Amid Quick Commerce Rush, Amazon India To Double Down On Same-Day Deliveries

At a time when quick commerce has gained immense popularity in the country, ecommerce major Amazon India is looking to increase its focus on its same-day delivery proposition. 

Speaking with Inc42, Amazon India director and head of Prime Abhinav Agarwal said that Prime membership plan now offers customers same-day deliveries on 1 Mn products, including toys, electronics, and home entertainment categories. 

Saying that same-day delivery for Prime members have doubled because of the company’s investment in strengthening its delivery network, Agarwal added that the company is looking to double down its focus on same-deliveries going ahead. 

Additionally, Amazon India has expanded its capabilities to deliver 4 Mn products on the next day of ordering. Half of the orders placed by users on the platform via Prime are being delivered on the same day or the next day across all pin codes, he said. 

“Delivery speed remains a focal point of our ongoing efforts. Fast, reliable deliveries are a key benefit of Prime subscriptions and are a cornerstone of our customer proposition. Our goal is to combine speed with reliability, ensuring that customers receive their orders swiftly… ” he said. 

At the heart this push is India’s burgeoning ecommerce market, which is expected to become an $400 Bn opportunity by 2030. However, Amazon India continues to be a loss-making entity. In FY23, Amazon Seller Services’ saw its standalone net loss widen 33% to INR 4,854.1 Cr from 3,649.2 Cr in the prior year. Operating revenue increased merely 3.4% to INR 22,198 Cr during the year under review from INR 21,462 Cr in FY22.

While Amazon competes with the likes of Flipkart and Meesho in the ecommerce segment, the entry of quick commerce players like Zepto, Zomato-owned Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart in new categories has increased the competition for the ecommerce giant. 

This competition is expected to increase further as JioMart and Flipkart are also all set to enter the quick commerce space. 

However, Amazon India seems to be unperturbed by this. Agarwal declined to comment on the intensifying competition in the quick commerce space, and said that Amazon India will continue to focus on same-day deliveries for now.

However, the company is bullish on expanding its grocery vertical, Amazon Fresh, which claims to deliver groceries in 2 hours. Amazon Fresh delivers groceries, including fruits, vegetables, chilled products, beauty, baby, personal care, and pet products. It recently expanded the service to 130 cities, including Ambala, Aurangabad, Hoshiarpur, Dharwad, Una, Suri, among others. 

Amazon is currently gearing up for its annual Prime Day sale on July 20-21. This year’s edition will see the ecommerce major launch “thousands” of new products from over 450 brands, including Intel, Samsung, OnePlus, Honor, iQOO, and Bajaj. 

Besides, Prime Video will announce a line-up of 14 original series and movies across five Indian languages.