NEW DELHI: At a time when the founder of quick commerce player Blinkit says that the qcomm bubble is about to burst, Amazon has sounded bullish on the model. The US-headquartered e-commerce and technology giant says it is taking the quick commerce model developed in India to other countries such as the UAE, Mexico, and Turkey. It has begun piloting it in the US as well.
Dharmesh Mehta, vice-president, Worldwide Selling Partner Services, Amazon, told The New Indian Express that though the fundamentals of the model remain similar – a smaller curated selection of goods delivered quickly – the definition of quick commerce differs from country to country.
“In India, deliveries are often within 10–15 minutes. In the US pilot, it’s about 30 minutes. Product categories vary by country—some markets see more demand for daily essentials, others for snacks and beverages for gatherings. But the model is evolving rapidly. In India alone, we are opening two micro-fulfilment centres every day,” he said.
The US-based company has announced a massive $35 billion investment in India over the next five years to 2030. The announcement comes a day after Microsoft’s commitment of $17.5 billion investment in India.
A part of Amazon’s proposed investment would go towards reinforcing its infrastructure, such as building micro-fulfilment centres for quick commerce. The company built 75 fulfilment centres in 2024 alone.
Mehta says that the amount will also go towards hiring and compensating employees, and pushing AI-enabled innovations.
“India’s scale, entrepreneurial spirit, digital infrastructure, and talent pool create a phenomenal environment. Many innovations have originated in India—either because of local needs or because teams here identified opportunities—and have later been taken global,” he says, citing Easy Ship and Seller Flex -- both fulfilment programmes-- which were developed in India first and later expanded to the UAE, Europe, and even piloted in the US.
Fulfilment centres are places where Amazon stores the goods sent by sellers, and when a customer places an order, they are packed, shipped and delivered from these stores to the customers.
A part of the investment would go towards increasing exports through Amazon from $20 billion currently to $80 billion by 2030. In India, Amazon has 1.7 million sellers. Of these, over 200,000 exports to more than 200 countries.
On how Amazon help sellers to become exporters, Mehta says the company helps the sellers to identify which global markets their products will perform best in; translate listings and adapt imagery for local markets; use Amazon Currency Converter for cross-border payments; access global logistics services to ship to over 100 countries; and manage product compliance requirements.
He says the company is doing a lot to support sellers with AI. “We are not just helping sellers grow their business but also reducing the effort and cost needed to do so. We have set a goal to enable 15 million small businesses in India with AI capabilities by 2030,” says Mehta.