Amazon India has set up 200 new delivery stations, both owned and third-party operated, across the country ahead of the festive season, as it looks to improve its reach especially in smaller towns from where droves of new buyers have come online during the pandemic.
The company said that its investments in delivery infrastructure will create employment for tens of thousands of workers, without sharing any specific details. Delivery stations are part of the last-mile logistics requirements by large online retailers.
“With these infrastructure investments, it will deepen our reach in the country and at the same time we will be able to improve the speed to the customer,” said Prakash Rochlani, Director, Last Mile Operations at Amazon India. “We’re able to provide thousands of job opportunities because of this infrastructure investment, which is aligned with the government’s vision of job creation and skilling the youth.”
Amazon’s expansion of its delivery network is part of its yearly focus on installing warehousing, sorting and other infra to manage peak demand during the festive season. This year, there’s an increased burden on logistics infrastructure because of the social distancing norms and other safety requirements owing to the pandemic.
Third-party providers form a big proportion of Amazon’s delivery network, with the company now managing 280 of its own delivery centres, while 1,500 are managed by its partners. The arrangement allows Amazon to improve its coverage significantly, without spreading itself too thin.
A few of the 200 new centres will be located in Champhai, Kolasib, Lumding and Mokokchung, small towns in the Northeast of India.
Rochlani added that Amazon in May had already committed to creating 70,000 new jobs, with 50,000 in supply chain and 20,000 in customer support, but the company has continued adding thousands of new staff in the run up to the festive season.
Amazon said that it has strengthened its I Have Space (IHS) programme that allows kiranas and local stores to perform deliveries within a 2-5 kilometer radius. Its Amazon Flex programme offers part time delivery jobs to individuals to 65 cities, apart from growing its number of pickup points inside large residential societies across various locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
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