"Taking learnings from India and replicating them globally

India leads the way as one of the top geographies for Amazon Prime as the e-commerce giant continues to expand its selection and features, says JAMIL GHANI, head of Amazon Prime. Ghani, who is based out of the company's Seattle headquarters and was on an India visit, tells Peerzada Abrar in Bengaluru that the firm is making investments in infrastructure and last-mile capabilities to improve delivery speeds. Edited excerpts:

What are the innovation bets that you and your team are making globally and in India?

In 2005, Prime (the paid subscription service) was launched in the US, and Amazon offered 1 million items available in two days. That was mindboggling for consumers and analysts who thought it would bankrupt the company.

In India, we have over a million items available same day, across its largest cities.

Over 4 million items are available the next day. We continue to innovate on all the operations and technology necessary to deliver that much selection and speed for Indian consumers. We are also pushing the envelope on our content investments.

We're also innovating on how we make Prime accessible and available to more customers. We are testing out new versions of the Prime programme.

There is Prime Shopping Edition. We believe it will introduce many Indian consumers who may be reluctant to commit to video and music.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in the 2023 shareholder letter that the company sees meaningful progress in emerging geographies, including India, as they continue to expand selection and features and move owards profitability. Where does India fit in your overall strategy?