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Amazon had a 9.2% share of U.S. retail sales later year, while Walmart accounted for 9.5%. (Click to Tweet).

The Indian Government will introduce a new e-commerce policy that requires companies like Amazon and Flipkart to treat sellers equally and ensures transparency, according to Reuters. The government has been working on the policy for months after brick-and-mortar retailers accused major e-commerce firms of avoiding federal rules. Amazon and Flipkart have denied all allegations.

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• The policy states companies must ensure "equal treatment of all sellers/vendors registered on their platforms and not adopt algorithms which result in prioritizing select vendors/sellers.”
• It's unknown when the policy will be implemented. It will also apply to domestic platforms such as Reliance Industries' JioMart.
• Amazon and Flipkart will have to be transparent about online discounts after smaller retailers complained they couldn't compete with the major platforms.
• Last month, a Reuters report revealed Amazon favored large sellers on its Indian platform and used them to circumvent rules intended to protect smaller sellers.
• In January, it was reported that India would adjust its foreign investment rules for e-commerce firms, which would force companies like Amazon to restructure their relationship with major sellers.

Amazon announced it wouldn't build its largest Canadian warehouse on the site of a protected wetland in the province of Ontario. The warehouse was on track to become four million square feet in size.

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• The warehouse was scheduled to be built in the city of Pickering, which is 30 minutes from Toronto.
• Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan expressed his disappointment with the decision, which he says will cost the city 2,000 jobs and tens of millions of dollars in development charges and tax revenue.
• Amazon said it has held exploratory conversations to build the warehouse at various other locations and it hadn't signed a lease commitment for the Pickering project.
• In October, Ontario Premier Doug Ford granted a special ministerial zoning order to accelerate the project.
• Amazon is in talks to build a 2.7 million-square-foot distribution center on a site that's less than a mile from the wetland.

Amazon is the only U.S. publisher that doesn't sell its audiobooks or e-books to libraries, according to the Washington Post. Mikyla Bruder, a publisher at Amazon Publishing, said, "It's not clear to us that current digital library lending models fairly balance the interests of authors and library patrons."

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• Libraries normally pay between $40-$60 for an e-book, which is more than a private buyer.
• Amazon has published thousands of books since 2009 through its Audible, Lake Union, and Thomas Mercer lists.
• Six of the top ten e-books last year were Amazon titles, none of which are accessible at libraries.
• However, Amazon does sell physical copies of its books to libraries.
• In 2019, more Americans went to libraries than movie theatres, which demonstrates that they're still popular amongst the U.S. population.

U.S. retail sales fell by 3% last month, following a 7.6% increase in January that was attributed to the release of stimulus checks. A recent PYMTS report showed Amazon and Walmart are the two dominant players in the U.S. market. Amazon had a 9.2% share of U.S. retail sales later year compared to 9.5% for Walmart.

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• Sales in areas including auto, furniture, electronics, home improvement, healthcare, and clothing fell, while spending on food and beverage remained consistent compared to January. 
• Retails sales for the last three months are up by 6% compared to the same period last year.
• Snowstorms and harsh, cold weather in various parts of the U.S. last month are also likely to have contributed to lower spending.
• WSJ noted that economists expect a rebound with the new round of stimulus checks.
• Last week, Goldman Sachs said it expects the U.S. economy to grow by 7% this year, marking the largest growth since 1984, following a 3.5% contraction in 2020.

A version of this story first appeared in Inside Business. You can read the full issue here.

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