It’s not quite to the “as quick as you can say Jack Robinson” stage, but some Amazon customers will soon be able to get their deliveries in less than five hours.
The online shopping mecca is accelerating its same-day delivery for customers in Dallas, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Phoenix thanks to a $1.5 billion investment in its fulfillment centers in those areas.
How quick and what’s available
The time an order is delivered depends greatly on when it’s placed in these areas:
Orders placed between Midnight and 8am, local time, will be delivered by 1pm;
Orders placed between 8am and 1pm will be delivered by 6pm;
Orders placed between 1pm and 5pm will arrive by 10pm; and
Orders placed between 5pm and Midnight will arrive by 8am the next day.
Customers shouldn't expect anything and everything to make it to their doorstep at lightning speed, but Amazon says its list of available items is in the 3 million range and includes lots of I-need-it-quick items like diapers, dog food, and device chargers. Eligible items are products marked with “Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery”.
“Making so many daily deliveries across such a large selection of products isn’t an easy job,” Amazon’s Jon Alexander wrote in a blog post explaining the investment Amazon made in its warehouses to facilitate improvements like this. “We’re able to do so by storing need-it-today items in brand new facilities we built even closer to customers. These are first-of-their-kind buildings and serve as mini-fulfillment centers optimized for faster click-to-delivery speeds.”
“And while it may seem counterintuitive, the faster delivery speeds enabled by these facilities actually help us lower carbon emissions in line with our Climate Pledge to be net zero carbon by 2040 -- 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. This is because these new facilities are in close proximity to customers, reducing the need for aircraft transport and generally decreasing the distance drivers have to travel to deliver packages to our customers,” Alexander said.
It’ll cost you
You may have thought that this bump-up in service is a total freebie, but that’s not quite the case. Prime members who spend over $35 will get the service gratis, but for any total order under $35, the sped-up delivery will cost an extra $2.99.
Amazon will no doubt be adding new markets for the faster delivery service. The best thing consumers can do to stay on top of when the service will become available for them is by entering their zip code on Amazon’s same-day delivery page.