Ahead of the festive Diwali season, Amazon has set up seven new fulfilment centres (FCs) to cater for the expected spike in demand for goods. Amazon aims to add value to sellers with effective storage solutions and improved service to their customers with a quicker delivery process.

The seven new fulfilment centres are based at Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Guragaon, Pune and Nagpur. Their largest fulfilment centre is in Telangana, which was opened in April this year following stringent tax issues in Karnataka.

Solving logistic issues

Since its foray into the Indian ecommerce market in mid-2013, Amazon India has had to execute innovative strategies to overcome logistic issues. Increasing the number of fulfilment centres facilitates the smooth transition of the goods, as the warehouses are situated closer to the seller, which ultimately brings their products closer to the purchaser.

In order to counter stiff competition from home-grown rivals like Snapdeal and Flipkart, Amazon has adopted a 100% open marketplace model.

Can more fulfillment centres help?

With an increase in the number of fulfillment centres, Amazon can promote their FBA service to more small and medium sized companies. “Sellers on our marketplace have been witnessing exponential growth largely powered by our Fulfilled by Amazon Service contributing more than 75 per cent of total units,” says Amit Agarwal, VP and country manager of Amazon India.

Recently, Amazon also launched Selling on Amazon (SOA) programme and tied up with Mumbai based service provider Vakranjee in a strategic partnership to provide last mile service

Selling on Amazon (SOA) is another popular pioneering programme launched buy Amazon recently, which attempts to ensure even the remote rural areas are not left behind.