Amazon “obsessed” about quick fulfilment all-year round

As mega shopping event Black Friday coincided with mega sporting event FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar shoppers are expected to contribute $8.5 billion to the MENA e-tailing market, estimates RedSeer. If anything, MENA shoppers were excited to maximise their opportunity to avail the most attractive deals on ‘White Friday’ – the equivalent of Black Friday for the Arab world. Like every year Amazon MENA ran its ‘White Friday Sale’ from November 21-28, 2022. As shoppers demand quick fulfilment even during peak sale periods during an exclusive interview with Prashant Saran, Director of Operations, Amazon MENA we discussed how the online retailer not only keeps pace but how Amazon is “obsessed” about quick fulfilment all-year round.

How is Amazon ensuring quick fulfilment of orders especially during peak periods?

We are, indeed, obsessed with our customers and this obsession continues even during peak period such as White Friday. We always put the customer first and ask ourselves what will delight them and then work backwards to figure out how to innovate on their behalf. Planning for peak periods such as White Friday is ongoing throughout the year at Amazon. We build capacity, hire additional resources as needed and conduct several stress tests to ensure we can reach more customers across the region, faster and with a wider selection of products. This year we’ve increased our storage capacity by over 50% in the UAE and 80% in Saudi Arabia to store millions of products for customers and seller partners, therein enabling us to scale for the White Friday sale.

We continue to strengthen the last-mile delivery network with our world-class technology and global processes and programmes to speed up delivery time for customers. One such programme is the Delivery Service Partner Program. Launched in Saudi Arabia, it empowers local entrepreneurs to set up and manage their own logistics business delivering Amazon packages, while increasing the capacity of our delivery network. In the UAE, we opened our largest delivery station in Abu Dhabi in June 2022. The 4,700 sqm state-of-the-art delivery station is the second largest in the country and provides same-day and one-day deliveries to customers across the city.

Could you highlight some mega trends for this holiday season?

On the operations side of the business one of the trends we’ve been seeing over the past couple of years is the need for speed. Fast delivery has become a key factor in ensuring customer satisfaction. According to a PwC consumer insights survey, fast and reliable delivery is the second most important factor for purchase decisions after price. At Amazon, we rely on big data and artificial intelligence to define how packages get to customers in the fastest way possible. Within our fulfilment centres as well as on the road our technology determines the most efficient way for products to get from point A to point B. Another trend we experience is the demand for flexibility. Customers are expecting more delivery options and omnichannel experiences. From contactless home delivery to self-pick-up from Amazon counters and lockers we strive to provide customers with the convenience of receiving their packages at their own convenience.

While tech enablement and being data driven are crucial people still play a strong role in any business. How is Amazon infusing the power of human touch with data?

We have one of the most customer-obsessed, engaged and motivated teams of employees who plan meticulously to deliver a great experience for our customers. We are well-known as a technology company and leverage our tech strength to eliminate waste and improve customer experience at every opportunity, but it is our people who make the magic happen. It’s our employees who are constantly inventing on behalf of customers, improving processes, eliminating waste and creating new solutions to raise the bar of customer experience. As a leader of the team my foremost responsibility is to keep our people safe, engaged and motivated while removing their barriers to deliver a seamless experience for our customers and seller partners.

Moving over to consumers how differently do they shop across the region particularly in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

We believe that there are fundamental things each customer wants – wider selection, competitive prices and convenience of shopping and delivery. Within these fundamentals each customer could have slightly nuanced delivery needs and preferences. This means we need to find multiple ways to get customers what they want, when they want it and how they want it. One size doesn’t fit all, and this is true across the MENA region. We are committed to our customers across all three markets – Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – where we operate. Given the acceleration towards e-commerce adoption thanks to strong government support, a culture of innovation and a highly connected and young population we are growing rapidly in these markets to serve millions of more customers.

Recently Amazon US unveiled its first zero carbon fulfilment centre. What are Amazon MENA’s sustainability commitments?

Our MENA sustainability roadmap is geared towards Amazon’s global vision to be net-zero carbon by 2040 in accordance with The Climate Pledge. Across our operations we are deploying carbon reduction strategies at every stage of the fulfilment process from the time an item is picked off the shelf in a fulfilment centre to the materials used to pack the item and the transportation network that gets the package to the customer’s door. As a relatively new entrant to the region with the launch of Amazon.ae in 2019, we are in a growth phase. As we continue to expand our footprint across the region, we are building sustainable operations in three ways:

• Creating energy efficient infrastructure powered by renewables
• Transforming our transportation network through new technology, equipment, electric vehicles, alternative fuel and new delivery models
• Redesigning packaging to reduce waste

We use our size and scale as a force for good to accelerate towards decarbonisation. Solving the climate crisis is a shared responsibility and requires collective action between businesses, organisations and governments. We encourage like-minded technology partners to design innovative solutions to combat climate change while collaborating with government and industry partners to support policy discussions, investments and innovations.

Rupkatha B