Amazon plans to expand its quick commerce service Amazon Now to more than 300 cities across India, a move that would give it the widest geographic footprint in the country’s ultra-fast delivery market and intensify competition with Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart as the battle shifts beyond the metros.
The announcement came during a visit by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to an Amazon Now micro-fulfillment centre in Mumbai on Wednesday. Calling the service Amazon India’s fastest-growing ecommerce business, Jassy said the company was drawing lessons from India that are now being deployed globally. “It’s our fastest-growing ecommerce business unit in India, and we’re expanding to 300+ cities as part of our plan to build the country’s largest delivery-in-minutes network,” Jassy said in a post on X. “What we’ve learned building it here is now helping us scale it across the US and around the world.” Jassy is in India to meet leaders, employees and entrepreneurs. He is also expected to travel to Delhi this week.
Amazon Now, launched in September 2025, is currently available to more than 50 million customers across over 15 cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Amritsar and Kochi. The company said orders have doubled every quarter since launch and Prime members triple their shopping frequency after they begin using the service. The planned expansion would take Amazon deeper into tier-2 and tier-3 markets where most quick commerce companies have a limited presence and where the economics of 10-minute deliveries remain largely untested.
Battle Beyond Metros
The scale of Amazon’s ambition becomes evident when compared with existing players. Blinkit, the market leader, operated 2,243 dark stores at the end of March and is estimated to be present in more than 200 cities. Swiggy Instamart had 1,143 dark stores across 129 cities, while Zepto operated 1,139 stores across 66 cities, according to its draft IPO documents. Eternal, which owns Blinkit, has told investors that stores in the top eight cities already cover 80-90% of serviceable pin codes, suggesting that future growth opportunities increasingly lie outside major urban centres.
Leveraging Logistics
Despite the aggressive expansion plans, Amazon remains considerably smaller than the leading quick commerce platforms in terms of order volumes. According Datum Intelligence’s estimates, Amazon has around 500 dark stores.
Industry estimates peg Amazon Now’s daily order volumes at around 450,000-500,000. By comparison, Blinkit processed roughly 3 million orders a day in the March quarter, while Zepto averaged about 2.3 million and Instamart around 1.25 million. Analysts say Amazon is betting that its broader logistics infrastructure and large Prime subscriber base can help it scale rapidly as quick commerce expands beyond metros.
“Prime members triple their shopping frequency once they start using it, and we’ve seen orders double every quarter since launch,” Jassy said. Amazon said it will expand its network of micro-fulfillment and urban fulfillment centres to stock groceries, fresh produce, personal care, beauty products, fashion items and small appliances for delivery within minutes. The company also launched Sammaan, a welfare programme for delivery associates, and said it will expand its Ashray rest centres to 250 locations this year.
Samir Kumar, country manager, Amazon India, said the company has seen a great response from customers, especially Prime members who triple their shopping frequency once they start using Amazon Now.
“We have further accelerated our expansion and will offer ultra-fast deliveries to customers in over 300 cities in India. None of this is possible without our delivery associates who are at the heart of our e-commerce and quick commerce business, and I am excited as we launch Sammaan, a dedicated programme focused on delivery associate welfare,” he said.