Amazon is now offering same-day delivery to 14 U.S. metropolitan areas, roughly covering 500 cities and towns across the country. To take advantage of the new service, online shoppers need to enlist with Amazon Prime, which entails a $99 annual membership fee.
Up for grabs are over one million items that according to CNET are listed at amazon.com/sameday. The minimum purchase required is $35 and customers must finalize the order by 12 PM to ensure that the merchandise will arrive within the day. Otherwise, delivery will be made the following day.
Prime by bedtime
CNET dubbed the new Amazon campaign as "Prime by bedtime," that reflects the online retail giant's long-standing goal of providing super-cheap, which in this case is free of any charge, and same-day delivery service. Essentially, the offer is an upgrade of the existing Amazon Prime package that requires a fee of $5.99 per order.
The enhanced Amazon Prime will make use of the delivery network called Amazon Fulfilment centers that the company has established in the past few years before launching the service. Amazon Prime vice president Chris Rupp has expressed confidence that the new service will perform as expected.
"We can get items closer to customers, get more items in stock and be able to deliver as quickly as possible," Rupp told CNET in an interview.
Steps ahead
The new initiative is seen as Amazon's way of bolting away from the pack and setting significant lead times over rivals, online or physical retailers alike.
Among the giant brands trying to challenge Amazons' hegemony in the online retail industry are Google, via its Google Play Store, and Walmart, which according to Bloomberg is matching Amazon Prime with a delivery subscription service that costs $50 per year. For the minimal charge, shoppers will have access to a catalogue of items numbering around 10 million.
But with an irresistible offer of free and same-day delivery, Amazon currently has the upper-hand, analyst Michael Pachter told Bloomberg. No thanks to the convenience and premium packed with the Amazon Prime physical retailers will surely continue to lose market share, Pachter added.
