Amazon India Adds Five New Fulfilment Centres to 'Meet Rapid Growth'

Amazon India, expanding its India footprint to counter stiff competition from Flipkart and Snapdeal, has announced plans to open five new Fulfilment Centres (FCs) in Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Tauru (outskirts of Gurgaon).

The Internet retailer notes that the Fulfilment Centre in Chennai is already operational and the remaining four FCs will be operational next month. The company's main focus with the new centres is to improve its fulfilment services for retailers and small and medium businesses (SMBs) across the country.

Amazon India in a press note said, "This investment is part of Amazon's continued and relentless focus on enhancing online shopping experience for consumers in India and enabling SMBs to get a scalable and robust national platform using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)."

The company has two existing Fulfilment Centres on the outskirts of Mumbai and Bangalore. Commenting on the announcement, Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Manager, Amazon India said, "Sellers have greatly appreciated our Fulfilments by Amazon (FBA) service, a pay-as-you-go service and a key feature of our e-commerce platform. A Q1 2014 survey conducted with Sellers on Amazon India who have used FBA showed 85 percent of respondents reporting a sales increase since joining FBA and of these 40 percent of respondents reporting a sales increase of at least 30 percent."

The company hopes that the new facilities will provide existing and new retailers from both South and North India closer access to Amazon's fulfilment capabilities. The company adds the expansion will increase fulfilment space by to over half a million square feet, 'almost doubling storage capacity available for sellers'.

"With the opening of new FCs across five Indian states comprising of Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan & Gujarat, we will enable many more SMEs in India to take advantage of this service and help them expand their online business. We will continue to do the heavy lifting on behalf of sellers so that they can focus on providing our customers with vast selection at competitive prices and in turn sell more and earn more money," Agarwal further said.