Amazon India is racing to launch its quick commerce delivery service, codenamed Tez, by late December or early next year as it looks to join the booming sector that notched up gross sales of about $5.5-6 billion this month led by Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, multiple people aware of the details said.
Earlier, the US giant was aiming to roll out the service in the first quarter of 2025 but is now keen to accelerate the process, they added. More so, as it is the only large ecommerce firm without a presence in what is India’s fastest growing online business.
The launch of Tez in India-which is only a working title for the proposed business-will mark Amazon’s first foray into the quick commerce business globally.
According to people briefed on the plans, the matter will be discussed in the next monthly review slated for the first week of December-ahead of its annual Smbhav event.
Co-hiring talent for project
There is a lot of work underway with various stakeholders internally and externally, the persons said. The ecommerce firm is also making fresh hires for the high-priority project in addition to having a core team of employees working on it. Amazon’s India grocery and essentials team described the project as a ‘greenfield, grounds-up initiative for an upcoming and fast-growing ecommerce space in India’, according to a job post.
The final name for the quick commerce service is yet to be decided, sources added. “They (Amazon) want to launch it sooner than the end of first quarter in India. Quick commerce is where all the action is if you are a meaningful consumer internet platform. They are also following the same model as others-setting up dark stores, figuring out the details of stock-keeping units (SKUs) and categories, and putting logistics infrastructure in place,” another person aware of the matter said. The company is expected to start the service with grocery and daily essentials.
While Amazon India has its own delivery network in India, it has also engaged with other logistics players for quick delivery services.
Quick moves
Flipkart launched its quick service, Minutes, before the start of the festive season sales and has since scaled the service in major cities. Also in the fray is BigBasket, which has made a shift to the quick model, and has clocked over ₹900 crore in gross sales last month, sources said.
