Amazon to launch specialized fulfilment centres in Patna, Guwahati; expand capacity in other cities

Amazon India is adding two new specialised warehouses in Patna and Guwahati, and expanding the capacity of its existing specialised fulfilment centres (FCs) in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, a move that will enable the e-commerce major further speed up its delivery capabilities.

Unlike traditional warehouses, the fulfilment centres are equipped with highly automated pick, pack and shipping processes to facilitate safe and timely processing of orders.

The network of specialised FCs enables the American e-commerce giant to handle the delivery of large appliances and furniture.

Amazon will launch specialised FCs in two new cities, Patna and Guwahati, and add more storage capacity to its existing specialised FCs in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ludhiana and Ahmedabad, among other cities.

The move comes ahead of Amazon's Prime Day sale on July 15-16.

"Amazon India will now have a network of specialised FCs with close to 9 million cubic feet of storage space, an increase of close to 40 per cent from December 2018. We have also increased our specialised delivery network from 60 to over 80 delivery stations this year," Amazon Vice President, Customer Fulfilment - Asia, Akhil Saxena told PTI.

He added that this expansion will ensure faster deliveries to close to 14,000 pin codes, a 2X increase from 2018, and customers from over 60 cities can now receive next day deliveries in these categories (large appliances and furniture).

Amazon.in, which is locked in an intense battle for market leadership against Walmart-owned Flipkart, has over 3,500 products in its large appliances category consisting of TVs, ACs, refrigerators and washing machines, along with over 1.2 lakh products under the furniture range.

"We are happy to announce the expansion of our specialised network for large appliances and furniture as we consistently invest in our infrastructure and delivery network to provide a superior experience to both customers and sellers," Saxena said.

"With this expansion, more customers will get faster deliveries in line with our vision of convenience and our commitment to lead with infrastructure," he said.

With these launches, Amazon will now have more than 50 FCs with more than 20 million cubic feet of storage space and over 200 delivery stations.