Cloudtail India, once a major seller on Amazon India, reported an 84% drop in operating revenue to Rs 2,977.8 crore in FY23 due to its decision to cease B2C operations in compliance with regulations. This move also reduced their net loss to Rs 97.8 crore from Rs 521.8 crore the previous year. Cloudtail India's parent company has been renamed Amazon Smart Commerce Solutions after Amazon acquired a 76% stake in Prione Business Services from Catamaran Ventures in 2022.
Why Amazon reduced its ownership in Cloudtail
Cloudtail India was established in 2014 through a collaboration between Amazon and Catamaran Ventures. It emerged as one of the primary sellers on Amazon India. However, in 2019, Amazon was compelled to reduce its ownership from 49% to 24% to adhere to the foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations applicable to the e-commerce sector in the country
Following this change, Amazon declared that Cloudtail would no longer function as a seller on the platform, as the updated regulations prohibited online marketplaces and their group companies from having equity ownership in any of the platform's sellers or exerting control over their inventory. Despite this, Cloudtail India continues to offer specific services on the Amazon marketplace, such as seller onboarding, and product merchandising and cataloging.
