Amazon Prime Himalayan delivery service at 11,561 feet

Amazon has always liked to flex its logistical muscles. It has increased the free shipping rate at retail, raised the rate to two-day shipping and expanded to same-day shipping. It has implemented lockers, residential storage units, address-based package tracking and even has a system where delivery drivers can leave packages at your home.

The company’s latest achievement? Delivering packages at 10,000 feet. It may sound like a marketing gimmick, but it illustrates the company’s willingness to penetrate even the most niche global market as a proof of concept. Amazon does it because it can.

That’s certainly not a gimmick for the residents of Leh, a small Himalayan village in India where Amazon recently set up shop.

“Our vision is to be the most customer-centric company on Earth; build a place where people can find and discover everything they want to buy online,” said Tim Collins, Amazon’s vice president of global logistics. “Our efforts in Leh perfectly reflect this vision.”

Since roads are only open from April to October due to snow and there is no rail network, logistical challenges make traditional landline transport impossible stores from remote locations, leaving residents relying on friends and family to bring in anything beyond the essentials. Now they have Amazon Prime all year long and at much lower prices.

Amazon, which is the first e-commerce operator in the region, has partnered with Incredible Himalaya, a local courier service provider employing four door-to-door delivery drivers, often using motorcycles.

Amazon says initial feedback from residents of the high-altitude city has been very positive, both in terms of job opportunities in a remote area dominated by tourism and seasonal work, and in terms of providing residents with everyday goods. In a region that previously had only a central parcel collection location, Leh residents appreciated door-to-door delivery for the first time.

If Amazon can replicate its Leh operation in other hard-to-reach parts of the world, it could see a shift similar to what happened with the internet in similar places. While some parts of the world had internet access before smartphones, most of the world jumped to smartphones because wireless technology has a much lower barrier to entry once it’s established. This proof of concept illustrates a comparable principle in retail: that some places that simply can’t support a full-scale brick-and-mortar store can find a comparable solution once e-commerce logistics improve.

Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, retail and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann.

Amazon’s Own Brands Quietly Take Over the Site

How to know if Amazon Prime is worth it

Amazon announces a better way to receive packages