BENGALURU: Amazon Fresh, which was recently expanded to over 60 cities, double from 2022, plans to continue its expansion in a phased manner across the country.
Grocery has been one of its fastest-growing categories, and Srikant Sree Ram, director, of Amazon Fresh, tells this newspaper that technology plays a critical role at every stage of Fresh supply chain, starting from collection centres.
Amazon Fresh was officially launched in November 2021 as a single unified store after the merge with Pantry. “The online grocery retail market is witnessing a rapid growth rate in the metropolitans and other emerging smart cities. While semi-urban areas and emerging cities are expected to drive the next wave of value growth owing to the rapid rate of urbanisation, rural demand is likely to continue to drive volume growth,” he said.
He added that the aim is to penetrate deeper into smaller cities and offer a full basket selection of wet and dry grocery quality products delivered to consumers at their preferred delivery slots. As per Grand View Research, the online grocery market size in India was valued at $2.9 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 37.1% from 2021 to 2028.
When asked how he looks at quick commerce in India as compared to convenient slot delivery, Sree Ram said, “We listen to deep customer insights and research indicate consumers prefer quality products, fresh fruits & vegetables, convenience in the delivery slot as per their preferred time slot. A recent pan India study by Local Circles reveals over 50% of consumers pre-plan their online grocery purchase and prefer a delivery slot as per their convenience.”