Amazon joins India’s quick commerce race with trials for 15-minute grocery delivery

(Reuters) – Amazon (NASDAQ:) will begin trials for quick commerce operations in India that would see the U.S. e-commerce giant deliver grocery items in 15 minutes or less, it said on Tuesday.

Quick commerce is catching up in India, with companies like Zomato (NS:)’s Blinkit and SoftBank-backed Swiggy’s Instamart promising deliveries of goods from groceries to electronics as quickly as 10 minutes, challenging e-commerce giants.

Seattle-headquartered Amazon is the latest to join the bandwagon.

Amazon would focus on implementing a strategy “to offer the largest selection at fastest speeds and greatest value to customers in every single pin-code across the country,” Samir (CSE:) Kumar, country manager, Amazon India, said in a statement.

India’s quick commerce industry is expected to cross $6 billion in annual sales this year from just $100 million in 2020, according to research firm Datum Intelligence.

Earlier this year, Amazon’s larger domestic rival, the Walmart-backed Flipkart piloted its own quick commerce service in select Indian cities, promising delivery of groceries in 10 minutes.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance has also started a pilot for a 10-30 minute delivery service near Mumbai, Reuters has reported.