Rajesh Kumar Prasad
Senior Vice President
Bangalore,KA
Summary
RESOURCEFUL BIG-PICTURE THINKER: Breakthrough achievements in varied leadership roles across Business lines with leading multi-nationals like Amazon, Metro AG, & Sodexo. Established leadership in building & scaling businesses pan India across offline & online, managing multinational teams, delivering best-in-country engagement performance & P&L, propelling various businesses (E-Commerce, Retail, Wholesale, Cash & Carry, Food Service, & Hospitality) to scale & success across B2C, B2B & HoReCa
Overview
28
28
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Vice President
RetailEZ Pvt Ltd (Amazon Retail Seller)
04.2023 - Current
- Responsibility: (a) Luggage Category Business - 7 BN INR, (b) Private Brands Business - 4 BN INR, (c) Re-commerce & Business to Business - 4 BN INR, (d) In Stock & Inventory Management - 60 BN INR, (e) Commercial Organisation set up - 60 BN INR, and (f) Launched 5 new lines of business for RetailEZ Ventures (group company), leveraging RetailEZ Pvt Ltd
- Delivered YoY sales & profitability targets across business lines for the year 2024, sales ~10% ahead of the plan & margins ~15% ahead of the plan. 2025, delivered profitability despite limited sales growth.
- Incubated, Led & Launched multiple new business lines across a) Global selling (Middle East & Australia), b) Seller on Other India marketplace (ONDC), c) REZ Warehousing, d) REZ Brands, and e) Marketing & Analytics on Amazon.in
- Set up ‘preferred 3P’ retail equivalence for Amazon India at RetailEZ, among top 3 seller on Amazon India marketplace with 1% retail share in Home & Kitchen, Furniture, Luggage & Sports categories, along with retail operations at marketplace
- Led annual vendor negotiations with 80% of sales-contributing brands, achieving planned growth and profitability.
- Formulated step change in ‘cross border sourcing strategy’ in collaboration with stakeholders, focused on business growth despite uncontrollable headwinds (regulations/ supply chain) with profitability - reducing net landing cost (NLC) by ~20%
- Delivered inventory health as a strategic lever, enhancing cash flow and reducing unhealthy stock to ~5% in a complex supply chain, achieving ~30% YoY reduction in inventory health metrics.
- Conceptualized and launched 'grading & relisting' program for unhealthy and unsaleable inventory, negotiating floor rates and onboarding liquidators to improve profitability and inventory provisions.
- Hiring & developed team, from 25 to 65 team members in 15 months across multiple skill set, including Management trainees into vendor management responsibility
Category Leader
Amazon India
01.2017 - 01.2023
- Reported business turnover of 3 billion INR in 2022.
- Responsibility: P&L owner of 3 GLs (Produce, Perishables & Proteins) for Amazon Retail India, inhouse seller for ‘Amazon Fresh’ program (full basket grocery) & Amazon Now (quick commerce) with fulfilment network across top 14 cities with 28 ultra-fast customer fulfilment centres, sourcing & supply chain network of 8 multiple temperature hubs, 8 produce processing centres & 20 farm collection centres
- Launched ‘Amazon Retail India (ARIPL)’, establishing inhouse retail seller on amazon.in across 3 GLs.
- Lead ‘Amazon Fresh’ category management in Cloudtail (Amazon’s online retail JV) & build omnichannel partnership with ‘More Retail Limited’ (Amazon’s offline strategic partner)
- Led public relations across various stakeholders, engagements with regulators across local, regional & national government bodies; delivered first of its kind farm MOU with Govt. of Maharashtra & Himachal Pradesh
- Amazon fresh customers had monthly repeat rates of 40% (+443bps YoY, US ~25%), 30 days order frequency of 1.7 (+8% YoY, US 2.2) and prime member penetration of 12% (+116bps YoY, US ~5%)
- Delivered year-over-year profitability targets since launch through strategic category mix, analytic-based subcategory interventions, and innovative customer/category solutions.
- Envisaged & established supply chain network, for fulfilling customer inputs across in-stock & availability, selection & seasonality, quality & grade with multiple temperature enabled logistics & warehousing solution, setting up check & control systems for scale
- Established first ‘at-farm sourcing capability’ at Amazon, directly buying from over 4,000 farmers/FPOs, enhancing margins by 1,300bps compared to vendors; integrated global stack for fresh supply chain product path, achieving 4-hour payment processing to farmers.
Head Of Offer Management (International Expansion)
METRO AG
01.2015 - 01.2017
- Identified expansion regions including Southeast Asia, West Africa, and the Middle East.
- Conducted feasibility assessments for Myanmar, Kenya, and Iran.
