Amazon Fresh bets on regional foods, pilots faster delivery for festivals

Amazon Fresh is boosting regional foods and piloting ultra-fast deliveries with "Amazon Now" to capture festive demand, as competition with quick-commerce players intensifies

Amazon Fresh is doubling down on regional flavours and faster delivery to make the most of the lucrative festival season amid intensifying competition from quick-commerce platforms like Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit and Zepto.

 

The company has launched a ‘Local Delight Store’, featuring regional products and has expanded partnerships with over 11,000 farmers across the country. The company is also piloting ‘Amazon Now’-- an ultra-fast delivery service for everyday essentials in select areas.

 

“The festival season is a crucial time for our farming partners, as it allows them to reach millions of customers nationwide,” said Srikant Sree Ram, Director of Amazon Fresh.

 

“By sourcing directly from farmers, we help them get better value for their produce,” he said.

 

Ram said the collaboration with small businesses ensures customers have access to authentic, regionally-loved products.

 

“Whether that’s fresh poha from Madhya Pradesh, saffron from Kashmir, or ghee from Gujarat,” he said.

 

The technology backbone as part of the supply chain is enabling Amazon Fresh’s quality promise. To preserve freshness, chilled items are packed in insulated bags with gel pads, maintaining temperatures between -5°C to 0°C for up to five hours from picking to delivery, while frozen items are kept at -24°C to -18°C.

 

This technology-driven process allows the firm to deliver farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, and a wide grocery selection, right to the customer’s doorstep within their chosen delivery slot. 

 

“We offer everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to packaged foods, dairy staples like milk and bread, frozen products, beauty items, baby care essentials, personal care products, and pet supplies within a 2 hours delivery slot,” said Sree Ram.

 

The festival shopping patterns are revealing changing Indian grocery habits. During festivals, customers tend to shop more frequently for fresh produce and festive staples rather than doing a single large grocery run. Premium categories, such as dry fruits, exotic fruits, artisanal snacks, and traditional sweets, see a significant spike.

 

“We have also noticed a rise in gifting-led purchases, especially premium dry fruit hampers and specialty packaged foods,” said Sree Ram.

 

The firm said consumers in Tier I cities purchase 1.6-times more fresh fruits and vegetables compared to Tier II, III and smaller towns. The demand for traditional staples like herbs, spices, oils, pulses, ghee, and rice has grown 30 per cent year-over-year in Tier II cities.

 

Geographically, South India continues to lead Amazon Fresh’s performance with 50 per cent growth over last year, followed by the East at 40 per cent. In the South, while established markets like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai grew by a healthy 30 per cent, Tier II cities recorded an impressive 1.4-times growth. This is signalling a growing appetite for quality online grocery shopping in emerging markets. In Jaipur, the firm saw 50 per cent year-over-year growth and 90 per cent customer retention rate.

 

Quick commerce is also gaining traction, particularly for impulse-driven and need-it-now purchases.

 

“At Amazon, we are always innovating to offer more value to our customers. Our recent addition, ‘Amazon Now’ is a pilot in select pin codes of India and a trial to offer even faster speeds on a selection of everyday essentials from our sellers that customers often need within minutes,” said Sree Ram.

 

“Amazon Fresh on the other hand offers a vast selection, offering customers depth in assortment, value, and convenience.”

 

Amazon Fresh now delivers products to over 170 cities across India. The firm said it was ensuring that customers can receive their orders within their preferred delivery slots, typically within 2 hours.

 

“We have invested heavily in our last-mile delivery infrastructure, training our delivery associates, and optimising our processes to ensure that customers receive their orders in pristine condition,” said Sree Ram.