Of delivering packages and smiles in snow-laden Srinagar

Extreme deliveries are not new for our operations teams—be it delivering to the highest elevation delivery route in the rough terrain of Ladakh or delivering to the remote islands of Andaman and Nicobar— our teams are known to push boundaries when it comes to delivering packages.

But this little story had us pleasantly surprised so we decided to hear it from the horse’s mouth… err actually, the horse rider’s mouth.

January is the time when the Kashmir valley is in the grip of a severe cold wave with temperatures going down sub-zero. After a particularly heavy snowfall covered Srinagar and snapped all road routes, our delivery team had pending orders waiting to be delivered; but Shiraz Ali Khan, a delivery associate who works at Rainawari, decided to do something unique. He decided to ‘gallop’ to the customers' destination – yes, you heard it right! He delivered packages on horseback and raised the bar for customer obsession and how!

In a video, which went viral on social media, we see Shiraz saddled up on the horse making his way through the narrow snow-covered lanes in Srinagar, to deliver packages to the doorsteps of the customers, thus making the impossible, possible. Twitter was abuzz with heartwarming reactions on this initiative. Haseeb Drabu (@Haseeb Drabu) said in a tweet, “In case you think this is horsing around. This is new age delivery system leveraging old times means of transport. From delivery by drones to delivery on hoofs. Amazon delivering in Srinagar! Now we know why Amazon is valued at more than $1 trillion, set to cross $2 trillion by ’23!”
Calling it “extreme innovation” was Abrar Zargar (@abrarzargar), even as others dubbed this delivery as “a skidless idea,” and “pretty cool.”

With the packages in the hands of the rightful owners, a satisfied Shiraz was beaming. On catching up with him, he said, “Everyone knows how Srinagar is laden with snow at this point of the year. The lanes and by-lanes are difficult to navigate by vehicles. But we came to know that customers were waiting for their orders like baby food, medical equipment etc and since I have a horse, which I had bought as I have a passion for them, I thought why not use it for a good purpose. So I consulted with my manager, followed all safety protocols and made the delivery!”

Having fun at work even as we raise the bar of customer obsession is the mantra that we swear by at Amazon. This is what makes ideas flow freely and allows us to take customer obsession to another level. Whether or not we’ll make horseback deliveries a regular thing is not sure, but one thing is for sure – whatever the future brings, Amazonians will improvise, innovate and overcome any challenge thrown at us!

Thank you Shiraz for this positive story and we wish you all the best.