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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Amazon+">Amazon’s </a>size in India has grown and now the American eCommerce player wants India to overtake other markets including Japan, Germany and even the UK.<br />
 <br /> <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> wants India to grow as its largest overseas market besides becoming the quickest to reach $10 billion in Gross Merchandise Value (<keyword id="6399113" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="GMV">GMV</keyword>) in the company's history.<br />
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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Diego+Piacentini">Diego Piacentini</a>, senior vice-president at Amazon told ET, “I can't project the year but in the next few years India will be the second-biggest market for us (after the US) — there is no doubt. It was the fastest billion-dollar GMV for us and I believe it will even end up being the fastest to get to $10 billion."<br />
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The company, however, declined to give any figures of its existing business in India. Insiders believe it to be more than $2 billion in GMV, or the total worth of products sold on its platform.<br />
 <br />
Piacentini also said that while growth in India exceeded expectations, expansion won't be constrained by investment. He also suggested that the company may put in more than $2 billion that founder and CEO <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Jeff+Bezos">Jeff Bezos</a> pledged last year into the Indian market.<br />
 <br />
While explaining his aggressive plans, Piacentini said, "Every time we look, the opportunity very much exceeds that — it is big. That number is dynamic and it is growing and we don't stick with one number. We have targets and the Indian team keeps beating the targets and we will never be constrained by budget. The budget will be dynamic and it will keep evolving."<br />
 <br />
Of the $2 billion mentioned by Bezos, the company has already injected about 3,000  crore ($460 million) into flagship Amazon Seller Services in the last 10 months. Also, its logistics arm has invested heavily to triple warehousing capacity in the last one year to 5 million cubic feet in 21 fulfilment centres in 10 cities.<br />
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Amazon wants India to beat Japan, Germany and UK

<br /> India has proved to be one of the most important markets for Amazon around the world. India has added new customers at the fastest rate for Amazon in its history of operations in multiple countries, the company's head of international consumer business, <keyword id="3013724" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Diego-Piacentini">Diego Piacentini</keyword>, told TOI. <br /><br />

	India is also the second biggest investment country for the company after the US, he said, adding that India was key to Amazon's future success.
<br /><br /> Piacentini, who reports to founder <keyword id="191583" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jeff-Bezos">Jeff Bezos</keyword> and is the highest paid executive in the company, said he would be surprised if India was not the second biggest country for Amazon after the US over the next 10 years, given the pace at which it was growing. The India operations grew by 500 per cent in the number of units shipped last year. <br /><br />

	"I am an optimistic person but my optimism was not enough. If you told me 27 months back that I am going to sit here and look back at a growth of 500 per cent, year-on-year, I would have said that is not possible," said Piacentini.
<br /><br /> Amazon's Indian operations were launched just a little over two years ago and the company has been gaining market share over rivals. Some estimate it is already second to <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, and ahead of <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and Paytm. Last year, Bezos had announced that the company has earmarked more than $2 billion in funds for investments in India. <br /><br />

	"We need to look at the long term. The kind of massive infrastructure and partnerships we are building in this country is huge. The US and Europe after some point will have a different growth trajectory," Piacentini said.
<br /><br /> While bullish on the mobile platform, which accounts for 65 per cent of its traffic, the company said it would serve customers on all platforms, even as it thinks app-first. Rival Flipkart has said it will move to an app-only strategy; its subsidiary <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword> has already become app-only. But Amazon indicated that such a move would be misguided. <br />
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	(Image credits: Indiatimes)

