Amazon speeds up same day deliveries in select US cities

Online delivery

3 Mar

Amazon has installed “mini-fulfilment centres” closer to where customers live in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando, and Dallas.

These allow the e-commerce giant to reduce same-day delivery times down to just a few hours for Prime members.

Up to three million items across various categories that are marked “Today by” can now be ordered for delivery throughout the day. Prime members can also order as late as midnight and have items arrive the next morning by selecting the “Overnight by 8am” option.

“Making so many daily deliveries across such a large selection of products isn’t an easy job. We’re able to do so by storing need-it-today items in brand new facilities we built even closer to customers. These are first-of-their-kind buildings and serve as mini-fulfilment centres optimided for faster click-to-delivery speeds,” Amazon says in a blog post.

“And while it may seem counterintuitive, the faster delivery speeds enabled by these facilities actually help us lower carbon emissions in line with our Climate Pledge to be net zero carbon by 2040 - 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. This is because these new facilities are in close proximity to customers, reducing the need for aircraft transport and generally decreasing the distance drivers have to travel to deliver packages to our customers.”

Same day delivery is free to Prime members on qualifying orders over $35 or $2.99 for delivery on orders under $35.