Mumbai: Amazon India has waived vendor commissions on all items priced beneath ₹1,000, increasing a coverage first launched in April for merchandise priced beneath ₹300. The e-commerce agency stated the coverage will broaden the zero-commission coverage 10x to 12.5 crore merchandise throughout classes equivalent to dwelling linens, informal attire, small electronics, toys, and vogue equipment.
“The day by day consumption (on e-commerce) is usually from merchandise of sub- ₹1,000,” Amit Nanda, director, promoting companion providers for Amazon India, instructed Mint in an interview. “That is the phase most of our sellers are eager to develop,” he stated, including that vendor response to the earlier zero-commission coverage from April was ‘extraordinarily constructive’. Amazon noticed a 50% improve in new sellers becoming a member of the platform after it first provided zero fee in April, Nanda stated.
That is the second time Amazon has decreased vendor charges this fiscal 12 months, together with commissions and delivery prices for ‘small sellers’. Amazon India doesn’t have a proper definition of a ‘small’ vendor in India, Nanda stated, however such sellers are inclined to function from dwelling or a small unit in a single metropolis or space and retailer their items on their premises quite than at an Amazon fulfilment centre, he stated. These sellers represent 70-80% of Amazon’s 1.7 million vendor base in India, Nanda added.
“On a regular basis consumables get much more traction on-line, and this variation will broaden that class for us,” Nanda added. “Enterprise for sellers who’ve been itemizing solely 1-2 merchandise or haven’t but listed a extremely area of interest product with comparatively skinny margins will now change into extra viable.” Nanda cited examples of merchandise equivalent to atta components, low cost informal t-shirts, and seasonal items cashing in on a fad or pattern, significantly toys and novelty objects.
“Now we have additionally seen over time internationally that these are literally flywheel impacts,” Nanda added. “Sellers add new merchandise, {the marketplace} will get new merchandise that weren’t there earlier, extra interesting to purchase within the market. Some sellers might also drop their costs, making the product extra engaging to purchase. Because of each of this stuff, within the medium to long run, you get well this simply in quantity leverage.”
Nonetheless, he declined to say how a lot income Amazon will lose with these cuts in vendor charges. In June, Amazon launched a ‘market charge’ of ₹5 per transaction.
Amazon’s ₹5 market charge applies to all orders throughout the platform and is paid by the shopper at checkout. It’s a flat charge that applies to an order, no matter its worth, variety of models, or unit kind. Nonetheless, it isn’t relevant to orders from Amazon Bazaar, the corporate’s devoted zero-commission vertical, or to some objects, equivalent to reward playing cards and digital providers.
Chasing Meesho
Competitors amongst specialised e-commerce fashions has been rising. Platforms equivalent to Meesho have discovered success by specializing in worth retailers and value-conscious prospects in small-town India and by making zero-commission fashions profitable in these high-volume markets. Analysts monitoring Meesho, which had a blockbuster debut on the Indian bourses in December, say its enterprise mannequin nonetheless faces little competitors.
“The biggest cohort of sellers that promote on Meesho are additionally promoting on different horizontal e-com platforms—however find yourself specializing in promoting completely different merchandise,” analysts from Financial institution of America’s brokerage arm wrote in a report final month. “The higher price-point and high quality merchandise are primarily offered on Amazon & Flipkart. Horizontal e-com platforms cost largely related fee charges—these vary throughout classes from 10-15% to even 20-25%.”
Nonetheless, in November, Amazon’s rival Flipkart additionally introduced zero fee on all merchandise priced under ₹1,000. In addition to, each platforms run separate zero-commission marketplaces for small sellers—Amazon Bazaar and Flipkart Shopsy. Amazon’s Nanda stated Bazaar is ‘small however rising very quick’ however declined to share particulars.
“As per consultants, each platforms’ scale is lower than 10% of Meesho,” BoFA analysts quoted above stated of their January notice. Within the December 2025 quarter, it reported a virtually 32% year-on-year leap in revenues from operations to ₹3,518 crore, though losses ballooned 13x to over ₹490 crore. In FY25, Amazon Vendor Companies Pvt Ltd—{the marketplace} enterprise of Amazon India—reported a 19% improve in revenues to ₹30,491 crore whereas losses shrank considerably to ₹374 crore, per information from analysis agency Tracxn.
Key Takeaways
- Amazon expanded zero commissions from merchandise beneath ₹300 to all objects beneath ₹1,000.
- The transfer brings 12.5 crore merchandise into the zero-commission fold.
- Amazon noticed a 50% spike in new sellers following earlier charge reductions.
- Amazon and Flipkart are aggressively attempting to match the zero-commission mannequin that made Meesho a market chief within the worth phase.
- To offset misplaced commissions, Amazon launched a ₹5 per-transaction charge, even because it narrowed its general market losses to ₹374 crore in FY25.