Bangalore: E-Commerce giant Amazon launched a grocery delivery app, wriggling its way into the already crowded hyperlocal grocery delivery market. The space is currently occupied by domestic players like Grofers, LocalBanya and PepperTap.
The app, Amazon Now, will provide shoppers access to over 6,000 everyday essential items from local kirana stores and other grocery retail chains like BigBazaar, Reliance Fresh, Bharat Petroleum In & Out, Godrej Nature’s Basket and Food World.
Customers can have the products delivered to their doorstep within two hours or at a pre-scheduled time, Amazon said in a statement.
“We are encouraged by the learning from Kirana Now – a pilot that we started last year in Bangalore to enable customers to shop for their everyday essentials from the ecosystem of their local stores and get them delivered within two-four hours,” Amazon India Vice President Category Management, Samir Kumar said.
Amazon has also enabled with two new delivery services – Express Delivery (two hours) and Scheduled Delivery offering.
Amazon has a similar service in the US, called Amazon Fresh, which promises next day or early morning delivery, with special mention of dairy products.
A similar service exists in the UK called Amazon Pantry.
The launch comes at a time when grocery delivery start-ups like Grofers and PepperTap are either shutting operations in certain cities or re-working on expansion plans to optimize costs.
