E-commerce company Amazon India will double storage capacity this year by adding 14 new fulfilment centres as it looks to reduce delivery times in a market where quality of service is fast becoming a differentiator.
The 14 fulfilment centres include the recently-announced seven warehouses for large appliances and furniture. The other seven will be set up in the states of Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, the company said in a statement.
"With this wide network of fulfilment centres, Amazon will be able to able to fulfil Prime orders even faster than before," the statement added.
The move, the company claims, will create employment opportunities for 5,000 people.
“With this capacity doubling, we will now see 41 centres in India for 2017”, said Akhil Saxena, vice president, India Customer Fulfilment, Amazon India.
All these greenfield facilities will be fully operational by the end of June. Additionally, the e-commerce giant will also double storage capacity of the fulfilment centre in Ahmedabad and ramp up capacity by six times at the urban fulfilment centre in Delhi.
The new centres will enable sellers from Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to gain access to and service customers at significantly low operating costs, the company said.
Amazon India's fulfilment centres currently cover a total of 4 million square feet and offer a storage capacity of over 13 million cubic feet. Currently, over 2 million products are available for immediate shipping through its fulfilment centre network.
Amazon claims fulfilment centres help sellers save money—they replace sellers' upfront capital expenses with low variable cost. Sellers have to pay only for the storage space they use and the orders that Amazon fulfils.
