Amazon officially debuts 10-min quick commerce in India

Amazon India has launched its quick commerce service, Amazon Now, in select areas of Bengaluru.

The service aims to deliver groceries and daily essentials within 10 minutes.

It currently operates in three Bengaluru pin codes and is accessible through a dedicated section on the Amazon app.

Customers get free delivery on orders above 199 rupee (US$2.31).

Amazon first mentioned the service during its annual Smbhav event in December 2024.

This marks Amazon’s entry into the growing quick commerce sector, competing with Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart.

🔗 Source: YourStory

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Amazon’s strategic evolution from two-day to 10-minute delivery

Amazon’s entry into quick commerce represents the latest step in its 20-year journey of continuously compressing delivery times to create competitive advantages.

The company began this evolution with Amazon Prime in 2005, which transformed e-commerce by offering unlimited two-day shipping for $79 annually, a move initially met with internal skepticism about potential unsustainable shipping costs 1.

This was followed by same-day delivery through “Local Express Delivery” in 2009, and then Prime Now in 2015, which targeted 1-2 hour deliveries through a network of 58 specialized fulfillment hubs 2.

Each of these innovations boosted customer spending frequency, with Prime members specifically spending significantly more than non-members—a pattern Amazon likely hopes to replicate with its 10-minute delivery service 1.

This progression shows Amazon’s consistent strategy of using delivery speed as a competitive advantage, even as it required massive infrastructure investments, including 43 urban distribution centers built in 2015 alone 3.

The move into quick commerce comes after Amazon has methodically built logistics capabilities, including its own air fleet, extensive fulfillment centers, and last-mile delivery networks, infrastructure competitors like Blinkit and Zepto had to build from scratch.