyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose political base includes millions of these small retailers. And it would have undercut Amazon's public messaging that it is the friend of small business in India.
The documents reviewed by Reuters are dated between 2012 and 2019. They include drafts of meeting notes, PowerPoint slides, business reports and emails. One of the notes contains a frank appraisal of Modi's"straight forward" style of thinking, sizing him up as"not an intellectual.
The probe is currently on hold after a challenge by Amazon and Flipkart, the other major e-commerce platform in the country. By his early 30s, he'd become a close adviser to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. One company document, which details his profile, includes these lines:"Amit was chosen to be Jeff's technical Advisor at a young age of 33. 'Technical advisors' are a chosen few that work side by side with J Bezos and are then selected to take on some of the most critical roles at Amazon."
Globally, about 58per cent of Amazon sales of physical goods in 2018 came from third-party merchants; the rest come from direct sales to consumers, the company has disclosed. The ability to sell straight to people in the United States and elsewhere packs big benefits. It means Amazon can deal directly with manufacturers, for one, giving it greater control over its product range.
"Test the Boundaries of what is allowed by law," said one slide in a 2014 presentation, titled"Risk Analysis." The slide advised that preparations be made in the event of a visit by an enforcement body:"Establish a Strong Dawn raid Process." "The Special Merchant was launched in Aug-14 and we helped SM quickly ramp up and gain scale through Q4," stated an Amazon India report, dated Feb. 23, 2015.Amazon had big plans for Cloudtail. The target was to ensure Cloudtail accounted for 40per cent of Amazon.in sales,"and build this into a US$1+B business" in 2015, according to the report.
"The entire market was disturbed," said Khurana, whose trade group represents 150,000 mobile retail stores."There's been a year-on-year decline in sales" at brick-and-mortar shops, he added. Everything changed in 2015 with the expansion of online sales of smartphones, he said. He couldn't compete with the exclusive launch of smartphone models online or the discounts being offered, he said.
One key objective of the meeting, according to the document, was to discuss barriers to foreign investment in the e-commerce sector. In March 2016, Cloudtail's share of sales on Amazon.in was around 47per cent, an internal document shows. Amazon does not make such numbers public. "As government policies have continued to evolve, we have consistently made the necessary changes to ensure compliance at all times," Amazon said when asked about the documents laying out the maneuver."The so-called facts stated here fail to show any non-compliance" with foreign investment rules.Amazon has repeatedly said it has no role in pricing goods sold online in India and that prices are decided by sellers.
One internal Amazon document from 2019 states that the two special merchants get"subsidized fees" and access to Amazon global retail tools. These tools are used for things like inventory and invoice management. The first 36 hours of the sale"surpassed every event in our history," he wrote."We had our biggest day ever for Smartphones, with estimated 3 out of every 4 smartphones sold in the entire country purchased on Amazon.in – this is truly phenomenal."With a national election looming in April 2019, the Modi government struck again.