Singapore-based e-commerce platform Shopee has decided to close its India operations. This decision is effective from March 29. The company also has also informed the local team about this decision and also communicated this to merchants who sell on its platform.
The company confirmed that sellers related services including payments, refunds, returns, disputes and more will ve operational up until May 30. Open orders will be delivered as per process.
It is not clear what will happen to its employees. Sources familiar with the development said that the company will offer these people internal roles within Sea. If this doesn’t work, they will get three months severance package.
Shopee was mainly competing with Meesho but also counted Amazon and Flipkart as its rivals. The company began India operations in October 2021 but didn’t enjoy good times. Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had also accused the e-commerce app of violating competition norms. The app was offering heavy discounts and flash sales to take on rivals. CAIT took this matter to the country’s anti-trust body the Competition Commission of India but the matter was dismissed.
The company was really aggressive and invested big in the country. Not sure why the company suddenly decided to exit the Indian market. In a statement given to ET, Shopee spokesperson said, “In view of global market uncertainties, we have decided to close our early-stage Shopee India initiative.”
In February this year, the Indian government banned 54 apps including Garena Free Fire. Garena Free Fire is owned by Sea, the parent company of Shopee. Sea is based in Singapore but has links to China. It also has investments from Tencent. Sea has lost over $16 billion in market capitalization following India’s ban on Garena Free Fire.
Earlier this month, Shopee also closed its operations in France.
