The perks of being an Amazon Prime member keep getting better. Although the company recently upped its membership fees, it is making sure customers are getting what they want and need with its services. Most recently, Amazon has announced it will begin rolling out one-day shipping for Prime members.
Amazon One-Day Shipping for Prime Members
“We’re currently working on evolving our Prime free two-day shipping program to be a free one-day shipping program,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said. Company executives expect to see a slight decrease in profits when adding the new service. Amazon expects to spend $800 million in the second quarter facilitating this change.
Previously, the company’s two-day shipping offer is its biggest selling point. Amazon believes that by providing one-day shipping around the world more people will look at signing up for Prime.
One-day shipping and same-day shipping is available on select products now. However, the change will make it so all Prime members can get next-day shipping.
“We have been offering obviously faster-than-two-day shipping for Prime members for years — one day, same day, even down to two-hour delivery for Prime Now — so we’re going to continue to offer same day and Prime Now morphing into, or evolving into, a free one-day offer,” Olsavsky stated.
Amazon has begun rolling free one-day shipping to Prime members in certain area codes. The company will continue expanding the one-day shipping option over the next quarter.
Other Companies Scrambling to Compete
Retailers have been eyeing Amazon as the main competitor for a few years. Walmart, Target, and other stores have begun offering same-day pickup, next-day shipping, and even grocery pickup.
One-day shipping with Amazon “ratchets up the pressure on retailers across the spectrum to offer faster shipping,” John Zolidis, president of Quo Vadis Capital said. “But both Walmart and Target are leading Amazon in terms of these shipping options — they are the ones with the best solutions already in place.”
However, one-day shipping isn’t where the real war is to be won. Most consumers are still yearning for free same-day shipping. And in reality, Walmart and Target are in the best position to offer that because each retailer has thousands of stores. This provides access to most of the population of the United States.
Walmart Shipping Options
Free two-day shipping has been available at Walmart.com for two years. The retailer offers this shipping option on millions of items online. There are no fees associated with free two-day shipping. Online shoppers will need to have a total of $35 or more though.
Additionally, Walmart offers same-day grocery delivery to more than 40 percent of the U.S. For those who don’t have same-day grocery delivery, same-day pickup is available at more than 2,100 stores. Walmart has installed pickup towers in 700 of its 4,000 stores in the U.S. that allow for quick pickup of any non-grocery items.
Same-Day Shipping With Target
Target has partnered with Shipt to offer same-day delivery. Like Amazon, you will have to pay an annual fee for Shipt ($99). So, Walmart still has a leg up on Target and Amazon where pricing is concerned.
Target will also begin to offer same-day drive-up pickup options at most of its stores by the end of 2019. Drive up services will allow customers to pick up their items without getting out of their cars.
Amazon’s latest move has Prime members chattering but, when it comes down to it, the other major retailers are keeping up. The main struggle will be left to be seen in department stores and other specialty retailers.
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