Amazon is an International multinational technology industry based in Seattle, Washington. Day by day Amazon has been increasing its reach, in 2017 Amazon acquired 10 startups. The ‘Amazon Effect’ is a real terminology stating the rapid alteration in our online and offline purchasing habits.

The easy influence of the evolution of purchasing power and global economics led to inflation and trendsetting in the modern world. Up until now users could buy, recharge their smartphones and pay bills via Amazon, but now Amazon has provided more functionality that enables users to book flight tickets. The tagline for Amazon is ‘Work hard. Have fun. Make history; earth’s largest book store.’

History of the brand

Founded in Washington on July 5, 1994, by Jeff Bezos ( born as Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen). He is the Chairman, Founder, and CEO of Amazon. The company started the journey as an online bookstore and then expanded further, introducing audio and video streaming products and later housing multiple products such as Amazon Echo, Amazon Fire, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire OS, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Alexa, Amazon Prime, Amazon Video, Amazon Music and Amazon Appstore.

The initial name for the company was Cadabra and was later renamed as Amazon. The logo of Amazon connects A to the letter Z, indicating that Amazon sells all products ‘A to Z.’ In November 2007 Amazon launched Amazon Kindle, a tablet made for E-books.

The USP of the brand

Customer service and innovative ideas

Amazon has one of the best customer responses that are quick and on point. Forbes magazine awarded Amazon with #1 Customer service. Its consistent ideas to explore and expand in the tech market make the competitors stay on the lookout for the next move.

Artificial Intelligence

Bezos especially laid his focus on AI and computer engineering. The virtual assistants, voice and facial recognition software are the limelight of the expansion.

Reputation

The company holds a massive reputation due to their international presence and constant contribution to the field of AI. Amazon has its reach in more than 20 countries and has over 5,00,000 employees worldwide.

Future plans

Vakrangee is a scheme that started to support financial and other work-related aid in rural India. It is a marketing and advertising venture through which Amazon builds its roots in rural India. The company has established 35,000 business related bank branches focusing on insurance, online start-ups, and E-governance.

E-Mitra is an initiative by the Rajasthan government where Amazon has a tie-up with government support.

LinQ is the authorized offline branch of Amazon which provides various E-commerce services like travel, health care, insurance, pharmaceutical, retail products, online money transfer, matrimonial sites. This site is an all in one venture and is looking forward to giving a business push to individuals wanting to start their own ventures in their localities.

Project Kuiper is Amazon’s entry to the race of broadband mania. The company is planning to launch a series of about 3, 236 satellites in space to provide stronger broadband connections all around the Earth. This is an ambitious initiative by Amazon to set foot in the Satellite operations and authorize its own network of satellites globally.

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The benefits of associating with Amazon Delivery Franchise Business

Popularity

Amazon ships more than 10,000 parcels every single day, continuously providing unmatched quality items at discounted prices. World banks like Morgan Stanley predict that Amazon will cross over to 16 percent compound growth by the end of 2025.

Great prices

The products on Amazon are delicately priced and are generally affordable. The delivery prices are also cheap and make the E-commerce chain a package deal. Amazon provides the best customer experience and is one of the largest tech retailers in the world.

Biggest retail store in the US

The company holds a stake in 4 percent of all retail sales and 44 percent of all E-commerce activities in the US. The company has been in the industry for quite some decades but only has gained extreme momentum in the past few years.

Requirements

There is no independent franchise outlet for Amazon but it gives out opportunities to take up Amazon delivery service or Warehousing. There should be provisions for delivery vehicles and their storage. The training is inclusive of driver and safety training programs. The insurance coverage documents are a must for any vehicle affiliated to the Amazon delivery service. To register for the Amazon delivery service, you have to visit the official website for Amazon and visit the Amazon Logistics for the details.

There should be adequate provisions for Vehicle leases and rent for Amazon delivery franchise. Branded uniforms for the employees should be made. Vehicle and employee insurance should not be neglected. Accurate licenses and permits should be taken. Handheld devices for scanning should be given such as for swiping Debit or Credit cards as payment options.

You will need a PAN card, Aadhar card, an Amazon registered Email ID, Address proof, licensing and registrations.

Area required

The area should be enough to store and parking space for the vehicles. You can rent a place or own a place to conduct delivery services, storing and receiving the parcel. The warehouse should be big enough to house a minimum 5M cubic vehicle which is less than 3. 5 tonnes. There should be a place for holding at least 10- 20 vans. There is a requirement of bikes too for ease of travel. The area required is around 150- 250 square feet and should be located in a commercial area, not in a residential area.

