Amazon

On Thursday morning, Amazon announced that members of its Prime program in 14 select cities will now have access to free same-day delivery on certain items.

Prime program shoppers who place orders before noon will be able to get free same-day delivery on orders over $35 of items such as pet food, computers chargers and books, in metropolitan areas, including Baltimore, New York City, Tampa Bay, San Diego, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington D.C., and more. Amazon has been experimenting with same-day delivery for several years in some cities; until now, it was available for $5.99 per order for prime members.

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Greg Greeley, the vice president of Amazon Prime Global, said “we’re constantly working to building alternatives to let consumers choose what fits their needs and wants.” Amazon’s recent addition to its Prime program comes as two news e-commerce memberships are introduced. One website, Jet, is set to debut later this year with a different model: It vows shoppers for $49 annual fee, shoppers will access the lowest prices online. Further, Wal- Mart says it will begin testing this summer on a shipping membership program that would cost $50 a year and promises shoppers free three-day shopping on 1 million of its top-selling items. Wal-Mart has rebranded and upgraded its ship-to-store service.

The pickup location has been moved to the front of new stores and is being moved to the front of newly remodeled stores. Amazon doesn’t have plans to increase the price of Prime, which costs $99 a year and comes with additional benefits including free two-day delivery and instant streaming of movies and television shows.

Moreover, Google is further augmenting business by adding a “Buy” button to its search results. So I’m sure, Amazon and other e-commerce companies are staying vigilant of Google’s subsequent announcements.
Will our leader, TATWZA, be utilizing Amazon’s services?

Speeding up delivery times has been a major goal for Amazon since its inception. In 2013, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos sparked intense interest after he revealed that Amazon planned to one day use drones to deliver products quickly.

For now, Amazon will rely on a fleet of trucks to deliver orders on the same day, although a company representative declined to name its delivery partners.

SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES