Amazon Expands Same-Day Delivery Into Baltimore and Miami

There's clearly no turning back for Amazon, as some e-retailers have done when it comes to same-day delivery. The retail giant is all in and makes it clear with its' latest move that expansion of the service will continue. Bloomsberg recently reported that Amazon has expanded its' same-day delivery program to Baltimore and Miami. The initial roll-out of the Prime Now service will be available in certain zip codes and then expand into more areas within both cities.

“Since launching, we’ve seen high demand on everything from essentials like water and paper towels to more surprising deliveries like getting a customer a hard-to-find, top-selling toy,” Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations said. Thousands of products are available from Amazon with the service, from electronics to your everyday shampoo and household products. With a number of items at customer's disposal, Amazon creates the volume needed to make consolidated deliveries profitable. This is the idea behind same-day delivery, which does requires economies of scale and the right demographics for it to really work.

For its' 40 million Prime members, Amazon's two-hour delivery will be free and one-hour delivery is $7.99. The membership is $99 annually, plus the additional charge for service. Other competitors prices for same-day delivery are similar. Google Express is $4.99 per order or customers can pay $10 per month and $95 per year. Wal-Mart's same-day service is a flat $10 fee, regardless of the customer's order. Macy's has fees of $5 per order over $99 and shoppers with smaller orders pay standard shipping plus $5. Newcomer Ace Hardware is testing the service, charging $5 bucks also.

Amazon's aggressive city expansion is no surprise. Late last year, the e-retailer launched same-day delivery in major US cities into its' same-day delivery program, including New York City, Dallas, Indianapolis, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Atlanta. Baltimore was initially in the list, however, the launching appears to now be official. The article mentions that more cities are to come this year for Amazon as well.

Plans for retailer are strategic and vast, as Amazon pursues to stay ahead of competitors. It opened its' very first physical store location before the holiday season last year in Manhattan, New York as a small hub for same-day delivery from its' inventory and a location for shoppers to pick up online orders. Amazon also expanded same-day shipping in Vancouver and Toronto. Amazon.ca is competing there, namely against Wal-Mart Canada's free same-day service in Greater Toronto.

As the big retailer expands, other e-retailers and physical store retailers are following suit, jumping into same-day delivery to get their product moved. A same-day courier like A-1 Express is a viable partner to implement the service in any major US city. The Baltimore courier has a national footprint and utilizes the latest in courier technology as a platform for innovation for fast deliveries. Online retail will continue to grow. The competition will have to keep up and offer same-day delivery, or get left behind by retailers that can meet current shopping demands for convenience.

Reference: 3.19.15, www.bloomberg.com, Annie Massa, Amazon Expands Same-Day Delivery to Baltimore and Miami