Amazon's Prime Air Same-Day Delivery Via Drone Is Done

There isn't a retailer in the country that is in front of Amazon, especially with its' latest announcement of its first successful drone flight for Same-Day Delivery. It isn't something that CEO Jeff Bezos just had for an idea in 2013. It is now a reality.

Fox News has reported that Amazon has officially launched its' Amazon Prime Air via drone in Cambridge, England. This first drone delivery was actually performed on December 7th last week. The drone completed the delivery in a matter of 13 minutes, which even Amazon mentioned in the article that none of them will take no more than 30 minutes. For this level of fast delivery, drone use can revolutionize the way same-day services are used to expand online retail globally.

The article stated that the drone delivered an Amazon Fire TV and some popcorn, which weighed less than 5 pounds. Guided by GPS, the drone is unmanned and able to be loaded with the purchased items, then flies direct to its destination. Amazon's drone flew no higher than 400 feet, as well as drones have to occupy separate air spaces to avoid planes. When Amazon first began to test drone use, there were several FAA regulations Amazon had to contend with, but Amazon Prime Air is proving to be able to literally take off.

Amazon does only have a few customers in the UK that is privy to using drones. However, the e-retail giant has hopes to expand it to a larger demographic. The article also mentioned how Amazon is careful not to use the drones in rain, snow, ice, or other types of inclement weather. The weather can definitely impede drones flight patterns, and most importantly, harm the drones themselves.

"One day, seeing Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road," Amazon says. This means that we could potentially find drones flying in various parts of the country at one time making deliveries. Shoppers will be able to have their online items delivered right to their front door within 30 minutes. Drone delivery will be satisfying for the customers, however, it may have an adverse affect mall traffic and other physical store retailers without a heavy focus on e-commerce.

Until Prime Air expands, even into using them in the US, Amazon will continue to utilize its' current same-day delivery option--Amazon Prime. The fast delivery service is working, not to mention Prime members have it as a free service in a total of 27 major US cities. These cities include San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Seattle-Tacoma, Dallas-Fort Worth, Boston, New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Washington DC, Nashville, Raleigh, Richmond, Tucson, Orlando, Tampa, and Atlanta. Amazon has free same-day delivery in Toronto and Vancouver as well. The inevitable is that Amazon will be using drones in every major city nationwide.

There is no telling where drone delivery is going to catapult e-commerce to. What retailers can currently do to compete is to partner with a Same-Day Courier like A-1 Express to shift their e-commerce into more of a core competency to generate sales. The Boston Courier has the courier expertise to create the level of same-day logistics needed to attractive customers and compete online, especially as Amazon continues to spearhead e-commerce innovation.

Reference: 12.14.16, Fox News, Lulu Chang, From high-flying dream to reality: Amazon fulfills its first order using a drone