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Amazon Now doubles footprint to 120+ cities in two weeks ahead of October 8 Great Indian Festival sale
Our read
Amazon Now doubling to 120+ cities in two weeks means festive-season quick-commerce demand will face a fresh, aggressively priced rival from October 8, so defend delivery promises and assortment in overlapping cities, knowing its stores are not yet profitable and promotional pressure is likely to persist.
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Amazon's city count moving from 120+ toward 300+ after the October 8 sale
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Who is opening stores most aggressively?The report,
Amazon expanded Amazon Now to more than 120 cities in India, doubling its footprint in two weeks ahead of the Great Indian Festival sale on October 8. It runs close to 800 fulfilment centres and plans more than 300 cities, while trailing Flipkart Minutes.
- Orders per store per day needed to turn profitable1,700-1,800
- Amazon Now orders per store per day700-850
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Store and format facts
From the report. Source details below
| Annualised gross sales in preceding three months: | $1 billion |
|---|---|
| Amazon Now orders per store per day: | 700-850 |
| Orders per store per day needed to turn profitable: | 1,700-1,800 |
| Flipkart Minutes dark stores (UBS estimate): | more than 1,000 |
| Amazon Now dark stores (UBS estimate): | 500-600 |
Next on the rollout
- Any disclosed or reported Amazon Now orders per store rising past 850 a day
- Changes in Amazon's dark-store count against the 500-600 UBS estimate
- Flipkart Minutes announcing new cities or festive delivery and discount offers
- Post-festival reports of Amazon slowing, pausing or consolidating city launches
Likely next moves
Our read of what comes next — analysis, not reported by the source.
- Amazon is likely to push Amazon Now hard inside the Great Indian Festival promotions, using the sale to raise orders per store from the current 700-850.
- Amazon may keep adding cities toward its 300+ target, repurposing existing fulfilment centres before committing to new dark-store capex.
- Flipkart is likely to defend Minutes with festive offers and delivery-speed promotions in cities where it already has 1,000+ dark stores.
- Expect Amazon to lean on cross-sell, bundling the quick-commerce service with its festive-sale customer base to close the gap to the 1,700-1,800 orders a day needed for profitability.
- Analysts and brokers such as UBS are likely to keep benchmarking Amazon's 500-600 dark stores against Flipkart's and to scrutinise per-store economics after the festival.
The source
Published
Confirmed by ET BrandEquity, Business Standard, India Retailing, The Hindu, Storyboard18
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