- Country Feasibility Completed: Myanmar, Kenya, Iran
- Responsibility: Country business case with categories level P&L, go to market plan with country specific customer segmentation, market opportunity & sizing, competition effectiveness & mapping
- Crafted country differentiation strategy with competition effectiveness, detailed ‘go to market’ plan for launch
- Conceived delivery-only model for faster go-to-market, adapting to southern hemisphere business model, group's first
- Blueprinted joint business plan with leading global suppliers for expansion regions, incorporating country specifics
- Pivotal role in ‘Customer led category strategy’, build customer wise category sales & margin including private labels & imports
- Crafted country differentiation strategy focusing on competition effectiveness, detailing go-to-market plan for launch
Head of Offer Management (Region)
METRO Cash & Carry India
01.2005 - 01.2015
- Managed business operations leading to a turnover of 6 billion INR in 2015.
- Responsibility: Region P&L across FMCG, Grocery, Fresh foods & Non-food categories
- Started as Floor Manager in operations, later promoted to contribute to the international expansion team at global HQ.
- Improved country’s 50% margin share with 25% DCs through annual margin negotiations: 2014-15, west region
- Grew margins - West region delivered the highest growth at 24% (+90 bps), 2014 vs. 2013
- Elevated margin by ~500bps in fresh food (over 100% growth): 2012 vs 2010
- Enhanced margin share by 50% with 25% DCs through strategic annual margin negotiations in west region (2014-15)
- Achieved highest margin growth in west region at 24% (+90 bps) from 2013 to 2014
- Increased fresh food margin by ~500 bps, representing over 100% growth from 2010 to 2012
Education
Post Graduate Diploma - Agriculture Extension Management
National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management
Hyderabad, IndiaMaster of Science - Hotel Management & Catering Science
Madurai Kamaraj University
Madurai, IndiaBachelor of Science - Hospitality & Hotel Administration
Institute of Hotel Management, Trivandrum & IGNOU
Trivandrum, IndiaBusiness Leadership Program (BLP) -
Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
Kolkata, India01-2025
Post Graduate Diploma - Technology Management in Agriculture
University of Hyderabad & NAARM
Hyderabad, India01-2021
Skills
Strategic - Vision-setting Strategy - Full P&L Accountability - Launch & Scaling-up Initiatives - B2C/B2B/HoReCa Channel - Business / Revenue Growth - Customer Relationship Management - Strategic Partnerships - Profit Margin Improvement - International Expansion
SIGNIFICANT HIGHLIGHTS
- International:
- Fruit Logistica, Berlin, Germany, 2023 - Guest Speaker & Panel Member
- GIZ GmbH, Germany, 2008 & 2014 - Trade Mission & Stakeholder Roundtable Discussion
- Produce Marketing Association (PMA), California, USA, 2012 - Reverse Trade Mission
- Meat & Livestock Australia, 2011 - Discussion Forum
- Regional Development Centre, METRO AG, Singapore, 2011 - Global Group Recognition of Performance & Potential
- India:
- Member - FICCI Task Force on Millets, New Delhi, 2023
- Guest Speaker - Organic Northeast, Guwahati, 2023
- Member - Public private partnership for Agriculture Value Chain Development (PPPAVCD), Govt. of India, 2023
- Jury Member - FICCI India Agri Start-up Awards, 2022
- Panel Speaker - Tech Bharat, CFTRI, Mysore, 2022; GFI Smart Protein Summit, 2021
- Subject Matter Expert Speaker - Indian Army, ASC Centre & College, Bangalore, 2011-2017
INITIAL CAREER
- Sodexo India, Unit Manager | Bangalore
- Business Head for food service operations at DELL International Services, largest food service client
- The Lalit Group of Hotels, Jr. Sous Chef | Bangalore
- Leading food production operation & food cost management at hotel’s main kitchen
- ITDC Hotels (The Ashok Group), Chef | New Delhi/ Bangalore/ Kolkata
- From ‘Kitchen Management Trainee’ to leading 18 crew kitchen team, learnt trade with some of the finest chefs
Timeline
Senior Vice President
RetailEZ Pvt Ltd (Amazon Retail Seller)
04.2023 - Current
Category Leader
Amazon India
01.2017 - 01.2023
Head Of Offer Management (International Expansion)
METRO AG
01.2015 - 01.2017
Head of Offer Management (Region)
METRO Cash & Carry India
01.2005 - 01.2015
Post Graduate Diploma - Agriculture Extension Management
National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management
Master of Science - Hotel Management & Catering Science
Madurai Kamaraj University
Bachelor of Science - Hospitality & Hotel Administration
Institute of Hotel Management, Trivandrum & IGNOU
Business Leadership Program (BLP) -
Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
Post Graduate Diploma - Technology Management in Agriculture
University of Hyderabad & NAARM