Amazon Now scales 3PL quick commerce

Amazon India said on April 27 that it will expand Amazon Now to 100 cities across India, backed by more than 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres. The company said the service will cover metros and non-metros including Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, in addition to Mumbai, Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru. (aboutamazon.in) Harsh Goyal, vice president for Everyday Essentials at Amazon India, said the rollout follows customer demand for faster delivery of groceries, personal care, electronics and other daily-use items. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The scale of the network helps explain why Amazon’s quick-commerce push is drawing attention. The Economic Times reported on May 12, citing people aware of Amazon’s plans and company filings, that Amazon Now was processing around 450,000 to 500,000 orders a day with a footprint of roughly 500 dark stores. (medianama.com) The same report said Amazon has chosen a leaner operating model than incumbents by relying on outside operators for parts of the network. ### How is Amazon building this network so quickly? Business Standard reported on Dec. 2, 2025, that Amazon Now planned to open two new micro-fulfilment centres a day and expected to end that year with well over 300 such sites across Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. (aboutamazon.in) Samir Kumar, Amazon India’s country manager, said at the time that the company had accelerated its expansion after seeing customer response. By April 27, Amazon said the network would pass 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres as it widened the service to 100 cities. Amazon described those sites as part of a specialised fulfilment infrastructure and said the expansion would also allow more than 16,000 farmers to sell produce to customers through sellers on Amazon Now. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) ### Which parts of the operation does Amazon outsource? The Economic Times reported on May 12 that startups such as Inamo run several of Amazon Now’s dark stores, while logistics is handled by third-party providers including Loadshare and Shadowfax, citing industry sources. That means Amazon is not following the same model as rivals that built and operate much of their own dense dark-store networks. (business-standard.com) Shadowfax has publicly tied its own growth plans to that trend. In a May 15 report on the company’s Q4 FY26 earnings call, Medianama said Shadowfax had partnered with Amazon Now and expected “significant wallet share gains” as Amazon’s quick-delivery business scales. (aboutamazon.in) Abhishek Bansal, Shadowfax’s co-founder and chief executive, said on the call that third-party logistics would be “the natural answer” for vertical quick commerce. ### How does that differ from Blinkit and other incumbents? Economic Times said Amazon’s approach contrasts with incumbents that invested heavily in building and operating their own networks. The report compared Amazon Now’s roughly 500 dark stores and 450,000 to 500,000 daily orders with Blinkit’s more than 2,200 micro-warehouses and more than 3 million daily orders. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Business Standard separately reported that Blinkit has targeted 3,000 dark stores by March 2027. That comparison shows Amazon is still smaller in quick commerce even as it widens geographically at a faster pace than before. (medianama.com) ### What does the outsourced model depend on operationally? Amazon said on April 27 that a “key priority” in the scale-up is safety, consistency and thoughtful operations inside its micro-fulfilment centres. The company said those sites are designed to remain spacious, hygienic and operationally efficient while enabling deliveries within minutes. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) A third-party model adds more external participants to that promise. The Economic Times report said outside operators run some dark stores and third-party providers handle logistics, while Shadowfax said it expects a larger role as Amazon grows. Those disclosures indicate that store-level service standards, handoffs between partners and logistics execution will remain central as Amazon moves from three major metros to a 100-city network. (business-standard.com) That is an inference from the reported operating structure and partner comments. ### What comes next in the rollout? Amazon’s next stated milestone is the 100-city expansion announced on April 27, supported by more than 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres. (aboutamazon.in) Shadowfax’s next stated milestone is FY27, when it plans to add 100 dark stores of its own, according to the company’s earnings call as reported by Medianama. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)