Amazon To Improve Services In Tier II, III Cities: Samir Kumar, Country Manager The bigger share of our business is coming from Tier II,III and beyond, says Samir Kumar, country manager, Amazon India

As much as 65 per cent of Amazon's business during the peak season came from Tier II,III, IV cities. "The bigger share of our business is coming from these regions, I am really excited to see growth in this area," said Samir Kumar, country manager, Amazon India.

The e-commerce major accepted that speed of deliveries in the metro cities have picked up really well, however, Tier II and beyond need improvement, "Speed in terms of delivery has picked up in urban areas, however, I'm not happy with the progress that we have made in the last few years on this front in suburbs. So, you will start to see a lot more effort in terms of getting to the Bareilles and the Patna's of the world, when it comes to fast deliveries," he added.

Amazon is set to enter the quick commerce space with its 15-min delivery service ready to begin from mid December on a pilot basis. The project would start from Bengaluru. While Amazon focuses on implementing the strategy to offer the largest selection of goods and essentials at great speed and value to every single pin-code across the country, the pilot would first be launched in urban areas. "We already have millions of customers across India and we look forward to leveraging the existing customer base. We are going to have our own offering in terms of everyday essentials. One out of five items that are shipped out of Amazon is a grocery product; one out of six is an Amazon Fresh product, we already have a strong foundation in the category. Therefore, our focus now is on increasing speed," the country manager explained.

Amazon Fresh is an online grocery service in India that delivers fresh food, drinks, and other daily essentials. It's available to all Amazon customers, including Prime members and non-Prime members. When asked if Fresh would continue post the launch of quick commerce service, Kumar said, "Fresh is doing quite well and we have seen tremendous growth. We also have tie-ups with more retailers and I have reviewed the business very recently. I am really happy with the progress and adding up more teams for Fresh."

The quick commerce market in India is dominated by the likes of Zomato's Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart. So, what would be the differentiator? "It is going to be our wide selection carried at speed. There will be things that you get for 15 minutes, there will be goods you will want on the same day or sub same day. There will be things that we can wait for, we will have options across categories," he quipped.

India's e-commerce industry is growing rapidly, with the market expected to reach $325 billion by 2030. In India the penetration of e-commerce is about one-two per cent. According to IBEF, in recent years India has experienced a boom in Internet and smartphone penetration. As of June 2023, the number of Internet connections in India significantly increased to 895 million, driven by the 'Digital India' program. Out of the total Internet connections, approximately 55 per cent of connections were in urban areas, "Even in an economy like the US, the most developed market in the world, e-commerce penetration is only 15-20 per cent," he said.

Kumar refutes that Amazon is a late entrant in the quick commerce game. "In India we are at a starting point, it's a long journey. So, when you talk about, are you late to the game? I think we have so many opportunities left to conquer. There's a lot more to be done here, like we are scratching the surface," he concluded.