E-commerce major Amazon has announced plans to build India’s largest ‘delivery in minutes’ network by scaling Amazon Now, its ultra-fast delivery service, to customers in more than 300 cities across the country.
Amazon Now has become the fastest-growing e-commerce business unit in Amazon India’s history, with orders doubling every quarter since its launch.
The company will scale up its specialised fulfilment infrastructure to offer the largest selection of products to customers across the country when they need them. This includes tens of thousands of products delivered within minutes or a few hours, a selection of more than one million products available the same day, over four million products available the next day, and millions more through unlimited, free and fast Prime delivery.
Delivery associates in focus
Amazon also announced Sammaan, a dedicated programme focused on the welfare of tens of thousands of delivery associates powering its e-commerce and quick-commerce businesses. A portion of Amazon India’s recently announced $300 million investment in operations and associate well-being will be allocated towards strengthening and scaling the programme.
“Amazon Now is the fastest-growing e-commerce business unit in Amazon India’s history, with orders having doubled every quarter since launch. We are seeing a strong response from customers, especially Prime members who triple their shopping frequency once they start using Amazon Now. We have further accelerated our expansion and will offer ultra-fast deliveries to customers in over 300 cities across India,” said Amazon India Country Manager Samir Kumar.
He said that none of this was possible without the delivery associates, who are at the heart of the e-commerce and quick-commerce business. “I am excited as we launch ‘Sammaan’, a dedicated programme focused on delivery associate welfare. It is our promise that as we grow faster, the people powering that speed grow with us, with better health and wellness, education support for their families, and a safer working environment every day,” he added.
Rapid scale-up of Amazon Now
Amazon Now is already available to more than 50 million customers across over 15 metro and non-metro cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Amritsar and Kochi.
Amazon plans to expand its network of micro-fulfilment centres and urban fulfilment centres to house a wider selection of daily essentials, including groceries, fruits and vegetables, frozen foods, personal care products, fashion and beauty items, small appliances, and home and kitchen products, all delivered within minutes.
Sammaan for delivery associates
Sammaan is a comprehensive welfare programme for thousands of delivery associates in Amazon’s India logistics network.
The initiative includes scholarships for associates’ children, access to government benefits and financial inclusion programmes, comprehensive insurance coverage, on-road safety measures and other support initiatives.
As part of the programme, Amazon will also expand its Ashray rest centres to 250 locations this year. These facilities will be open to delivery associates across the industry.