Skills or Experience

The skills required to hold an Amazon franchise are customer management, delivery, and ethics. The parcel should be delivered on time and should not be tampered with. The employees should handle the parcels carefully and deliver them on time. Amazon helps with the employee selection however as an owner, you should take independent decisions. The staff is expected to work 12 hours a day and sometimes 7 days a week, however, to ensure employee satisfaction, the shifts can be kept on rotation.

Regions of Operation

Amazon usually serves and operates worldwide, and has an established market in India. A typical delivery location is dependent on the service provider, however, it can be as close to being 88 KM. Amazon delivers all around India and a franchise owner should choose the cities they want to deliver to. As an Amazon franchise, Amazon will help the franchise owner select the locations to choose and supply the goods to. Amazon will check and review the needs, the distance, the information regarding the delivery and get back to the owner regarding the same.

The outlet should be located in a big open space that has proper connectivity to other parts of the city.

As a part of offline growth, Amazon as a part of its new mission ‘ Udaan’ has associated with small traders in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra to launch offline outlets for Amazon. This business deal will benefit people with little to no internet connection buy products from Amazon.

Also in Rajasthan, Udaan plans to open up more than 36,000 stores and has tied up with the state governments for the same.  

Training

There are a safety and training exercise for the Amazon delivery franchise. They ensure proper training in driving, traffic rules and safety and driving rules. The training is provided online and is molded according to the on road conditions. Amazon makes sure to not leave any discrepancies in training provided to the employees. There are technological resources and training on how to work them, delivery data, training resources, and interactive videos. The delivery personnel has to pick up the parcel from a regional location and drive along to deliver it to the customer.

Minimum staff required

The maximum parcel size for delivery is 25 Kg. At the minimum, a staff of 8 people should be employed. To keep the employee rotation in motion, there should be other employees taking up multiple deliveries and not leave any chance unattended.

Amazon does not have a strict policy towards their branded vehicles and personalized uniforms but it is always beneficial as they offer discounts for the same.  

How Much Does it Cost to start an Amazon Delivery Franchise In India?

The usual investment comes around Rs. 2 lakhs. However, the cost of vehicles overpowers all the other operating costs. It is advisable to get the vehicles on lease at the start and then gradually increase. An owner should not  There be at a minimum of two computers and a printer, there should be a fast internet connection. There should be a scanner, bar code reader and MICR device. There should be minimum insurance for theft, bodily and physical injuries to the driver, good damage and vehicle damage.

For the Amazon franchise model, the investment does seem a bit hefty at the start, but gradually with the delivery service working, the investment pays off. However, a person should not just measure the investment in monetary terms but also in time. Besides profit, the amount of work put in also takes consideration.

Revenue model

Deliveries can take place in more than one service location and has no limit to the service provider. The payments are calculated based on the performance of an individual, customer satisfaction, accuracy of the delivery. There is no additional cost for taking up the franchise. Amazon has a turnover of USD 23, 288 crores and is going further.

On average, an Amazon dealer makes around Rs. 50,000- 2,00,000 per month. There is a 10 percent commission on sales and can be more or less depending on the type of products being sold to the customer. The investment is recovered within 4- 6 months since inception. The average return on investment is around 20 percent and can be altered based on the market condition and ratio.

Conclusion

Today Amazon is far more than ‘just a store’; it is a global phenomenon in the tech market. Amazon Prime is one of the fastest growing online content libraries for music, videos, movies. Amazon Pay has fought its way up to get a larger portion of transactions via online payments such as Paytm, PhonePe and Google Pay.

Amazon at present accounts to 43 cents for each dollar spent online in the US. The US unemployment rates were groundbreaking until the past September and were at an all-time low. And due to the lack of jobs, the demand and supply curve was changed, causing inflation in the market. Separately amazon launched its bank-to-bank transfer options using UPI payment mode in India. This enables users to pay rents, buy groceries, lend and borrow money from peers by merely scanning a code.

The tech giant has invested INR 1,380 crore in data storage, cloud computing, and data protection solutions. This deal is not just to tone up Amazon’s data systems but to also keep an eye on a close competitor, Alibaba Cloud. Amazon is on a whole new upgrade and has a tight grasp on the future of E-commerce and Artificial intelligence.