Amazon, sellers tie up to supply 9,000 oxygen concentrators to Indian users

BANGALORE : E-commerce giant is helping airlift the devices; first batch of 1,000 has already landed

Amazon’s global procurement teams are helping interested sellers from India connect with leading global suppliers to enable them to procure oxygen concentrators for customers in need.

Amazon India is working with sellers on its marketplace to help them bring in about 9,000 oxygen concentrators for customers in India. The aim is to address the growing customer demand and shortage of critical medical equipment,

Amazon’s global procurement teams are helping interested sellers from India connect with leading global suppliers to enable them to procure oxygen concentrators for customers in need. It is also simplifying supply chain complexities and facilitating the overall process.

Amazon’s global supply chain network is helping urgently airlift these oxygen concentrators to India for these sellers. The first batch of 1,000 oxygen concentrators has already landed in India. They are now available for purchase for consumers and business customers. The rest are expected to come through in the second half of the month, said the company in a blog post.

Manish Tiwary, vice president of Amazon India, said the company is working on multiple fronts, leveraging its global logistics network and resources to help in India’s fight against Covid-19.

“In the last few weeks, we have seen up to a 70x increase in search volume for oxygen concentrators and we are collaborating with our sellers to ramp up the inventory of critical medical equipment including oxygen concentrators for our customers,” said Tiwary in a company blog post. “Our focus is to enable easy and convenient access to genuine, high-quality products for our customers in their time of need.”

Sellers on Amazon will now be offering oxygen concentrators along with other genuine and high-quality products like oximeters, thermometers, masks, gloves, sanitisers and disinfectants for customers across India.

As part of its commitment to help India fight the devastating second wave of Covid-19, Amazon recently announced it is importing and donating 100 ventilator units. The firm has also joined hands with multiple partners to urgently bring in over 10,000 oxygen concentrators and BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) machines to India. The medical equipment will be donated to hospitals and public institutions to augment their capacity to help Covid-19 infected patients across multiple cities.

Amazon said it is enabling cross border movement of urgent medical supplies and equipment both globally and within the country, helping organizations and NGOs to move these swiftly into India. The company has also rolled out a number of support measures for employees, sellers and other partners to help them during these challenging times.

Source : Business Standard