The ultra-fast delivery service Amazon Now has increased its presence in over 120 cities across India, doubling its reach in just two weeks. Customers in cities such as Amritsar, Abohar, Jalandhar, Ambala, Mangalore, Manipur, Vizag, Kochi, Changanassery, Bhubaneswar, and Karwar can now receive orders within minutes.
This service offers tens of thousands of everyday items, including groceries like fruits, vegetables, and frozen products, as well as personal hygiene items, fashion, cosmetics, small home appliances, and kitchenware. Orders are fulfilled through a network of nearly 800 micro-fulfillment centers and urban hubs.
Harsh Goyal, Vice President of Everyday Items at Amazon India, stated that the company is pleased to provide the ultra-fast delivery service Amazon Now in the hinterlands of India ahead of the Amazon Great Indian Festival. He noted that Amazon Now is the fastest-growing e-commerce division in Amazon India's history, with order volumes doubling quarterly. This accelerated launch underscores the company's commitment to providing fast and reliable delivery to customers across the country, and they plan to continue scaling up to offer a wide range of products with the fastest delivery speed during the festive season.
In September, Amazon announced that Amazon Now achieved annual revenue of $1 billion in India over a three-month period. The company is working to create the largest 'minutes delivery' network in India, scaling Amazon Now to serve customers in over 300 cities. The firm also reported that it continues to build out its specialized fulfillment infrastructure to offer buyers the widest selection of products from sellers when they need them. This includes tens of thousands of products delivered in minutes or hours, over a million different items the same day, more than four million the next day, and millions of additional items with unlimited free Prime delivery.
During the Amazon Great Indian Festival, starting October 8, customers will be able to take advantage of special offers on various products in Amazon Now. On Amazon India, shoppers will receive attractive discounts on a wide range of products, including smartphones, electronics, apparel, cosmetics, home goods, and more. Users will get an instant 10% discount when paying with SBI credit and debit cards, as well as on EMI transactions. Prime members will receive an additional saving of up to 10%.
According to a Datum Intelligence report, analytical reviews point to intense competition among express commerce players such as Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart Minutes, and Amazon Now. Online sales are projected to grow by 29% this festive season, reaching ₹1.55 trillion ($17.6 billion) compared to ₹1.20 trillion in 2025, as consumers increasingly expect groceries, electronics, and personal care items to be delivered within minutes.
Express commerce, promising minute-by-minute delivery, is expected to account for about 16% of festive season sales, up from 12% last year. Express commerce order volume in August exceeded last year's figures by 47%, with Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) reaching $20.8 billion, a 41% increase year-over-year, according to Datum.
Grocery sales are expected to grow by 41%, the fastest growth among tracked categories, although slightly slower than the 45% growth rate projected for the 2025 festive season, largely driven by express commerce, according to Datum. Mobile phone sales, conversely, are forecast to grow by only 6%, a sharp contrast to the 26% growth in the previous festive season, due to rising phone prices and supply shortages caused by memory chip scarcity and price increases. Nevertheless, this category remains the highest in value during the season.