Amazon
India operations grew 500 per cent: Amazon executive Diego Piacentini

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Summer sees less consumer spending than other seasons, so Amazon invented its own July holiday.</li><li>Since 2015, Prime Day sales have risen to more than $7 billion and could top $8 billion this year.</li></ul><p>A decade ago, mid-July wasn't exactly the hottest time of the year for retail.</p><p>The summer months tend to see less spending than the spring months, holiday sprees are still months away, and shipping capacity is usually running well. What better time to offer big promotions and speedy delivery?</p><p>And so, for Amazon's 20th anniversary, the company introduced a virtual-shopping event that offered <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/amazon-prime-day">Amazon Prime</a> members exclusive deals over a 24-hour period and across nine countries. </p><p>Now in its ninth year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/best-amazon-prime-day-deals-live-2023">Amazon's annual Prime Day</a> has become a fact of American life — a quasi-holiday that retailers of all types pile into. But it wasn't always this way. </p><div type="image" title="An Amazon workers pull a cart of packages for delivery" height="1666" width="2223" msid="101643125" hostid="261"></div><h2>How Prime Day started</h2><p>Companies had tried the idea of a special ecommerce-sales holiday before: in China, with Jack<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alibabas-singles-day-2018-photos-2018-11"> Ma's Alibaba offering an annual spree of deals for "Singles Day"</a> on November 11 for the prior five years.</p><p>About $9 billion in sales and a wave of free publicity caught the attention of Amazon's international VP, Diego Piacentini, who pitched the concept to Jeff Bezos, according to <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Amazon-Unbound/Brad-Stone/9781982132620" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brad Stone in the book "Amazon Unbound.</a><u>"</u></p><p>Bezos was a fan, so long as the company could use the event to drive sign-ups for Prime.</p><p>Execs debated when to hold the event and eventually decided against going head-to-head with Alibaba's November sale, which could compete with holiday sales, Stone wrote. Instead, they opted for a summer sale, which could mean customers' wallets weren't stretched thin with holiday purchases, and there would be ample warehouse space ahead of the busy fall season.</p><p>Prime Day was greenlit in January with the ambitious target of July 15 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first sale on Amazon.com, and Meagan Wulff Reibstein, a young product manager, was assigned to execute it.</p><p>Working under the codename "Project Piñata," Wulff traveled to Tokyo, London, Paris, and Munich to try to convince suppliers and other Amazon partners to buy into the idea.</p><p>The goal, Amazon <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=f7c73fa670cff88b3f77a2bb84e98d147d3735f26f60c30a08a95196ec6f6b2f&amp;postID=64a8567c458c1a155d5848c4&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aboutamazon.com%2Fnews%2Fretail%2Fthe-history-of-prime-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a>, was to "offer a volume of deals greater than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members," and customers were all about it, exceeding the company's expectations — and preparations.</p><p>The kickoff in Japan soon crashed the local website, Stone wrote, and the frenzy flowed across Europe and into the US, where sold-out items and trivial discounts led shoppers to roast the company online.</p><div type="image" title="Protestors in New York raising awareness of Amazon facilitating ICE surveillance efforts coinciding with Amazon Prime Day 2019." height="1309" width="1746" msid="101643126" hostid="261"></div><p>Despite the negative reviews and technical glitches, people still bought tons of stuff — some <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=f7c73fa670cff88b3f77a2bb84e98d147d3735f26f60c30a08a95196ec6f6b2f&amp;postID=64a8567c458c1a155d5848c4&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aboutamazon.com%2Fnews%2Fretail%2Fthe-history-of-prime-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener">34.4 million items</a> — and signed up for Prime in droves, with Amazon adding 1.2 million new members.</p><p>"It was Christmas in July quite frankly — a bigger day than Black Friday," Brian Olsavsky, Amazon's CFO, <a href="https://research.alpha-sense.com?docid=T-E_1759834&amp;stmt=fse22034&amp;hl=fse22110_0.77.148.1&amp;page=1&amp;utm_source=alphasense%20platform&amp;utm_medium=document%20share&amp;utm_content=T-E_1759834&amp;utm_campaign=1688676679195" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told investors</a> on an earnings call the following week.