Amazon India, the online shopping portal, declares that more than 50,000 offline retailers and neighborhood Kirana stores in over 450 cities across the nation now fall under its ‘Local Shops’ program.

More than 50,000 offline retailers and neighboring stores from 450 cities from metros to tier 2 and tier 3 cities such as Sangli, Osmanabad, Jamnagar, Gorakhpur, Jabalpur, Ratlam, Bikaner, Tumkur, Jalpaiguri, Kanchipuram and Dehradun has joined in the program.

‘Local Shops’ was launched last year amidst the pandemic, with an objective to enforce local shopkeepers and Kirana store owners to sell online. In October, Amazon India had proclaimed that there were about 20,000 retailers across 400 cities who had participated in the program.

The program offers a wide range of home essential products ranging from fresh flowers to home and kitchen products, furniture, electronics, books and toys for its customers.

“The surging response to the Local Shops on Amazon program showcases the vigorous growth of upto 50,000+ sellers coming aboard in less than a year since its launch. It portrays how digital enablement and digital inclusion can help them rise and give to the digital economy”, adds Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Amazon India.

Further, the program also helps increase existing customer count at these Kirana stores with a digital presence on Amazon.in and expands their reach beyond normal catchment, the company said.

“We commit ourselves to working closely with the millions of MSMEs and the network of neighboring stores in the country to focus on transforming the way India buys and sells,” continued Tiwary.

According to Amazon, in October last year over 20,000 local shops participated in the ‘Great Indian Festival’ hosted by Amazon. in with orders of over 1000 pin codes coming through. During December, the local shops had witnessed an increase in sales. The kirana stores had witnessed a recovery in sales, as local retailers had put up their stalls despite the lockdown. Many e-commerce firms are now focused on hyper local strategy to fasten their deliveries and offer increased assortments.


Its arch nemesis Walmart’s Flipkart also focuses on neighborhood Kirana stores now. Flipkart also claims to hold about 50,000 Kirananas from more than 850 cities, to prepare for the upcoming festive season and its annual ‘Big Billion Days’ sale.