Postmates offers new monthly model

On-demand delivery provider Postmates is priming consumers for a new free delivery subscription service.



Called Postmates Plus Unlimited, the service offers users free delivery and zero service fees on any purchase more than $30 from Postmates Plus merchant partners, who include American Apparel. Postmates Plus Unlimited purchases will be accepted instantly for faster response.



The service costs $9.99 per month and can be canceled anytime. It builds upon the existing Postmates Plus offering, a network of 3,000 retailers that offer a flat delivery fee of $3.99. Introduced in May 2015, Postmates Plus now accounts for almost 40% of the company’s delivery volume.



According to a posting on the official Postmates blog, the new service is part of an effort to become a utility for seamless retailing.



“Removing delivery and service fees for purchases creates a level playing field between local delivery and in-store purchases,” says the blog. “The future of Plus Unlimited is greater diversity of places, across retail, convenience, beauty and more.”



In addition to allowing Postmates to operate more like a utility, Plus Unlimited also lets Postmates offer a service more than a little like the highly successful Amazon Prime free delivery subscription program. While Plus Unlimited winds up costing more per year than Prime, it offers the added convenience of paying by month instead of upfront annual fee.