Amazon has announced the delisting of Appario Retail Private Limited as a seller on Amazon.in and Amazon Business within the next year.
One of the largest sellers on Amazon, Appario is a wholly owned subsidiary of Frontizo Business Services Private Limited, a joint venture between Amazon and Patni group-owned Zodiac Wealth Management LLP.
“Amazon and India’s Patni group-owned Zodiac Wealth Management LLP have agreed to renew their joint venture, Frontizo Business Services Private Limited. Partners have decided that Appario Retail Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Frontizo, will cease to be a seller on amazon.in, and amazon.in/business within the next 12 months. The partners will continue to explore new business opportunities, including helping businesses across India to scale up their online presence,” said an Amazon spokesperson.
This comes after Amazon ended its joint venture (Prione Business Services) with N R Narayana Murthy-owned Catamaran earlier this year and shut down Prione’s wholly-owned subsidiary Cloudtail India, which was one of Amazon’s largest sellers in the country.
In 2019, the e-commerce major had to reduce its stake in Prione from 49 per cent to 24 per cent to comply with India’s stringent FDI regulations for e-commerce. Appario Retail has reported a revenue of ₹14,628 crore in FY21 against a profit of ₹54 crore.
CAIT (The Confederation of All India Traders) has repeatedly alleged Cloudtail and Appario Retail of violating competition laws. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) also conducted raids at the offices of Cloudtail and Appario in April 2022 with respect to these allegations.