Amazon sees 23% jump in same and next-day deliveries of essentials in a year

Amazon delivered nearly 20 crore units across categories like grocery, personal care, cleaning supplies and baby products on a Same or Next Day basis in 2024, seeing a 23% jump from last year. This includes deliveries as part of the e-commerce giant's grocery and essentials delivery service, Amazon Fresh.

“Everyday essentials continue to be a key driver of Prime’s value, with nearly 20 crore units delivered Same or Next Day in 2024, reflecting a 23% year-on-year growth,” Akshay Sahi, Director, Prime, Deliveries, and Returns, India and Emerging Markets, told Fortune India.

Sahi also shared that Prime deliveries across all categories saw a 26% year-on-year increase in 2024, with over 41 crore items delivered on Same or Next Day timelines, making it Amazon’s fastest delivery year in India to date.

While this growth reflects the strong momentum across the board, it also indicates that Prime deliveries for non-essential and discretionary items are outpacing essential deliveries including Amazon Fresh, suggesting that grocery and daily essentials are still catching up in volume within the Prime ecosystem.

The scale of growth highlights the increasing role Amazon Fresh is playing in driving Prime adoption, especially in non-metro regions. The service, which operates with 2-hour delivery windows in key urban markets, has expanded rapidly across over 170 cities, fuelled by rising demand for convenience and faster delivery in both metros and smaller towns.

Amazon attributed the growth to its deepening investments in logistics, fulfilment infrastructure and last-mile delivery, including over 43 million cubic feet of storage, sortation centres in 19 states, and a growing network of more than 2,000 delivery stations and 28,000 ‘I Have Space’ kirana and neighbourhood partners.

Sahi shared that the company also saw a 26% year-on-year rise in Prime deliveries across all categories, with over 41 crore items delivered under these timelines in 2024, the country’s fastest delivery year. This also shows that while Prime deliveries for non-everyday and essential items grew faster, Amazon Fresh lies behind the Prime deliveries.

“Speed and selection continue to be core differentiators for Prime in India,” Sahi said, adding that Amazon Fresh has become critical to delivering everyday convenience. The expansion aligns with Amazon’s broader push to localise offerings and increase penetration in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, which now account for over 70% of new users on the platform.

The rising demand for faster delivery of essentials reflects a broader shift in consumer behaviour across India toward the growing expectation for high-quality daily-use products to be delivered within hours.

This evolving preference also aligns with Amazon’s early moves in the quick commerce space. Fortune India had reported in December that the company was piloting a 15-minute delivery service, initially referred to internally as Amazon Tez. Now rebranded as Amazon Now, the service had officially gone live in Bengaluru earlier this month, marking Amazon’s first public step into the ultra-fast delivery segment dominated by players like Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart.

With inflation concerns easing and disposable income rising in smaller towns, Amazon appears to be betting on essentials delivery as a gateway service to broader e-commerce adoption — and a long-term loyalty driver for Prime.