</p><p>The second year saw a roughly 60% increase in sales and the event has only grown since then. "Prime Day" has even become a misnomer because the company expanded the shopping holiday to two days in 2019. </p><h2>How Prime Day is going</h2><p>Last year, Amazon drove more than $7 billion in sales through its Prime Day sales, according to Insider Intelligence. This year, the retail giant is expected to eclipse its old record with around $8 billion in sales.</p><p>The number of Amazon Prime account holders has ballooned too, with nearly 175 million people using Amazon Prime in the US today — around two-thirds of the country's population — according to a report by Insider Intelligence.</p><p>While the now-preeminent shopping event offers Prime members <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/amazon-prime-day">deals on everything from electronics to toilet paper,</a> Prime Day has seen its share of ups and downs over the years.</p><p>In 2018, Amazon's website <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-day-site-crash-infuriates-customers-2018-7">crashed at the start of Prime Day</a> when eager shoppers <u>inundated the site with traffic</u> — evoking a wave of backlash from customers, some of whom threatened to cancel their memberships.</p><p>The following year, thousands of Amazon workers in the US and Europe went on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-across-europe-and-us-protest-prime-day-2019-7">strike during Prime Day</a> after Amazon extended the event from one day to two and promised customers a one-day delivery option. Workers and union organizers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-across-europe-and-us-protest-prime-day-2019-7">told Insider</a> at the time that the changes would push the physical limitations of employees and showed a "callous indifference to worker safety."</p><p>One Amazon warehouse worker <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-warehouse-employee-working-prime-day-2022-10">told Insider last year</a> that working close to Prime Day was physically exhausting, especially with overtime, but that the extra money was a plus.</p><p>"When I get really tired, I remind myself that we get paid time-and-a-half and the money is good," they said. "Unfortunately, the pain is not."</p><div type="image" title="&quot;It was Christmas in July quite frankly — a bigger day than Black Friday,&quot; Brian Olsavsky, the CFO of Amazon, told investors after the company's first Prime Day." height="1499" width="2000" msid="101643129" hostid="261"></div><p>Disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic delayed Prime Day until October in 2020, but stacking the promotion so close to Black Friday and Cyber Monday didn't appear to hurt sales.</p><p>The following year, Amazon experimented with moving Prime Day a month earlier citing the Olympics and "July travel," but by 2022, it was back to normal, albeit bigger than ever.</p><p>And then, there are the sellers responsible for the products that Amazon makes available on its digital storefront. Last year, <a href="https://time.com/6195333/amazon-prime-day-sellers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Time reported</a> that some Amazon sellers were "dreading Prime Day" because advertising and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warehouse-nation-boom-ecommerce-jobs-2022-10">storage fees from Amazon</a> continued to rise while the prices for their products dropped amid a glut of inventory as consumer demand slowed.</p><h2>Now everyone is doing it</h2><p>What began as a membership promotion for a fast-growing ecommerce company has since become a must-do affair for retailers large and small, several of whom have introduced Prime-like memberships of their own — all around the same time as Prime Day.</p><p>Walmart is offering a similar event, called Walmart Plus Week, between July 10 and 13. While the first 24 hours are exclusive to Walmart+ members, anyone can access the deals on the second and third days of the event.</p><div type="image" title="Walmart is offering an event similar to Prime Day called Walmart Plus Week, between July 10 and July 13." height="2634" width="3513" msid="101643131" hostid="261"></div><p>Target calls its shopping holiday Target Circle Week and this year; it takes place July 9 through July 15 and is exclusive to Target Circle members. Best Buy has a "Black Friday in July" savings event lasting three days from July 10 to July 12.</p><p>According to Andrew Lipsman, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, Prime Day has become "a shopping tentpole that now rivals Black Friday or Cyber Monday."</p><p>But while other retailers can try to get in on the shopping spirit, offering deals to lure customers into their own digital storefronts, it'll be hard to beat Amazon at its own game. </p><p>"Even well-known competitors lack the ability to bigfoot Amazon with earlier events," Lipsman wrote. "So they might as well take advantage of the opportunity to capitalize on consumers coming online to shop for Prime Day deals— who are also happy to shop elsewhere for the right products or better prices."</p>

