Amazon has upped the ante in Bangalore’s already crowded grocery delivery market. It has launched Amazon Now, which will provide two-hour deliveries of essential household items in 70 pin codes across the city.
For now, Amazon Now is an app-only service and available on Google Play for Android users. The app accepts a wide variety of payment methods, including cash on delivery and covers items like grocery, specialty foods, health and personal care, beauty, home and kitchen and baby items. To use the app, customers will first need to enter their pin code to ascertain if Amazon delivers in their area. As an introductory offer, the company is offering a 20 percent cash back on all orders above Rs. 250, with a ceiling limit of up to Rs. 100 per order.
Amazon has not opted for an inventory heavy model like BigBasket for its deliveries, and his instead tied up with retail chains like Big Bazaar, Reliance Fresh, Godrej Nature’s Basket, BPCL In & Out, Food World, and Good Food. Other grocery delivery apps, including PepperTap, Grofers, ZopNow and Ola all follow a similar model.
Competition in Bangalore for grocery deliveries is intense. Several players currently operate in the market, and all deliver for free or offer large discounts on deliveries. The industry is battling some rough weather though – Grofers recently shut down operations in 9 Tier 2 cities citing low uptake. Competitor PepperTap has also halted its expansion plans, saying it’ll look to consolidate in the cities it operates in.