e-commerce
Amazon expands Anish’s empire across Middle East and Africa
DUBAI: Amazon has promoted a veteran marketing executive to oversee both deal-making across the Middle East and North Africa and marketing operations in South Africa, as the American e-commerce giant doubles down on emerging markets.
Anish Rajan, who previously orchestrated Amazon India’s flagship sale events generating over $2 billion in revenue, has been handed the expanded role effective September 2025. His promotion adds south African marketing responsibilities to his existing mandate as head of deals and events across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The appointment reflects Amazon’s growing ambitions in regions where it sees significant untapped potential. Rajan’s west Asian operation already contributes 23 per cent of the region’s annual revenue, whilst launching Amazon-first innovations that have since been rolled out globally.
His track record spans 15 years across e-commerce, consumer electronics and logistics. Before joining Amazon in 2020, he held senior marketing roles at Samsung Electronics and led marketing communications for fashion platform Jabong during its high-growth phase.
At Amazon India, Anish spearheaded the deals programme that accounted for 39 per cent of store revenue, building scalable systems and customer experience improvements that were subsequently adopted across Amazon’s global marketplaces.
His earlier career included stints at Micromax, where he led brand strategy and product launches, and DHL Express, where he managed global partnerships including Formula 1 and Manchester United, overseeing a $30 million retail portfolio.
The dual-region role positions Anish at the centre of Amazon’s emerging markets strategy, where the company is competing fiercely with local players and other global platforms for market share.
e-commerce
Amazon unveils first Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report
32,000 bad actors targeted, 15 million fake products removed in 2025.
MUMBAI: In a marketplace where trust is the real currency, Amazon is showing its receipts. Amazon has released its first-ever Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report, offering a detailed look at how it polices its vast digital shelves from counterfeit crackdowns to scam detection and review authenticity. At the heart of the report is a four-pronged strategy, proactive controls, risk anticipation, enforcement against bad actors, and consumer protection. The scale is staggering. Since 2020, Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit has pursued over 32,000 bad actors globally through litigation and criminal referrals spanning 14 countries.
The clean-up drive accelerated in 2025, with the company identifying and disposing of more than 15 million counterfeit products worldwide. Legal action also led to the takedown of over 100 websites linked to fake reviews and scams, an ongoing battle in the age of algorithmic manipulation.
Behind the scenes, artificial intelligence and machine learning are doing the heavy lifting. Amazon says it monitors billions of daily interactions across listings, reviews, and seller activity to spot trouble before it surfaces. Its predictive systems can even flag potentially infringing listings for trending products before brands raise the alarm.
Tools like Omniscan, which verifies product safety information at scale, and SENTRIX, designed to detect and eliminate phishing websites, are part of this expanding tech arsenal. Together, they aim to reduce risk while keeping the platform usable for legitimate sellers.
That balance between protection and friction is a tightrope Amazon acknowledges. Rohan Oommen, Vice President of Worldwide Customer and Partner Trust, noted that while safeguards are critical, they must not stifle genuine businesses. Features like the Account Health Dashboard are meant to give sellers clearer visibility into compliance and performance.
Consumer-facing measures are also getting sharper. From direct safety alerts to recall notifications and refund guidance, Amazon is leaning into transparency, backed by partnerships with consumer organisations to raise awareness.
The report’s release follows the expansion of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit into India, signalling a deeper push into one of its fastest-growing markets, with closer coordination planned between brands, sellers, and law enforcement.
In short, as online shopping grows more complex, Amazon is betting that trust built through data, enforcement, and a fair bit of algorithmic vigilance will be its most valuable product yet.
