MAM
Amazon India launches STEP to empower sellers
NEW DELHI: Amazon.in has launched STEP, a performance-based benefits program designed to help sellers accelerate their growth. STEP simplifies the seller experience by providing customized and actionable recommendations which help sellers improve key customer experience metrics and in turn, their growth.
By improving performance, sellers can unlock benefits across multiple levels like basic, standard, advanced, premium and more. These benefits include fee waivers, faster disbursement cycles, priority seller support and world-class free account management. STEP puts sellers in charge of their success on Amazon.in by helping them track their performance, benefits and growth in real-time through the STEP Dashboard on Seller Central.
Using customized and actionable recommendations, STEP enables sellers to improve key seller controllable metrics like cancellation rate, late dispatch rate, return rate, among others. Based on their performance, sellers can access benefits like online and offline training, fee waivers, faster disbursement cycles, and free account management. Starting 1 December 2020, all sellers on Amazon.in will enjoy standard benefits up to 31 March 2021, and effective 1 April 2021 will be eligible for basic, advanced, premium and more based on their performance from 1 January to 31 March 2021. All sellers will get an opportunity to upgrade their level and corresponding benefits based on their performance every quarter.
Amazon India VP Manish Tiwary said, “STEP empowers sellers of all sizes and tenure to drive their growth on Amazon.in by focusing on their performance on key metrics which matter to customers. STEP provides objective and transparent criteria along with benefits designed to help sellers improve their performance on these metrics in a predictable manner. We have spent time obsessing over every detail of the STEP program and carefully crafting each element to ensure our valuable sellers can provide a great customer experience and in turn, grow and be successful on Amazon.in.”
With the launch of STEP, Amazon is introducing its revised fee structure, which was earlier deferred to after Diwali. The revised fees, effective 1 December 2020, are linked to STEP levels and include waiver on weight handling fees and lightning deal fees as part of STEP benefits. In addition, there will be reduction in closing fee charges for products in low price range (Rs 250-500) and zero disposal fees for items shipped from Amazon fulfilment centres.
Amazon.in has taken several initiatives this year to help its more than 7 lakh-strong seller community to overcome obstacles and get their businesses back on track. These include free Covid2019 health insurance (offered by Acko in partnership with Amazon), on demand payment disbursement, relaxation in performance metrics, fee waivers on inventory storage fees and 50 per cent waiver on ‘Sell on Amazon’ fees for small sellers, and deferring its marketplace fee revisions to December 2020.
Brands
Trent posts Rs 19,701 crore FY26 revenue, profit rises to Rs 1,968 crore
Q4 profit at Rs 455 crore; margins improve, net worth climbs to Rs 7,703 crore
MUMBAI: Retail therapy seems to be working for Trent Limited as much as for its shoppers. The Tata Group retail arm reported a steady performance for FY26, with revenue from operations rising to Rs 19,701.41 crore, up from Rs 16,668.11 crore in FY25. Total income for the year stood at Rs 20,075.87 crore, reflecting continued momentum across its retail formats.
Profit before tax came in at Rs 2,511.54 crore for the year, compared to Rs 2,076.62 crore a year earlier. After accounting for taxes of Rs 543.72 crore, net profit rose to Rs 1,967.82 crore, marking a clear improvement from Rs 1,584.84 crore in FY25.
For the March quarter, the company reported revenue of Rs 4,936.64 crore and total income of Rs 4,997.71 crore. Profit before tax stood at Rs 576.46 crore, while net profit came in at Rs 454.75 crore, up from Rs 349.92 crore in the same quarter last year.
On the cost front, total expenses for FY26 rose to Rs 17,538.54 crore, driven by higher stock purchases of Rs 11,170.44 crore and increased occupancy costs at Rs 1,652.69 crore. Employee benefit expenses also edged up to Rs 1,222.04 crore, reflecting continued expansion.
Operationally, the company maintained stable efficiency metrics. Operating margin improved to 11.88 per cent from 11.29 per cent, while net profit margin rose to 9.99 per cent from 9.51 per cent. The interest service coverage ratio stood strong at 16.76, indicating comfortable debt servicing capacity.
Trent’s balance sheet also strengthened during the year. Net worth increased to Rs 7,702.80 crore from Rs 5,914.40 crore, while total assets expanded to Rs 12,225.71 crore. The debt-to-equity ratio improved to 0.33 from 0.38, signalling a more balanced capital structure.
Cash flow from operations rose to Rs 2,630.19 crore, compared to Rs 1,668.26 crore in the previous year, even as the company continued to invest in expansion, with capital expenditure and investments weighing on investing cash flows.
With consistent growth across revenue, profitability, and margins, Trent’s FY26 performance suggests a retailer scaling steadily ringing up gains not just at the checkout, but across the balance sheet.
