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While Flipkart and Snapdeal are duking it out in a buyout slugfest, global player ecommerce giant Amazon India has quietly invested in nine dedicated Fulfillment Centres (FCs) and 33 Delivery Stations exclusively for furniture and large appliances.
As per a company statement, the new FCs opened in nine states – Karnataka, Haryana, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Gujarat, and Maharashtra – will help to cater to the growing demand for large appliances and furniture across the country. .
With this launch, Amazon India now has 34 FCs across 10 states in India, covering a total area of over 3 Mn sq ft with a storage capacity close to 10 Mn cubic feet.
Commenting on the development Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Category Management, Amazon India said: “We have seen phenomenal growth in the Large Appliances & Furniture categories and expect huge customer demand for products such as ACs, air coolers, and refrigerators during the summer. The category has seen nearly 200% growth in the last one year and grew 5X of daily volumes during our last sale event held in January. Our new FCs will enable customers in 20 cities to receive their products the very next day and we will continue to expand our reach to offer an unparalleled shopping experience.”
In preparation for the anticipated increase in demand this summer, Amazon has added over 3,000 products in the Large Appliances category consisting of Air Conditioners, Air Coolers, Refrigerators, Washing Machines and TVs.
With this move, the online marketplace will also provide installation services for customers, across the top six cities – Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.
In March 2017, in a bid to help sellers to understand the GST better, Amazon India came up with a new programme called ‘A-Z GST Guide’ for sellers. The programme, which will roll out on July 1, 2017, will help sellers gain insights on the proposed GST. In September 2016, Amazon India had reportedly increased its last mile delivery network. It now includes 12,500 local stores and retail outlets in 50 cities.
The ecommerce is shaking with homegrown companies undergoing losses, infighting and scrambling to sustain a viable business model., Where on one hand Snapdeal’s boat is sinking between SoftBank and Flipkart, the latter has just finished a funding round worth $1 Bn after a series of devaluations.
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