Amazon adds Prime same-day delivery to 11 more markets
Amazon continues to elevate customer expectations throughout the retail industry with its latest move involving the availability of free same-day delivery service in 11 new markets.
The move is the biggest expansion to date of the service, which is now available in 27 markets nationwide and allows Prime members who place an order in the morning of eligible products greater than $35 to receive free same-day delivery before 9 p.m. More than 1 million items are eligible for the Prime same-day delivery in the newly added markets of Charlotte; Cincinnati; Fresno; Louisville; Milwaukee; Nashville; Raleigh; Richmond; Sacramento; Stockton, Calif.; and Tucson. In addition to the new markets, the same-day delivery service was extended to zip codes in existing markets of central N.J., Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and San Diego.
“Prime was developed to make shopping on Amazon fast and convenient, and millions of members have used Prime free same-day delivery to make their lives even easier,” said Greg Greeley, VP of Prime. “We keep making Prime better, and as our operational capabilities grow, we will continue to invent and expand delivery options that customers love.”
Expansion of the same-day delivery service highlights how Amazon continues to elevate the value proposition of its Prime membership. Initially, the key benefit of Prime membership, for which most people pay a $99 annual fee, was seen as free two-day shipping. However, Amazon’s increasingly robust offering of content available to Prime members, same-day delivery of an ever expanding assortment of eligible items and even one-hour delivery called Prime Now means Amazon continues to raise the bar on customer expectations.
Other markets where the same day service is available include Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas-Fort Worth, Indianapolis, the greater Los Angeles area, greater New York, including North and Central New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay area including Oakland and San Jose, Seattle-Tacoma, the Tampa Bay area, Tucson and Washington, D.C.
Amazon’s announcement of the Prime same-day expansion follows media reports the prior day that the retailer planned to broaden the reach of its Prime Now service, which offers product delivery in as little as one or two hours. Prime Now is currently available only as a mobile app but the retailer is said to be making the order fulfillment option available to desktop users in May.
Amazon launched Prime Now in New York City in December 2014 and has since expanded it major U.S. cities where it also offers free same-day delivery.