For Suraj and Rama, residents of Mahim in Mumbai, the stroke of the midnight on June 22 will remain forever etched in memory.

Their doorbell rang and on opening the door they saw bestselling author Amish Tripathi there to deliver his latest book, Scion of Ikshvaku , scheduled to be launched 19 hours later.

“Receiving a collector’s edition of the book in such a fashion, autographed by Amish himself, is a dream. It’s like receiving a gift on my birthday at 12 O’clock,” said Suraj.

Shoppers in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, who had pre-ordered the book on Amazon.in, were equally thrilled to receive midnight deliveries of Ikshvaku , at home with zero shipping costs. Amazon normally charges ₹149 for same-day delivery, ₹99 for one-day delivery and ₹79 for two-day delivery.

“When Amazon asked me if I was game for a midnight delivery on the eve of my book launch, I agreed instantly. Readers make authors, it’s not the other way round,” said Tripathi. “Watching their faces light up when they saw me was truly precious. It was like a surprise party for a family member and a memory I will treasure forever,” said Tripathi.

Amazon India’s Head of Category Management Samir Kumar and Chetan Manikonda, Category Head – Media, also delivered books to shoppers in Nandini layout and Jayanagar in Bengaluru.

“Release Day Delivery is an Amazon service that is available globally. We have innovated further to introduce midnight deliveries in India. We have plans to roll it out pan-India,” Kumar told BusinessLine .

Amazon has effected 100 midnight deliveries since it was launched last September, with the release of Xbox One where customers from Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Nagpur who had pre-booked the Xbox received it on the day of its release.

Midnight deliveries for video games, iPhones and 6 am deliveries for the Samsung Galaxy S6 on the day of its release have been made to date.

“A lot of technology goes behind it. Amazon logistics and transportation enables it. The packages to be delivered are kept in delivery stations close to customer locations, in an isolated space, clearly marked, adhering to strict embargo levels,” said Kumar.

Rivals gearing up

Meanwhile rivals, Snapdeal and Flipkart are catching up with express delivery options. Ashish Chitravanshi, VP-Operations, Snapdeal, said: “Our share of same-day, next day and four-hour delivery services has gone up tremendously and will continue to be a key area of focus.”

Flipkart launched its same-day guaranteed delivery last April, and it is available in 13 cities today. “Our service innovations like same day, in-a-day deliveries, tie-ups with Dabbawalas, etc., are aimed at making online shopping a preferred option for customers,” said Neeraj Aggarwal, Senior Director, Last Mile Delivery, Flipkart.

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