New Delhi: Online marketplace Amazon India will invest more in “speed” as consumer preferences shift, with consumers wanting everything from soap to pizza delivered in hours rather than days.
“We deliver 1 million products to Prime members on the same day and 4 million products the next day. That’s how much we are investing in speed,” Saurabh Srivastava, vice president, categories, Amazon India, said in an interview. “So for us it’s very broad, how do we get the most products to the most customers at the fastest speed. That’s our focus and we will continue to accelerate.” Mint“We already have next-day delivery in major cities and we’re expanding that. You can get your item in as little as four to six hours. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of items.”
The same-day delivery feature promises to deliver your product on the same day (within 4-6 hours of online purchase).
To be sure, Amazon has been working on improving delivery times for Indian consumers for some time.
Same-day delivery
In 2022, the company said it would offer same-day delivery to Prime members in more than 50 cities and towns. Thousands of products in categories such as consumer electronics, books, toys, baby care, media, kitchen, luxury goods, sports, video games and personal care devices are now available for free delivery within four hours, the company said at the time.
Such deliveries depend on whether the shopper is an Amazon Prime member and the city the order is placed in. “The selection ranges from 100,000 to 1 million,” he said. Categories of goods within the four- to six-hour delivery window include groceries, home and kitchen items, beauty, fashion, mobile phone accessories, etc. “Our selection is constantly expanding,” he said.
Amazon Prime is a subscription program that provides fast, free shipping on items purchased on the marketplace.
Fast Business
Amazon’s move follows the rise of fast commerce, with rivals such as Flipkart and Zepto offering quick delivery of a wide range of products. This has changed consumer expectations and forced incumbents to prioritize speed.
Amazon’s Fresh service provides groceries and daily essentials, and also allows consumers to choose same-day delivery – this time delivery service is now available in 130 cities.
News reports say Amazon plans to offer fast business delivery. “Certainly there is a need for fast business and it is an exciting space. There is no doubt about that, but we believe that if you offer a very broad selection, great prices and savings, and deliver very quickly across the country, it is a very large opportunity and we will continue to focus on that,” Srivastava said when asked about Amazon’s view on the fast business space.
Fast commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto currently operate in select markets but are expanding rapidly.
Distribution Center
Last week, Amazon announced the opening of three new fulfilment centres in Delhi NCR, Guwahati and Patna, which the company said would significantly speed up deliveries for customers in north and east India during the upcoming festive season.
Amazon has fulfilment centres in 50 cities across India, catering to a wide range of products. The number and size of fulfilment centres vary to cater to local demand. “Our fulfilment centres for same-day delivery – we are actually increasing them every week,” he said, adding that these centres offer “huge selection”.
On Friday, Amazon announced the offers and deals for the upcoming Amazon Great Indian Festival 2024, its annual festive sale that will begin later this month. Srivastava said Amazon had its largest festive sale ever last year.
“Last year, the Great India Shopping Festival was the biggest ever. We are confident that this year we will surpass that record by a large margin. Last year, we had 1.1 billion visits; nearly 4 million new customers shopped with us,” he said.
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