Eyes on Appario

With Cloudtail about to leave the playing field, all eyes are on Appario Retail Private Limited, the next largest seller on Amazon. Appario is a subsidiary of Frontizo, a joint venture between Amazon and the Patni Group. Appario was also part of the controversy in the litigation surrounding antitrust proceedings against Amazon. So Amazon must chalk out some mitigation strategy for it, too.

This joint venture also ends in May 2022 and industry sources said Amazon is in talks with the Patni Group to determine whether it wants to renew it.

“The appointment of Amandeep Lohan from Amazon as managing director of Appario appears to be a measure to ensure that Amazon is well informed of Appario’s scope of operations,” said Rajasekaran of Phoenix Legal.

Waris of Techlegis pointed out that Amazon faced similar challenges in Europe. In November last year, EU officials filed antitrust charges against Amazon accusing it of using its access to data from companies that sell products on its platform to gain an unfair advantage. “These aspects could well prove to be most controversial in India during the upcoming investigation by the Competition Commission of India,” he said.