Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP / Getty Images
Amazon is now offering customers across the United States faster delivery options, with new one-hour and three-hour same-day delivery services on thousands of products, including household essentials, over-the-counter medications, cleaning supplies, and electronics. The announcement was made Tuesday (March 17), marking a significant expansion in Amazon’s efforts to speed up order fulfillment and compete more closely with other major retailers.
The one-hour delivery option is now available in hundreds of cities and towns, including major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., as well as smaller locations such as Des Moines, Iowa, and Boise, Idaho. The three-hour delivery service is available in more than 2,000 cities and towns, reaching both urban centers and surrounding suburbs.
Prime members pay $9.99 for one-hour delivery and $4.99 for three-hour delivery. Non-Prime customers are charged $19.99 for one-hour delivery and $14.99 for three-hour delivery. Both services are offered seven days a week, with dedicated shopping pages and search filters making it easier for customers to find products eligible for these faster options.
Amazon attributes its ability to offer these rapid shipping speeds to its network of Same-Day Delivery facilities and the use of predictive artificial intelligence algorithms for inventory placement. The company has also regionalized its delivery network into eight areas to further cut delivery times.
“Our customers are busier than ever and are looking for new ways to save time while keeping their households running. We saw an opportunity to use our unique operational expertise and delivery network to help make customers’ lives a little easier while unlocking even more value for Prime members,” said Udit Madan, senior vice president of Worldwide Operations at Amazon. “We’re excited to say that two decades after Prime first launched, we’re still innovating to make delivery even faster, while maintaining the same everyday low prices and vast selection Amazon is known for.”
Amazon plans to expand the new delivery options to even more areas in the coming months. Customers can check their eligibility by visiting Amazon’s Same-Day Store online.