The history of Prime Day: How Amazon turned a typically sleepy season for sales into retail's biggest day of the year for deals

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Amazon's Senior Vice President Diego Piacentini</p></div><p></p></div></div>Diego Piacentini is the SVP of Amazon's international consumer business and <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&amp;p=irol-reportsannual">the second-largest employee shareholder</a> after founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.</p><p>But after spending 16 years at Amazon, Piacentini announced in February that he'd be taking <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-buyback-new-board-member-diego-piacentini-leave-2016-2">a two-year leave to work for the Italian government</a> - for free.</p><p>At the time, he said he wanted to "give back" to the country he was born and raised in by bringing back some of the lessons he's learned at Amazon. He is now doing pro bono work, l<span>eading the digital-technology office of the Italian prime minister.</span></p><p><span>In a <a href="https://medium.com/team-per-la-trasformazione-digitale/from-seattle-to-roma-innovation-citizens-talents-6b8c6c06002b#.iscpsaf8v">Medium post published Friday</a>, Piacentini shared more details around his decision to leave Amazon and work for the Italian government. He also took the opportunity to make an open recruiting pitch for potential employees who might be interested in joining his team in the future.</span></p><h2><span>Missionaries wanted</span></h2><p><span>"We need real 'missionaries,' who will be presented with the opportunity to contribute to the mission of ferrying Italy into the future," Piacentini wrote in the blog post.</span></p><p><span>In the post, he uses a lot of tech jargon, like "mobile-first," "big data," and "agile development," but basically it sounds like he wants Italian people spread across the world to come work for him at a discount - under the goal of upgrading the country's overall tech infrastructure<span>.</span></span></p><p><span><span>Piacentini's efforts seem well-timed. As Quartz's <a href="http://qz.com/797428/one-of-amazons-top-executives-is-going-to-work-in-italys-public-sector-for-free/">Annalisa Merelli points out</a>, Italy has one of the lowest internet penetration rates in Europe and ranks last for internet use in the whole region. Perhaps it explains why Amazon has invested <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-investing-550-million-in-italy-2016-7">roughly 450 million euros</a> (~$500 million USD) in Italy since 2010.</span></span></p><p><span><span>Piacentini says his team is seeking bilingual talent (Italian and English) with technical expertise in computer science, math and statistics, and product design. Anyone applying for the position must be able to commit a full year of employment, and expect a salary in the range of 70,000 euros to 120,000 euros, slightly below the average most tech employees are able to draw in Silicon Valley. Most positions will be located in Rome.</span></span></p><p><span><span><span>"For those who are not afraid of such obstacles, who feel a deep connection with these objectives and with these principles, thrive in ambiguous situations, have a knack for simplification, our team is the right place," Piacentini wrote.</span></span></span></p><p><a href="https://medium.com/team-per-la-trasformazione-digitale/from-seattle-to-roma-innovation-citizens-talents-6b8c6c06002b#.iscpsaf8v">Learn more about Piacentini's team here&gt;&gt;</a></p><p class="tagline">Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hidden-iphone-map-reveals-location-2016-9">There's a hidden map in your iPhone of everywhere you've been</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="h1ZzV4eDrFeMVarsiwx5YaP_PbbKypBn" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Amazon's second-largest employee shareholder explains why he's working for the Italian government for free

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Amazon has its sights set on India, the next "trillion-dollar market," <a href="http://fortune.com/amazon-india-jeff-bezos/">according to Fortune</a>. </p><p>Diego Piacentini, the Amazon executive in charge of the company's operations in Asia and Europe, told Fortune that "the size of opportunity [in India] is so large it will be measured in trillions, not billions." </p><p>Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is, according to Piacentini, willing to invest billions in the company's Indian operations to win the market, which is currently being lead by Flipkart, a local startup worth $15 billion (£10 billion). </p><p>"[Bezos'] solicitations are never, 'When will we make money?'" said Piacentini. "It's always, 'Are we investing enough?'"</p><p>According to Fortune, Amazon has adopted a unique approach in India. As very few people have a debit or credit card, the company lets users pay in cash on collection, for example. </p><p>Amazon said the strategy has boosted sales in India by 250% year-over-year, but the company still has a way to go. </p><p><strong><a href="http://fortune.com/amazon-india-jeff-bezos/">Read the full Fortune article</a>. </strong></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-all-blue-eyed-people-have-in-common-2015-12">Scientists found something huge that all blue-eyed people have in common</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dkOWtseTpSMBrAAJS6HdiAXlK7b-O_z3" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Amazon has its sights set on a 'trillion-dollar market' - and is using unconventional tactics to win it

