Amazon is preparing to scale back its Amazon Fresh delivery service in India, as the company increases its focus on speed. According to a UBS Global Research report, Amazon plans to wind down its 4–24 hour delivery service, Amazon Fresh, in 10–15 major Indian cities, shifting its focus to its quick commerce offering, AmazonNow.

This move signals a broader recalibration within Amazon’s India business, where the distinction between scheduled and instant delivery is becoming less defined.

Amazon Fresh has traditionally occupied the middle ground, offering same-day or next-day grocery deliveries while encouraging larger baskets to offset logistics costs. However, this model is now facing pressure from both ends.

While Amazon continues to expand its national fulfillment network, built around large warehouses designed for scale and selection, it is also accelerating its push into AmazonNow, a rapid-delivery service built for immediacy.

Quick commerce has moved from the fringes of Indian e-commerce to become its fastest-growing segment. Companies like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart have built networks of neighborhood warehouses, enabling deliveries in as little as 10–20 minutes.

This has led to a fundamental shift in consumer behavior, with urban users increasingly placing multiple small orders throughout the week instead of planning weekly purchases. Nearly 40% of online grocery sales in India now come from quick commerce, underscoring the model’s rapid growth.

Traditional e-commerce, dominated by players like Amazon and Flipkart, was built on centralized warehousing, wide selection, and larger order values. Quick commerce flips that equation, prioritizing proximity, speed, and frequency over assortment.

UBS notes that large platforms, including Amazon, Flipkart, and Reliance Retail, are aggressively expanding their quick commerce infrastructure, with plans to rapidly scale dark store networks over the next 12 to 18 months.

This competitive response has triggered a price war, with discounts across quick commerce platforms climbing as Amazon and its rivals increase promotions and lower delivery charges to capture market share. The battle is now being fought on pricing, assortment expansion, and customer retention.

AmazonNow is expected to expand to 10–15 cities, covering a large share of India’s quick commerce demand. In those markets, Amazon Fresh is likely to recede, resulting in a more polarized strategy.

Amazon’s national shipping network will continue to handle planned purchases, optimized for scale and selection. AmazonNow, by contrast, is designed for speed for dense urban clusters, smaller baskets, and repeat usage.

The middle layer Amazon once relied on is becoming a casualty. In India’s largest cities, the focus is shifting to whether a product can arrive within minutes, signaling a decisive pivot toward speed.