From Andaman Islands to Leh, Amazon goes all out to tap India's hinterlands

The e-commerce giant has, over the past few years, built a strong network of partners who play a pivotal role in ensuring on-time deliveries to the most difficult of terrains

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are one of the most remote spots on the planet. Internet and transport connectivity remains a challenge there. When Sabiha Mulla joined as a delivery service partner at e-commerce firm Amazon in Andaman in 2015, she realised that it was impossible to get anything delivered there. She conducted an initial study on the viability of online shopping in the Andaman Islands, which showed encouraging possibilities. With the support from Amazon, she decided to solve this major problem for the islanders who were only dependent on local shops with limited options and uncompetitive pricing.

In the past seven years, Mulla has managed to grow Amazon’s network beyond expectation in a region that is extremely challenging. “I see immense potential in Andaman and Nicobar Islands from a business perspective, which is yet unexplored,” says Mulla. “Also, once the international airport is operational in Port Blair in the next few years, it will open up new avenues for business. I want to explore this untapped opportunity in the region and grow with the help of Amazon.”

Andaman and Nicobar Islands are just one of the many remote locations across the country, where Amazon is scaling up its network and last-mile operations to provide its services to customers. Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos, competes with Walmart-owned Flipkart, Reliance’s JioMart, and Tata to tap the online retail market in India, which is expected to reach $350 billion by 2030 from $45-50 billion now.

“We have built a strong operations network in the country,” says Karuna Shankar Pande, director-last mile operations at Amazon India. “In the last few years, we have significantly ramped up our infrastructure and our supply chain footprint across all three miles, building a fast, safe and resilient network to serve varied needs of the customers, reaching the remotest corners of the country.”

One such remote location is Leh in Ladakh, which is sitting at an elevation of roughly 11,500 feet and is surrounded on all sides by the massive Himalaya mountain range. The not so driver-friendly terrain has treacherous curves, narrow roads, and hairpin bends coupled with uncertain weather, high altitude and extreme cold. 

In 2017, Amazon started delivering in Leh with partner delivery stations, making it the company’s highest elevation delivery route. Sonam Richen, who was born and brought up in Leh, joined as an Amazon delivery service partner and has significantly grown his business since then. 

“While internet connectivity has improved in Leh, the remoteness of the location and weather conditions still make it difficult to deliver the packages to Amazon customers,” says Richen. 

In peak winters, Richen said that delivery associates go against all odds to deliver the packages climbing cliffs on their feet and covering snow-laden roads through other modes of transport. “In the last 5 years, Amazon has made a positive difference in the lives of people in Leh,” says Richen.

In 2020, Amazon launched the on-road connectivity from Manesar in Haryana to Leh via ‘Atal Tunnel’. Since then, Khurshid Ahmad Bhatt, managing partner of ETN Services has been Amazon's close ally and a reliable trucking partner. Partners like Bhatt play a pivotal role in ensuring on-time deliveries to different parts of the country, including in remote locations like Leh in Ladakh.

“My motivation to partner with Amazon was to connect the people of Leh to the rest of the country,” says Bhatt. “It gives me a sense of pride that in the last few years, we have been able to achieve this miracle together.”

As Amazon’s trucking partner, Bhatt started with just 6 trucks. He has seen his fleet grow to over 100 trucks in just over two years. Connectivity to Leh and neighbouring regions has enabled Amazon to serve customers who were not able to get the wide pool of products earlier. 

Today, Amazon has more than 60 fulfilment centres in 15 states offering 43 million cubic feet of storage space to its sellers, along with sortation centres in 19 states, with a processing area of close to 2.3 million square feet. 

“We have built a robust last-mile delivery network with more than 1850 Amazon-owned and partner delivery stations with direct reach in many remote locations,” says Pande of Amazon.

He said that these include remote northeastern towns like Champhai, Lumding, and Mokokchung and geographically challenging locations like the Andaman Islands. These also include southern tier 3 and 4 towns such as Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh, Kodagu in Karnataka and Sirkali, Marthandam and Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. 

With the Delivery Service Partner (DSP) programme, Amazon India partners with small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) to deliver packages to Amazon customers. The DSP programme has not only helped Amazon India expand its reach in the hinterlands of the country but has also provided growth avenues for SMBs.

The expansion of the last-mile delivery network has enabled Amazon to service customers and cover 100 per cent pin codes in India. Amazon has continued to invest in speed with the expansion of its 1-day, same day and sub-same day network. 1-day delivery is enabled in many remote towns such as Mangaldoi in Assam, Mohanur in Tamil Nadu and Dehra Gopipur in Himachal Pradesh. 

Amazon’s investments in technology, logistics and infrastructure are playing a key role for it to ensure reliable and timely deliveries. Address accuracy is one such example. To address the challenge of delayed deliveries due to errors in addresses, Amazon uses machine learning techniques to validate customers’ addresses, compute address quality scores, correct city-pin code mismatches, and provide suggestions to users to correct wrong addresses.

“We have focused on building interface tools and technology that enhance driver and customer experience,” says Pande of Amazon. “We leverage our technology and resources to optimize the processes and functions across the last mile network.”

The company is using machine learning algorithms to identify instances when the user may have entered an incorrect pin code, where the correct pin code is suggested to the user or when an address is incomplete, the customer is suggested with words or phrases that can be added to the address to make it complete. 

Machine learning also helps to score addresses based on their quality, location and deliverability, and use these scores to identify poor quality addresses.

Amazon also uses its own technology platform like Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring for vehicle execution and monitoring. It is used in every vehicle which transports goods, enabling it to get in-depth details on various parameters and track the movement of the packages. Implementation of GPS also helps in sending a replacement vehicle and repair vehicle quickly to the location in case of a vehicle break down. Amazon also provides access to technology platforms to its partners, which helps them review their schedule, plan vehicles for routes and communicate seamlessly with Amazon. 

“We plan to invest more in this space this year and enhance carrier experience,” says Pande of Amazon.