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Amazon</span></p><p class="caption">Diego Piancentini</p></div><p></p></div></div>Amazon's board just approved a $5 billion stock buyback program and appointed a new member, Corning CEO William Weeks, <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&amp;p=irol-SECText&amp;TEXT=aHR0cDovL2FwaS50ZW5rd2l6YXJkLmNvbS9maWxpbmcueG1sP2lwYWdlPTEwNzI3MjU4JkRTRVE9MCZTRVE9MCZTUURFU0M9U0VDVElPTl9FTlRJUkUmc3Vic2lkPTU3">according to a new filing.</a></p><p>The $5 billion stock repurchase authorization replaces the previous $2 billion stock repurchase authorization, approved by the Board of Directors in 2010.</p><p>The company's stock was up about 2% on the news. </p><p>Amazon also announced that long-time employee Diego Piacentini will be taking a two-year leave of absense. He had been the SVP of Amazon's international consumer business, and starting in teh summer of 2016 he will spend two years working pro bono as the head o fthe Italian Prime Minister's digital technology office. </p><p><span>"After 16 years at Amazon, it's a way for me to give back to the country in which I was born and lived for 40 years of my life," <a href="https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/2xyfsxhpr5vo83f?ref_=aa_lc_0&amp;pf_rd_r=V0BPQ1NBFBTHZM45DJ9S&amp;pf_rd_p=5bfb6225-9266-4881-91cf-a5ed51e575b2">he said in a statement. </a></span></p><p class="tagline">Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.</p>

Amazon announces new board member, $5B stock buyback, and an exec taking a two-year leave

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Amazon</span></p><p class="caption">Amazon's ex-SVP of Worldwide <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Retail">Retail</keyword> Diego Piancentini</p></div><p></p></div></div>Online retailer <a href="http://amazon.com/" title="" data-skimwords-word="Amazon.com" data-skim-creative="500005">Amazon.com</a> is set to announce on Friday the first in a series of investments in Italy worth at least 500 million euros ($550 million), a bet on the government's plan to go from laggard to leader in digital commerce, sources said.</p><p>Amazon will invest 150 million euros to build a major storage and logistics center outside Rome, its second in Italy, said one source close to the matter. The new center, due to open next year, will employ 1,200 people.</p><p>"There are wide margins of growth for small and medium businesses in Italy, which are still very much behind their European counterparts on e-commerce," the source said.</p><p>It will be the biggest foreign IT investment to be unveiled in Italy since Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced in April a new tactic to speed up broadband rollout across the country. He enlisted the help of state-controlled utility Enel to lay fibre-optic cable alongside its existing power network.</p><p>The news comes <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-buyback-new-board-member-diego-piacentini-leave-2016-2">just five months after</a> Amazon's former SVP of worldwide retail Diego Piacentini left the company to work pro-bono at <span>the digital-technology office of the Italian prime minister. At the time of his departure, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/2xyfsxhpr5vo83f?ref_=aa_lc_0&amp;pf_rd_r=V0BPQ1NBFBTHZM45DJ9S&amp;pf_rd_p=5bfb6225-9266-4881-91cf-a5ed51e575b2&amp;tag=bisafetynet-20">Piacentini said</a> he wanted to "give back to the country" where he was born and lived for 40 years. It's unclear whether he had any role in engineering this deal.</span></p><p><span>Amazon was not immediately available for comment. </span></p><p>The European Union's fourth-largest economy comes last in the EU for Internet usage, with barely half of Italian households subscribing to fixed-line broadband.</p><p>However, online shopping is growing and will have almost doubled between 2011 and the end of this year when transactions are estimated to reach around 19 billion euros, according to national ecommerce association Netcomm.</p><h2>Old power stations</h2><p>Amazon also plans to build data centers in Italy in the next 12 months for its expanding cloud-service division, housing them in old power stations belonging to Enel, two sources said.</p><p>Enel Chief Executive Francesco Starace has said previously that Amazon is among companies interested in acquiring three old stations, following reports by newspaper Corriere della Sera.</p><p>Amazon has a share of 14 percent of Italian Internet retailing, second to eBay with 24 percent, according to research firm Euromonitor International.</p><p>It has already invested some 450 million euros in the last six years in Italy, its fourth largest European market, after the United Kingdom, Germany and France.</p><p>Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos will visit Italy and is set to meet Renzi in Florence on Friday, sources said.</p><p>Amazon has been pushing hard for its international sales growth in recent months. Just last month, Amazon <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-bezos-says-amazon-to-invest-additional-3-billion-in-india-2016-6">revealed a plan to invest</a> an additional $3 billion in the Indian market.</p><p class="tagline">Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gett-uber-flat-fares-surge-pricing-gmc-yukon-camry-2015-10">We tried the 'Uber-killer' that offers flat fares and no surge pricing </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1ocmdjeDrP7UksbISVgKIAdKEOCnZQBg" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Amazon is investing $550 million in Italy, just 5 months after a former exec started working for its government

