NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon said Tuesday it has begun offering faster delivery in the United States on select products for a fee, including pantry staples, clothing, over-the-counter medications, cleaning supplies and electronics.
The announcement comes as Amazon sees increased competition from Walmart and also seeks to meet growing shoppers’ demands for faster delivery.
The e-commerce behemoth said customers in more than 2,000 cities, towns and suburban areas can now opt to receive orders from its express shipping inventory of 90,000 items delivered within three hours. The fee is $4.99 for Amazon Prime members and $14.99 for non-members.
One-hour delivery slots are available in hundreds of locations, including major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, and smaller cities such as Des Moines, Iowa, and Boise, Idaho, the company said. Prime members will be charged $9.99 for the service, which will cost non-members $19.99, Amazon said.
The Seattle-based company said it began testing express delivery service late last year and will expand it this month.
“We saw an opportunity to use our unique operational expertise and delivery network to help make customers’ lives a little easier while unlocking even more value for Prime members,” Udit Madan, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations, said in a statement.
Amazon launched its Prime program in 2005, offering members free two-day delivery on a selection of 1 million items, primarily DVDs, CDs and books. Prime members now have access to more than 300 million items in 35 categories, and tens of millions of products are available for free same-day or next-day delivery.
The company has used robotics and artificial intelligence technology to speed up order fulfillment. Regionalizing its U.S. delivery network into eight areas has also helped reduce delivery times, Amazon said.
Amazon is testing a super-fast service for deliveries in 30 minutes or less. Amazon Now is available in several cities in India, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates and is being tested in several communities in the US and the UK, according to the company.
Rival retailer Walmart has focused on faster deliveries. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company says it offers same-day delivery in less than three hours to 95% of the U.S. population, up from 76% three years ago. Walmart is also expanding its drone delivery of essential items. In January it announced it was expanding the drone delivery service to 150 more stores in partnership with Wing, a division of Alphabet. The addition will bring Walmart’s drone delivery locations with Wing to 270 by 2027, stretching from Los Angeles to Miami, the companies said.
Target, which is trying to reverse a persistent sales malaise, has been expanding faster delivery through its partnership with Shipt and testing new shipping models. Target offers same-day delivery through Shipt to 80% of the U.S. population, the retailer said. About 80% of those orders are delivered in three hours or less. Shipt’s annual membership costs $99 per year.