BENGALURU, June 8 -- For years, Amazon set the pace for faster delivery in Indian e-commerce. Then quick commerce reset expectations altogether, compressing delivery windows from days to minutes.

"Were we slow off the gate? I'll acknowledge a little bit of that," Amazon India country manager Samir Kumar told Mint in an interview, reflecting on the company's response to a category that has rapidly become one of the most important forces shaping retail in the country.

Now, Amazon is moving to catch up. Quick commerce has become one of its biggest priorities in India, with plans to scale its quick-commerce service, Amazon Now, to 100 cities this year through more than 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres. The company is launching about two to th...