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Paul Kotas, SVP of Amazon Advertising, now reports directly to CEO Jeff Bezos, Business Insider has learned.</li><li>The change follows the one-year leave of SVP Jeff Blackburn, who ran a vast portfolio of businesses, including advertising and video streaming. </li><li>Mike Hopkins, the newly hired SVP of Amazon Video and Studios, and Paul Krawiec, who runs corporate development teams, were also added to Bezos's inner circle last month.</li><li>The promotion is the latest sign of Amazon putting more emphasis on its advertising business.</li><li>Here's a list of the 12 executives who report directly to Bezos.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>The head of Amazon's advertising unit, Paul Kotas, is now one of the 12 direct reports under CEO Jeff Bezos, signifying the growing importance of the ad business within the company.</p><p>Kotas, SVP of Amazon Advertising, was promoted last month, following the one-year leave of SVP Jeff Blackburn, who previously managed a vast group of teams including the advertising unit, Business Insider has learned. Mike Hopkins, the former chairman of Sony Pictures, was also added to Bezos's team, as <a href="https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/amazon-mike-hopkins-1203501383/">previously reported</a>, as well as Peter Krawiec, who runs Amazon's corporate development team.</p><p>This is the first major expansion in Bezos's direct reports in at least three years. Amazon's representative declined to comment.</p><p>Kotas's promotion follows the meteoric rise of Amazon's advertising business in recent years. As more sellers and brands buy ads on Amazon's marketplace to promote their products, Amazon saw its ad sales balloon to $14 billion <a href="https://ir.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazoncom-announces-fourth-quarter-sales-21-874-billion">last year</a>, up roughly 40%. eMarketer predicts that Amazon will account for 10% of US digital ad spending by 2021, behind only Google and Facebook, which control a combined 60% of the market.</p><p>It's unclear if the organizational change is permanent, as Blackburn is expected to return next year. But it's a different arrangement from past cases. For example, when Diego Piacentini, Amazon's former SVP of international business, who previously reported to Bezos, took a leave in 2016, his successor Russ Grandinetti didn't get promoted to the CEO's inner circle, despite taking over most of his responsibilities. </p><p>Other people who previously reported to Blackburn, like the executives running Amazon Music and the IMDb units, are now under Kotas, showing Bezos's interest in staying directly engaged with the advertising business.</p><p>There are other signs of Amazon putting more emphasis on its advertising business. Colleen Aubrey, VP of performance advertising, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-promotes-female-exec-to-s-suite-2019-12">recently joined</a> Bezos's "S-team," a broader group of more than 20 of Amazon's most senior executives who advise the CEO on major business decisions. The advertising team also hosted its first conference <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/amazon-adcon-first-big-advertising-conference-in-seattle.html">called AdCon 2019</a> last year.</p><p>Kotas first joined Amazon in 1999, making him one of the company's longest-tenured executives. He was one of the first employees to leave D.E. Shaw - Bezos's former employer - to join Amazon, but he had pushed back his move a couple of years, costing him a fortune in stock compensation, according to Brad Stone's book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Store-Jeff-Bezos-Amazon-ebook/dp/B00BWQW73E">"The Everything Store."</a></p><p>Here's a closer look at the 12 most powerful people at Amazon who report directly to Bezos:</p><p><strong>Jeff Wilke, CEO of worldwide consumer</strong></p><p>Wilke is one of the three CEOs at Amazon, alongside Bezos and Andy Jassy, who runs the AWS cloud division. Wilke, who first joined Amazon in 1999, is in charge of everything on the retail side, including the marketplace, Prime memberships, and Whole Foods. </p><p><strong>Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services</strong></p><p>Jassy, who started at Amazon in 1997, is the face of the AWS cloud division. As CEO of AWS, Jassy runs all aspects of the $35 billion business, and is considered one of Bezos's most trusted lieutenants.</p><p><strong>Jeff Blackburn, SVP, Business and Corporate Development</strong></p><p>Blackburn runs newer parts of Amazon, such as Prime Video and its advertising business. He also oversees the company's M&amp;A and investment arms. Blackburn, who joined Amazon in 1998, is also considered one of the closest advisers to Bezos. He's currently taking a one-year sabbatical.</p><p><strong>Dave Limp, SVP, Amazon Devices, Digital Management</strong></p><p>Limp is Amazon's hardware boss. He runs the secretive Lab126 team and other parts of Amazon's hardware business, such as the Alexa voice-assistant. He joined Amazon in 2010.</p><p><strong>Jay Carney, SVP, Global Corporate Affairs</strong></p><p>Carney runs all press and policy teams at Amazon. His role has grown in importance lately as Amazon has faced a more hostile regulatory environment. Carney previously served as the White House press secretary for President Barack Obama.</p><p><strong>Brian Olsavsky, SVP and CFO</strong></p><p>Olsavsky is in charge of Amazon's finances. He's best known for taking the company's earnings call every quarter. After joining Amazon in 2002, he was promoted to CFO in 2015.</p><p><strong>David Zapolsky, SVP &amp; General Counsel, Legal</strong></p><p>Zapolsky is Amazon's top lawyer. He oversees Amazon's legal and compliance issues. He became the general counsel in 2014, nearly 15 years after joining Amazon.</p><p><strong>Beth Galetti, SVP, Human Resources</strong></p><p>Galetti is in charge of Amazon's human resources division. Her responsibilities include hiring and employee benefits, as well as performance reviews. She was named the HR chief in 2016, just three years after joining Amazon.</p><p><strong>John Connors, Executive Assistant</strong></p><p>Connors has been Bezos's executive assistant for the past two decades. That loyalty has earned Bezos's respect, as he thanked Connors in an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwo92Hmn9yN/?hl=en">Instagram post</a> last year for his continued service. "You're a big reason I'm able to be so busy and not go nuts - in fact, you somehow even make it calm!" Bezos wrote.</p><p><strong>Paul Kotas, SVP of Amazon Advertising</strong></p><p>Kotas joined Amazon in 1999, after a brief stint at D.E. Shaw, Bezos's former employer. He's in charge of Amazon's advertising business, which has been one of the fastest growing and most profitable parts of the company in recent years.</p><p><strong>Mike Hopkins, SVP of Amazon Video and Studios</strong></p><p>Hopkins, the former chairman of Sony Pictures, joined Amazon last month, as the new leader of Amazon's video streaming and content business. Previously, he was also the CEO of Hulu and the president of distribution for Fox Networks Group.</p><p><strong>Peter Krawiec, VP of worldwide corporate development</strong></p><p>Krawiec leads Amazon's corporate development group, overseeing the company's acquisitions, investments, and partnerships. He joined Amazon in 2004. His role has become more important as Amazon has become a more active buyer and investor in recent years.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/30-big-tech-predictions-for-2020?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=amazon&amp;itm_campaign=30-big-tech-predictions-for-2020"></a></p>

