BT Online New Delhi Last Updated: May 3, 2017 | 13:27 IST
Amazon India is expanding in the face of growing demand by its Prime customer base. The company is doubling its storage capacity by adding 14 new fulfilment centres (FC) to speed up their delivery system.
According to a report by Business Standard, this expansion will also result in around 5,000 new jobs for the company in the fourteen new centres. The 5,000 new jobs are apart from the temporary workforce the company hires during sale seasons.
FCs are warehouses where sellers can stock their inventory. They can save money by replacing their upfront capital expense with low variable cost and pay only for the storage space they use and the orders Amazon fulfils.
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The company will be foraying into three new states, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh by setting up three centres. Out of the 14 centres, seven will deal with heavy equipment like furniture and big electrical appliances and the rest of the seven will be opened by mid-June.
"We've continued to expand our network over the past three years. For Prime customers, this growth in fulfilment centres enables them to get deliveries faster. So as the Prime customer base in India grows bigger they will be able to benefit from this," said Akhil Saxena, Vice President for Customer Fulfilment at Amazon India.
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Amazon India has been on its heels to compete with the current market share leader, Flipkart. Amazon Prime service has been a additional advantage for the company and though there is no open declaration about the new funding for the fourteen new centres, Amazon is definetly acting on CEO Jeff Bezos recent claim to "keep investing in technology and infrastructure" in India.
