Amazon wants to deliver items in 30 minutes or less. It’s already happening in Philadelphia.
Amazon started testing the service in some parts of Philadelphia several months ago. It's rolling out more widely now.
Amazon customers can now get their orders delivered in 30 minutes or less in Philadelphia.
The company, which announced that it was testing out the fast delivery service in certain parts of Philadelphia last year, has now officially launched the program and is rolling it out to dozens of other cities.
In many locations the service is available 24 hours a day. It seems comparable to services offered by DoorDash and Gopuff, which also allow consumers to purchase food and retail items to be delivered same-day.
“With thousands of items available for ultra-fast delivery, you can get everything from groceries for dinner, to AirPods before a flight, to household essentials like laundry detergent or toothpaste delivered right to your door,” Udit Madan, senior vice president of Amazon worldwide operations, said in a statement Tuesday.
Amazon Now, as the new service is called, is expected to be available to tens of millions of customers by the end of the year, the company says. It is currently operating in Atlanta, Dallas–Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and Seattle.
In areas where the new program is offered, customers will see a “30-minute delivery” option in the Amazon app or website navigation bar. There, they can order thousands of items such as eggs, produce, baby-care supplies, and soap.
The fast delivery will cost Prime members $3.99 per order, and $13.99 for nonmembers. If the cost of the order is less than $15, Prime members will pay an additional $1.99 and all other customers will incur a $3.99 fee.
Amazon is using “a network of smaller locations” to process 30-minute orders, the company noted in a press release. These sites are located near customers’ homes and workplaces.
The new program is just the latest delivery option Amazon offers. The company delivers by drone to a few select areas in under an hour, and also has a same-day delivery service in over 10,000 U.S. locations.