Amazon's advertising boss now reports directly to Jeff Bezos, a change that shows how serious of a threat it is to Google and Facebook's core business

<keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="80487" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="walmart">Walmart</keyword> Stores Inc will invest over $300 Mn (INR 2,000 Cr) in a bid to build their network and to gain a share in the <keyword id="922069" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-retail-market">Indian retail market</keyword>. <br /><br />

	The two of the world’s largest retailers are planning to gain a commanding position by building scale through deep discounting in the Indian retail market, which is expected to cross $1 Tn by 2020.
<br /><br />

	Amazon will inject Rs 1,696 crore through a rights issue into Amazon Seller Services, making it the biggest infusion of capital since entering the country three years ago. The board resolution to this effect was filed with the Registrar of Companies on Thursday. The investment takes Amazon's total investment in Amazon Seller Services in the past year to aboutRs 4,800 crore. 
<br /><br />

	Walmart Stores will invest Rs 360 crore, it said in an RoC filing on Wednesday. It plans to open nearly 50 doors in India at a time when it plans to close nearly 270 stores globally. 
<br /><br /> India's <keyword id="2489789" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ecommerce-market">ecommerce market</keyword> is expected to grow to $103 billion by FY20 from $26 billion, according to <keyword id="6361649" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Goldman-Sachs">Goldman Sachs</keyword>. Amazon expects India to overtake Japan, Germany and the UK to become its largest overseas market, besides becoming the quickest to reach $10 billion in gross merchandise value in the company's history, Diego Piacentini, senior vice-president for international business, had told ET in October last year. ET reported in July last year that Amazon may invest about $5 billion in India, up from $2 billion pledged previously by chief executive officer Jeff Bezos. Rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal have meanwhile raised funding from overseas investors as they seek to strengthen their own positions.

