Amazon Tests Same-Day Delivery By Bike In New York
Friday, January 30, 2015 at 10:00AM 
There are many retailers looking at same-day delivery a variety of ways, turning it and twisting it, in hot pursuit of what will get it to work. Retail leader Amazon has implemented 50 distribution centers nationwide to support its' same-day delivery services. CEO Jeff Bezos announced last year about its' desire to perform the service using drones. A month ago, Amazon opened its' very first physical store location in Manhattan, right in the heart of busy New York. Now as the holiday shopping season heightens, there is another same-day vehicle Amazon is seeking to test and see if maybe it will generate the delivery solution it is after.
Yahoo News has recently reported via the Wall Street Journal that Amazon is testing delivery via bike in New York City. With a same-day delivery service like this, Amazon customers could receive their orders as fast as one hour, which will make for the fastest option Amazon offers. The WSJ found that bike messengers are utilizing Amazon's new physical location in Manhattan, which was announced last month as the first of its' kind for the retail leader. The web-based platform only for retail could be a thing of the past, as having one physical location will probably lead to more in other cities, if it thrives.
The WSJ stated that the new bike service may be called Amazon Prime Now, costing members only $5 to get a bike messenger to deliver fast. This falls right in line with its' other Prime products; Amazon offer its' Prime members same-day delivery for $5.99. Non-Prime members pay $9.99 for the first item and $.99 cents for each additional item. A huge difference with the same-day bike service is customers will pay $0 if they are willing to waiting several hours for their order, and Amazon will promote tipping bike messengers for their services.
This pricing stacks up with the benchmark for same-day delivery, as other retailers have relatively the same structure. Google Express charges $4.99 per order or customers can pay $10 per month and $95 per year. Wal-Mart offers same-day delivery in multiple cities and its' service Walmart To Go costs $10, regardless of the order size. Same-day delivery newcomer Macy's set its' pricing at flat rate of $5 for orders over $99 and shoppers with smaller orders pay standard shipping rates plus $5.
Amazon isn't aggressively pursuing faster deliveries for no reason. Retail e-commerce in the US is estimated to increase nearly $500 billion by 2018, which is over $200 billion more than sales last year. This is why Google, Wal-Mart, Macy's, Barnes & Noble and more are all racing to make same-day delivery work. Technology is reshaping the why we do business, and online shopping will have a greater market share in the coming years than ever. More and more shoppers are utilizing their mobile devices and like the convenience of not having to leaving their homes to make purchases. The savings of time and gas in their cars will prove to be worth the extra $5 bucks.
The report also stated that Amazon is performing time trials from bike messenger companies to determine who their partner will be. Amazon is making a wise move to partner with an experienced bike courier. Amazon and other retailers that are after same-day delivery can partner with a same-day courier like A-1 Express which offers local bike messenger services in New York also. The New York courier also has a national footprint and provides same-day delivery throughout the US, positioning itself with the capability to handle high volume at lower costs needed by large retailers like Amazon.
Reference: 12.8.14, Yahoo News, Anthony Jones, Amazon Bike Delivery Service Coming To Manhattan, Offering One-Hour Delivery Time