Business EconomyPosted at: Oct 8 2026 12:03AM


Amazon sees 35-40 pc demand surge, pumps Rs 2,800 cr into festive infrastructure

Bengaluru, Oct 7 (UNI) Amazon India has stepped up its festive-season preparations with an additional investment of Rs 2,800 crore in infrastructure after witnessing a 35-40 per cent surge in customer demand even before the full-scale launch of its Great Indian Festival.
The e-commerce major expects the 2026 edition of its flagship festive sale to be its biggest ever, with the company seeing strong early demand despite the main event opening for customers only at midnight.
“We are seeing a 35 to 40 per cent spike in demand already. That is when we have not opened our sale fully. Once Amazon Great Indian Festival opens up tonight at 12 midnight, it is obviously going to go much higher,” Amazon India Vice President Saurabh Srivastava told reporters here on Wednesday.
The early demand surge has prompted Amazon to significantly expand its fulfilment and delivery network ahead of what is traditionally one of the biggest shopping periods of the year.
“We have invested Rs 2,800 crore just to expand the infrastructure for the season. That is the additional investment just in infrastructure,” Srivastava said.
As part of the expansion, Amazon has added 20 new fulfilment centres, 150 new delivery stations and six sort centres. Its fulfilment-centre capacity has increased by 50 per cent.
The company has also expanded Amazon Now, its rapid-delivery service, to 120 cities, allowing customers in eligible locations to access select products and deals with delivery possible within around 10 minutes.
Srivastava said the infrastructure expansion was aimed at ensuring customers across the country could access products quickly despite the anticipated surge in festive orders.
Amazon is also betting heavily on affordability, with bank discounts, cashback, coupons, no-cost EMI, Amazon Pay Later and exchange offers being rolled out during the festive event.
“All of it put together, we are very confident that we are offering the best value of the year to our customers this festive season,” he said.
The company, however, declined to disclose a specific sales-growth or GMV target for the Great Indian Festival.
Srivastava said Amazon's focus was not on setting a particular sales or profit number but on acquiring customers, adding Prime members and ensuring customer satisfaction.
“Our number one, number two and number three goals are how happy and how delighted the customers are,” he said.
The company currently has around 22 lakh sellers on its marketplace, about three lakh more than last year, with sellers expected to bring their widest selection and competitive offers to customers.
Srivastava said the growth story was increasingly shifting away from metros towards smaller cities.
Nearly 70 per cent of Amazon's new Prime customers are coming from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, he said, adding that customers in these markets were also increasingly opting for premium products.
“Centre of gravity on growth has moved to Tier-2 and Tier-3,” he said.
The premiumisation trend is visible across smartphones, smart appliances, beauty, apparel and home categories, and is occurring in smaller cities at a pace comparable to metropolitan markets, according to Srivastava.
The executive said Amazon's investment and capacity expansion were aimed at capitalising on this broadening customer base while ensuring that the company's marketplace could absorb the expected festive demand.
Amazon is also increasingly using artificial intelligence to support both customers and sellers during the shopping event.
Its AI-powered shopping assistant Rufus is being used by customers to discover products, compare products and understand features and pricing.
On the seller side, AI tools are being used to help determine inventory requirements, where stocks should be positioned, how inventory should be sized and how offers should be structured.
Srivastava said Amazon expected customers to reward a strong festive shopping experience with repeat purchases throughout the year.
“Every year when we do this Amazon Great Indian Festival, we hit a new high watermark, and that becomes the base on which the next year's growth happens,” he said.
While Amazon did not provide specific profit or GMV projections, Srivastava said the company was confident that this year's Great Indian Festival would be its biggest by a “large margin”.
UNI BDN
Tags: #Amazon sees 35-40 pc demand surge# pumps Rs 2#800 cr into festive infrastructure
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