Amazon, Walmart to invest more than Rs 2,000 crore in India

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Damir Sagolj</span></p><p class="caption">Acrobats perform on a tightrope as the Chinese Lunar New Year, which welcomes the Year of the Monkey, is celebrated at Daguanyuan park, in Beijing, China February 10, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Good morning! Here's what you need to know on Thursday.</p><p><strong>1. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/twitter-earnings-q4-2015-2016-2" target="_blank">Twitter's user growth came to a halt in the fourth quarter,</a><span> </span></strong>sending the company's shares down as much as 13% before the stock recovered some ground in after-hours trading on Wednesday.</p><p><strong>2. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/european-stocks-rise-on-wednesday-morning-2016-2" target="_blank">European markets closed higher for the first time in over a week on Wednesday, as banking stocks popped,</a></strong> paring some of their losses during the first few weeks of the year.</p><p><strong>3. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-turkey-greece-seek-nato-mission-in-aegean-german-official-2016-2" target="_blank">Turkey and Greece have agreed to ask for a NATO mission to monitor refugee flows in the Aegean Sea and combat people smugglers,</a><span> </span></strong>a senior German government official said on Wednesday.</p><p><strong>4. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/englands-junior-doctors-have-begun-another-24-hour-strike-2016-2" target="_blank">Thousands of junior doctors at English hospitals staged a second strike into Thursday against proposed new conditions and pay rates for working unsociable hours.</a></strong> The 24-hour strike runs from Wednesday morning until Thursday morning.</p><p><strong>5. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-tsmc-will-be-sole-supplier-of-processors-for-next-iphones---electronic-times-2016-2" target="_blank">Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) will be the exclusive supplier of mobile processors for Apple's next iPhones.</a></strong> <span>TSMC saw off interest from rival chipmaker Samsung,</span> South Korea's Electronic Times reported.</p><p><strong>6. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/al-qaeda-releases-insiders-account-of-911-plot-2016-2" target="_blank">Al Qaeda has released an insider's account of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.</a> </strong>A transcript of Nasir al Wuhayshi discussion of the plot was included in two editions of an al Qaeda newsletter.</p><p><strong>7. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-top-amazon-executive-to-take-two-year-post-with-italian-prime-minister-2016-2" target="_blank">A top executive at Amazon, Diego Piacentini, is taking a two-year leave of absence to lead Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's digital technology office,</a> </strong>the company said on Wednesday.</p><p><strong>8. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/former-barclays-exec-rich-ricci-joins-freemarketfx-2016-2" target="_blank">Rich Ricci, a former Barclays investment banker once dubbed the "poster child for the excesses of the investment banking industry,"</a> </strong>is returning to finance as the chairman of an online currency trading platform.</p><p><strong>9. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-s-korea-to-halt-work-at-joint-industrial-park-with-n-korea-2016-2" target="_blank">South Korean workers on Thursday began shutting down a jointly run industrial park in North Korea, a move that will end, at least temporarily, the Koreas' last major cooperation project as punishment over Pyongyang's recent rocket launch.</a></strong></p><p><strong>10. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/kyle-bass-letter-on-chinese-banking-system-bigger-than-subprime-2016-2" target="_blank">A hedge fund manager who correctly predicted and profited from the subprime crisis of 2008 says China's problem right now is four times as big. </a></strong></p><p><strong>And finally ... <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/inside-story-star-lizard-tony-bloom-2016-2" target="_blank">Inside Starlizard: The story of Britain's most successful gambler and the secretive company that helps him win.</a></strong></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-rental-prices-out-of-control-2016-2">New York City rental prices are out of control</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="9zYWlvMDE6r-WtXlqEK-DjBYL3bqS7nx" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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