Online shopping portal Amazon.in has launched a programme ‘I Have Space’ (IHS) for store owners.

Under the programme, Amazon India partners with local stores for pick-up and delivery services to Amazon customers within a 2 to 5-km radius of the store.

“Our partners will help in delivering the goods on time,” said a company spokesperson, introducing two local traders – Johnson, owner of Anbu Medicals, and Gopi, who owns Viva Foods. Sharing their experience, the traders said that since joining the IHS programme (in January last), they have managed to more than double their income, create an identity in their locality and get more footfalls in their stores.

“And all this without any investment, apart from the 300 sq ft space that we had to have as a pre-requisite to join the programme,” Gopi added.

Expanding model

On an average, the store partners of Amazon deliver 30- 40 packages a day for a fixed amount per delivery. Gopi said he earned ₹12,000 to ₹18,000 a month through the programme. The programme, introduced in 2015 with 2,500 partners, currently covers 12,500 stores across 180 cities. There are over 1,000 such stores in Tamil Nadu and about 50 in the Coimbatore region. The spokesperson said the company has plans to add thousands of stores this year by Diwali to strengthen its distribution network.

“The current model does not allow women to work out of their homes, but we do have an ‘all women delivery’ station – one each at Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. This was launched in March 2016,” she said.

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