Amazon India’s food delivery service, Amazon Food, will shut its operations by the end of the year. Launched nearly two years ago to rival Zomato and Swiggy, the delivery service was only available in Bengaluru and select parts of the country. Amazon confirmed the development to the news agency Reuters and said it made decisions as a part of the annual operating planning review process. The company fired thousands of employees and shut down its ed-tech service in India earlier this month.Separately, Amazon told The Economic Times Amazon Food would be shut from December 29. In a statement, it said, “We don’t take these decisions lightly. We are discontinuing these programmes in a phased manner to take care of current customers and partners and we are supporting our affected employees during this transition. Amazon remains focused on providing our growing customer base the best online shopping experience with the largest selection of products at great value and convenience.”
At the time of Amazon Food’s launch in May 2022, the company said that customers wanted the app to add food delivery and go beyond essentials. Currently, the main Amazon app has a dedicated section for groceries and medicine.
Amazon Food and Amazon Academy debuted in India during the peak COVID-19 pandemic to help customers avail essential services at home. However, the Indian market was already dominated by established players like Swiggy and Zomato and start-ups like Big Basket and Dunzo in the food delivery segment. On the ed-tech side, Byju’s held a major share of the Indian market.
