Amazon Announces Same-Day Delivery in Seven U.S. Cities

In an Amazon news release, Amazon.com announced it would offer same-day delivery in seven U.S. cities. Customers who order items on Amazon before a certain deadline will receive their items the same day, for a higher shipping rate, just in time for the Christmas shopping season.

The seven U.S. cities Amazon offers same-day delivery on are: New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Las Vegas, and home base, Seattle. The order cutoff times vary by city, from New York's 10 a.m. to Seattle's 1 p.m. The press release hints at a possible expansion in later months, to Chicago, Indianapolis, and Phoenix.

While Amazon's Local Express Delivery is in the beta stage, yearly subscribers of Amazon Prime can expect to pay $5.99 per item for the service. Non-Amazon Prime subscribing customers can expect a case-by-case basis, but expect to pay somewhere near $20 as a base and upwards, based on quantity of items and size, for the last-minute perk.

Amazon's new same-day delivery will likely attract last-minute Christmas shoppers and the terminally lazy. With the widely variant price between Amazon Prime subscribers and non-Amazon Prime subscribers, it will certainly boost the amount of Amazon Prime subscriptions. For only $6 a pop, one can stay inside and avoid the crazy lines, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and other modern day unpleasantries.

The Amazon Prime subscription already has other benefits, mainly free two-day shipping and a lowered one-day shipping charge. Yearly subscriptions run at $79, so Amazon Prime might be a popular Christmas gift for the bibliophiles, cinephiles, and audiophiles on your list.

The press release also announced an expansion of their Saturday delivery policy. Previously, items ordered before the deadline on Thursday for Two-Day Delivery would not arrive until Monday; now, they arrive on Saturday.

Amazon's move to provide Local Express Delivery is a new challenge to the instant gratification brick and mortar stores, as it cuts down on one strength of retail store Best Buy, which allows customers to search store inventory, order the item, and pick the item up at the store a half-hour later.

Amazon's already-competitive prices have really cut into Best Buy's market share, and now it turns Amazon's shipping hubs into brick and mortar stores you never have to even visit. This may work well for consumers, as both retail and online stores will have to be able to compete with Amazon if this same-day delivery experiment works.

Some consumers may laugh at the concept of paying an extra $20 for a $10 book, but Father Christmas tends to creep up fast.

Source:
Amazon.com, "News Release"