With success of its ‘I Have Space’ programme, Amazon has decided to expand it across the country by adding thousands of store owners for delivering its packages.

“The programme currently covers 12,500 stores across 180 cities, including 1,000 in Tamil Nadu and 50 in Coimbatore and a significant proportion of Amazon logistics’ volume in cities where it it present,” the company’s spokesperson, Ashwini Samraj, told reporters here.

Under this programme, Amazon India partners with local store owners to provide pickup and delivery services to customer across different cities within a two to four km radius of their store, she said.

The company has successfully unlocked the potential of such store owners, allowing them to supplement their regular income and generate more footballs in their stores, Ashwini said, adding that it started with 2,500 stores in 2015 and grew to 12,500 now now.

Store partners delivered between 30 and 40 packages a day, earning a fixed amount per delivery and the program is open to all store owners who have the ability to service n foot or a two wheeler, she said.

The larger expansion will happen during the period of Diwali, when the sales of Amazon would be really higher in volume, Ashwini said.