NEW DELHI: Saurabh Srivastava has taken over as the head of Amazon Fashion India after Arun Sirdeshmukh quit the company.
âWe confirm that Arun Sirdeshmukh, business head – Amazon Fashion India, has decided to move on from Amazon India,â an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed response. âSrivastava, director, consumables and media, who is a tenured Amazonian, will lead the fashion organisation with immediate effect.â
Sirdeshmukhâs departure comes as e-commerce platforms reap the benefits of shifting of millions of consumers to shopping online during the pandemic and pressure on Amazon to catch up with Myntra and Flipkart in the crucial fashion and lifestyle business.
âArun is currently serving his notice period,â according to one person aware of the matter. Another person said Sirdeshmukh is leaving the company in February.
Meanwhile, Puneet Gupta, category leader for men, women and kids apparels is moved to a different position within the company and his current role is being replaced by another Amazon executive, according one source. Amazon did not respond to specific questions about Gupta.
âAmazon has been struggling with its fashion vertical and is a distant second after the Myntra and Flipkart combination,â said the first person, adding that the Flipkart group holds about 60% market share for most of the prominent global and Indian fashion brands.
âFor some brands, even Ajio is now bigger than Amazon,â the person said.
Several global and Indian sellers on e-commerce platforms told ET that Amazon has been playing catch-up with the Flipkart Group for years.
âFlipkart and Myntra put together are dominant in fashion. Now, Ajio is trending up,â said the CEO of a global fashion giant asking not to be identified. âAmazon has always been weaker in fashion. Amazon fights with Flipkart on smartphones, electronic items. Amazon is weak in fashion across the world, not just in India.â
Fashion is one of the biggest categories leading the e-commerce charge in India.
Bain & Co. said Indiaâs e-retailing business is expected to swell 30% annually over the next five years to touch $ 100-120 billion from $ 30 billion annual business at present. It said fashion will lead in online customer acquisition in India in the coming year, charting similar trajectories in China and the US.