Amazon has reportedly acquired women-focused social commerce startup GlowRoad in an all-cash deal in its first major bet on social commerce, but details have not been disclosed. The social commerce space has been one of the hot areas as Flipkart’s social commerce divisions Shopsy and Meesho have been gaining market share. However, Meesho now generates 75 per cent of its business directly from customers using its platform and 25 per cent from resellers.

Commenting on the acquisition, an Amazon spokesperson said: “Amazon continues to explore new ways to digitise India and delight customers, micro-entrepreneurs, and sellers, and the introduction of GlowRoad is a key step in that direction. Together with GlowRoad, Amazon will help millions of creators, housewives, students, and small sellers from across the country accelerate their startups.”

“This acquisition will complement GlowRoad’s already well-loved service with Amazon’s technology, infrastructure, and digital payments capabilities, bringing greater efficiencies and cost savings to everyone,” the statement added.
GlowRoad has raised about $32 million from investors including Accel, Vertex Ventures, and CHD Investments.
GlowRoad has more than 6 million dealers in more than 2,000 cities, according to the company’s website.

The move also comes as Shopee shut down its Indian operations within months of its foray into India. Citymall also raised $75 million last month and claimed to have grown more than 30% month-over-month over the past 18 months.

India has always been one of the largest e-commerce markets in the world. With more than 100 million of India’s estimated 572 million internet users buying products online, e-commerce will swell to a $30 billion industry in fiscal 2020, according to a report by Bain and Sequoia Capital.