Amazon Now Offering Delivery In 1 Hour or Less

[13CA350]

Note: I did a manual search to see if this was posted yet, and it appears it wasn't, however, the search function is broken right now.

 

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2014/12/18/amazon-promises-one-hour-delivery-in-manhattan-by-going-low-tech/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-com-launches-superfast-delivery-in-nyc-1418903192

 

 

 

Today, Amazon.com AMZN -0.42%  introduced Prime Now, a service in Manhattan promising delivery in as soon as one hour. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon said it will expand the service to other cities next year. Amazon will charge $7.99 for delivery within an hour, though two-hour delivery is free. Amazon said more than 25,000 items are eligible for delivery under the Prime Now program, which is only available to customers who pay $99 for the annual Prime membership.

 

Personally I think that this is WAY more practical than drone delivery. If I lived in NY I would use this all the time. With 1 hour delivery for $10 I'd find myself buying more products simply because I know it would be delivered soon. It makes prime worth the $99 a year now.

 

 

The e-commerce giant had been testing the service with bike messengers for at least a few weeks from a building in midtown Manhattan, opposite the Empire State Building. Seattle-based Amazon has leased the entire building, once the site of a department store, for 17 years to house office space as well as merchandise.

The service, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, is relatively simple to use with a mobile device.

After downloading the Amazon Prime Now mobile application, customers can search for the items they need and order them through the app. Amazon then dispatches a bike messenger with the goods to the customer’s door.

Several analysts who tried out the service on Thursday said they got their orders in less than an hour.

 

[Kyuubixchidori]

Note: I did a manual search to see if this was posted yet, and it appears it wasn't, however, the search function is broken right now.

 

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2014/12/18/amazon-promises-one-hour-delivery-in-manhattan-by-going-low-tech/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-com-launches-superfast-delivery-in-nyc-1418903192

 

 

Personally I think that this is WAY more practical than drone delivery. If I lived in NY I would use this all the time. With 1 hour delivery for $10 I'd find myself buying more products simply because I know it would be delivered soon. It makes prime worth the $99 a year now.

how can it possibly be practical or cost effective to do this? I see it only in major cities and thats it. theres no way this will work in the suburbs. 

[Xorbot]

2-hour deliver is much too long for me.  I will gladly pay the $8 for 1-hour delivery.

[AustinB]

Accuracy will be a issue, unless they are Geo-Tagging users.

[Opcode]

I remember seeing this about a month or two ago.

 

Unless it was Newegg...

 

Here

[EChondo]

My dad suggests that Amazon should buy/share-own USPS locations, there's one in every city and they could be used to deliver our packages.

[Thony]

So u have to pay for Prime Now and on top of that you pay 7.99 dolllars.

2hours *free* delivery is insane. U would have to be in real hurry to pay extra for one hour delivery lol. In the future theres not gonna be shops just Amazon warehouses wow.

10 years ago i had 256kbps dial-up modem from orange. Now we have 1gbps and online shopping with one hour delivery.

My mind is blown

[Psykomantis00]

Wow. That's pretty awesome. 

[Geekazoid]

Tis good. Tis awesome! B)

[NeatSquidYT]

Kind of cool, but kind of expensive at the same time. I can see its uses though like "Oh shit, grandpa's medicine!"

[Lays]

My dad suggests that Amazon should buy/share-own USPS locations, there's one in every city and they could be used to deliver our packages.

 

I don't think they can, seeing as USPS is essentially government ran?

[Mystic Mistro]

You pay 99 a year and then another 10....having the 2 hour free tjough os brillient! not so keen but then im in the uk so not an option for me.

[Mystic Mistro]

You pay 99 a year and then another 10....having the 2 hour free tjough os brillient! not so keen but then im in the uk so not an option for me.

[StareX]

Nice.. it's like ordering a pizza but I can order a shiny new headphones and get them within an hour.

[Prime Kang]

Those robot pickers are amazing. Delivery in 2 hours for free is stupid fast. It seems way to short to be reliable outside of a few mile radius.

I can imagine drivers getting angry with 1hr shipping during rush hour.

[SpaceCore]

My dad suggests that Amazon should buy/share-own USPS locations, there's one in every city and they could be used to deliver our packages.

NO!

 

every time UPS leaves a package to be delivered by USPS they don't. they come by, leave a slip saying they made an attempt (doesn't even knock on door) and makes you go to the post office, make a line by the window and wait your turn for pickup.

 

I'd rather have a drone with a machine gun and a camera deliver to my bedroom..

[Misanthrope]

Right....You can deliver in less than one hour, yet you can't fucking tell me which carrier you will use rending a large portion of americans unable to being delivered: Many households need separate physical and mailing addresses due to not having USPS service and if Amazon can't tell you at check out which carrier you have a 50/50 chance of having an undeliverable order....but at least the delivery will fucking fail within 1 hour now!

[patrickjp93]

how can it possibly be practical or cost effective to do this? I see it only in major cities and thats it. theres no way this will work in the suburbs. 

Drones man. Solar-powered drones.

[Techhog]

Why does it have to only be Manhattan?

[rashdanml]

They'll need warehouses all over the country fully stocked with at least a handful of each eligible item. Should be interesting.

Honestly, their guaranteed 2-day free delivery is already excellent for Prime members. Next-day for $3.99 is also worth it. 

[martinrox1568]

Accuracy will be a issue, unless they are Geo-Tagging users.

they'll probabbly still deliver to your door

[EChondo]

I don't think they can, seeing as USPS is essentially government ran?

They were originally until 1971. From Wikipedia(with source);

 

"The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g., Amtrak) because it operates much like a business, but as noted above, it is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States" as it is controlled by Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail. Indeed, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the USPS was not a government-owned corporation, and therefore could not be sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act."

 

So essentially they could make this sort of deal.

 

NO!

 

every time UPS leaves a package to be delivered by USPS they don't. they come by, leave a slip saying they made an attempt (doesn't even knock on door) and makes you go to the post office, make a line by the window and wait your turn for pickup.

 

I'd rather have a drone with a machine gun and a camera deliver to my bedroom..

Weird, I just got three big Amazon boxes delivered to my door followed by a knock and as I was opening the door I saw the packages and the USPS guy walking out of gate and waved at me upon hearing my front door open and saw me walk out, oh and this was at 7pm at night. Also since it's the holiday season, USPS has extended their delivery and office hours to accommodate for the increased in deliveries and orders being made.

 

I'm not trying to discredit you, I've had my fair share of crap experiences with USPS, but I also have had those same experiences with UPS and FedEx especially when I leave a sign on my gate saying "It's Unlocked! Come knock on the door! I'm home!" and I still get the damn piece of paper saying they couldn't deliver my package. I've been leaving my gate wide open when I'm expecting a package now from UPS/FedEx.

 

Also, wouldn't you think Amazon co-owning/pumping money into USPS raise their QoS?