Amazon Now doubles reach to 120 plus cities, orders growing 2x every quarter

MUMBAI: Amazon has expanded its ultra-fast delivery service Amazon Now to more than 120 cities across India, doubling its footprint in just two weeks as the e-commerce major ramps up its operations ahead of the festive season.

The expansion takes Amazon Now to cities including Amritsar, Abohar, Jalandhar, Ambala, Mangalore, Manipal, Vizag, Kochi, Changanassery, Bhubaneswar and Karwar. Customers in these markets can order thousands of everyday products for delivery within minutes.

Amazon Now offers tens of thousands of products across categories including groceries, fruits and vegetables, frozen food, personal care, fashion and beauty, small appliances, and home and kitchen products.

The service is currently supported by a network of close to 800 micro-fulfilment and urban fulfilment centres across the country.

Amazon India vice president, everyday essentials, Harsh Goyal said the company was taking Amazon Now deeper into India’s hinterland, from Amritsar and Abohar in the north to Kochi and Changanassery in the south, ahead of the Amazon Great Indian Festival.

Goyal said Amazon Now is the fastest-growing e-commerce business unit in Amazon India’s history, with orders doubling every quarter. He added that the accelerated rollout is aimed at making faster and reliable deliveries accessible to more customers during the festive season.

The latest expansion comes shortly after Amazon said Amazon Now had crossed $1 billion in annualised gross sales in India over the preceding three-month period.

The company is targeting more than 300 cities for Amazon Now as it looks to build what it describes as India’s largest delivery-in-minutes network.

Alongside its ultra-fast offering, Amazon is continuing to expand its fulfilment infrastructure to provide customers with a broader range of delivery speeds. Amazon Now offers tens of thousands of products within minutes or a few hours, while more than one million products are available for same-day delivery and over four million for next-day delivery.

Amazon also offers millions of products through Prime’s free delivery service.

The expansion comes ahead of the Amazon Great Indian Festival, which begins on 8 October. Customers will be able to access festive deals across a range of products through Amazon Now, while the wider Amazon.in platform will feature offers across smartphones, electronics, fashion, beauty and home essentials.

Amazon said customers can avail a 10 per cent instant discount on SBI credit and debit cards and EMI transactions during the sale. Prime members will also get up to 10 per cent additional savings.

Customers can check whether Amazon Now is available in their area by opening the Amazon shopping app and looking for the ‘Now’ banner at the top.