Why a houseboat owner in J&K launched Amazon India’s first floating store in Srinagar

Murtaza Khan Kashi started the first floating Amazon India store from his houseboat Selec Town, in June 2023. (Photo via Amazon India)

Living in a houseboat in Srinagar’s Dal Lake or Nigeen Lake has its pros and cons. A clear pro is that you're surrounded by the most spectacular scenery for the better part of the year. A pesky con is logistical issues, like difficulty getting packages and deliveries.

To mitigate the logistical issues and deliver packages to the doorsteps of houseboats in the Dal and Nigeen Lakes, Murtaza Khan Kashi - who owns a houseboat he calls Selec Town - started the first floating Amazon store, part of company’s last-mile delivery program, I Have Space (IHS) launched in 2015.

Murtaza Khan Kashi delivering a package on a houseboat. (Photo via Amazon)

Ever since Kashi opened an Amazon store in June this year, he claims to be quickly delivering products to customers residing in and around Dal Lake and Nigeen Lake. “Delivering Amazon products is not new for me but getting the packages delivered in and around Kashmir’s beautiful lakes is something new and pleasing,” Kashi tells Moneycontrol.

He recalls that the people staying in houseboats had to suffer a lot to receive their packages from Amazon. “After experiencing the trouble houseboat residents and tourists go through while receiving their orders from Amazon I decided to open a floating store for their convenience. Within a short span of time the floating store has got a rousing response because now Amazon customers no longer need to go ashore to pick up their packages.”

Manzoor Kundroo, who runs a houseboat, “New Golden Flower” in Dal Lake, says he is “over the moon” to see the Amazon’s floating store, the first of its kind in Dal Lake. Kundroo says he has been ordering on Amazon since 2013, but “had to embark on a journey by using my own boat towards the banks to pick up the package. Picking up the product usually takes more than two hours because first I reach the banks of the lake and then I take my car to reach Nowhatta, 3 kilometres from Dalgate, where my products are delivered.”

“Having a floating Amazon store in Dal is a great step not only for the Dal dwellers but also for the tourists. The good thing is that Amazon will now deliver groceries at our door steps,” Kundroo adds.

Under IHS, Amazon’s last-mile delivery program, Kashi, apart from hosting tourists in houseboats, is expecting to earn additional income through Amazon’s logistic service.

Kashi says his houseboat is his primary business but it only brings in seasonal income from tourists, so he wanted to do additional work to raise his income until he came across to Amazon’s IHS, allowing local store owners like him to supplement the regular income by delivering packages to Amazon customers.

Chairman of Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association (KHBOA), Manzoor Ahmad Pakthoon tells Moneycontrol that if houseboat owners are not able to do good business through tourism, they can think out of the box to start other ventures inside houseboats. Pakhtoon says houseboat businesses have suffered immensely in Kashmir Valley due to ban on renovation and expansion of houseboats and inability to maintain houseboats as per modern standards. “If houseboat owners are not making a good business through tourists they can follow the footsteps of Kashi who coordinated with Amazon to open India’s first floating store in Dal.”

Pakhtoon says that around 145 houseboat owners are offering to surrender their registrations and seeking rehabilitation as they cannot continue with their maintenance due to inflation and ban on renovation of houseboats.

Even Kashi admits that the cost of managing the houseboat, representing vignettes of Kashmiri life and culture, is huge and which is why he had decided to work with Amazon to increase his family income.

Murtaza Khan Kashi (Photo via Amazon India)

Dr Karuna Shankar Pande, Director, Amazon Logistics, India, says that Amazon’s floating store will enable the company to provide customers across Srinagar more reliable, efficient and faster deliveries. Under the IHS flagship program, Amazon claims to have more than 28,000 neighbourhood and kirana partners in close to 420 towns and cities across its network in India. “Through IHS, Amazon continues to enable individuals to unlock their entrepreneurial potential and create opportunities to broaden their horizons.”

To be sure, Amazon India is a business and as such has its eye on the bottom line. Having said that, our dependence on online shopping has only grown in the last few years - supercharged by the pandemic months and lockdowns. Redseer Consulting says e-commerce is set to grow at 40 percent CAGR in India till 2027 and the value of products shipped by these companies will balloon from $32 billion in financial year 2020 to $180 billion in 2024-25. In this scenario, last-mile connectivity - whether developed by the e-commerce companies inhouse or outsourced to third-party logistics firms and partners - could smoothen the transition for thousands of people who live on the water.