Because next-day delivery is old news, Amazon has initiated same-day delivery in 14 major markets, though the service is free only for Prime members when they spend at least $35 on their orders. If non-Prime members want the items the same day, they pay $9.98; if Prime members need a small order immediately, the service costs $5.99 per order. Along with the membership and price requirements, Amazon needs the orders placed by noon and guarantees to provide the items by 9:00 that evening. Not all products can ship this way either. Those available for same-day delivery are marked by a “Prime Free Same-Day” logo on their product page on the retail website, which also allows consumers to filter their searches according to this availability. These moves signal the ever increasing effort to speed up deliveries and thereby overcome a key consumer frustration with online purchases, namely, when they have to wait several days to obtain their desired item. Thus Amazon also is testing one-hour delivery services in six markets and grocery deliveries in four metropolitan areas. Simultaneously, retail competitors such as Walmart and Google are testing their own same-day delivery services. Walmart also announced that its shipping service, guaranteeing deliver within three days, would cost subscribers $50 annually, about half the cost of an Amazon Prime membership. Even entities outside the traditional retail industry, such as Uber and Postmates, are considering how they can leverage their resources to provide inexpensive product delivery services to consumers.

 

Sources: Tom Ryan, Retail Wire, May 29, 2015;See also Walmart Plans to Test Unlimited Shipping Service, Associated Press, May 13, 2015