In a bold move to redefine convenience in e-commerce, Amazon has officially rolled out “Amazon Now,” a groundbreaking ultra-fast delivery service promising to bring household essentials and fresh groceries to doorsteps in just 30 minutes or less. This week, the pilot program started in some neighborhoods in Seattle, Amazon’s hometown, and Philadelphia. This shows that the tech giant is aggressively entering the growing quick-commerce market.
A New Age of Quick Shopping
Imagine running out of milk at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, or realizing halfway through a recipe that you don’t have enough eggs. With Amazon Now, these everyday emergencies could be resolved faster than it takes to boil water. Customers in eligible areas can now use the well-known Amazon shopping app and website to browse a curated catalog of thousands of items. To look through and order, just go to the app’s menu and choose “30-Minute Delivery.”
The service has a lot of products for people who need them right away, like fresh fruits and vegetables, over-the-counter medicines like ibuprofen, diapers, pet food, cosmetics, electronics, and seasonal items. Amazon makes it clear that not everything in its huge inventory qualifies, but the selection includes the “tens of thousands” of items that most customers want in a hurry.
Amazon is using specialized micro-fulfillment centers—small, strategically located facilities designed like high-tech convenience stores—to make sure that orders are filled quickly. These hubs are open all the time, and workers efficiently pick, pack, and stage orders to hand off to Amazon Flex drivers. The setup cuts down on the distance that delivery partners have to travel, puts worker safety first, and cuts delivery times by a huge amount. Some early tests have shown that deliveries can happen in as little as six minutes.
An Amazon spokesperson said in the company’s announcement, “This is about making customers’ lives easier by delivering what they need, when they need it most.” Real-time order tracking and the option to tip drivers round out the seamless experience.
Pricing and Accessibility: Prime Perks Included
Like many new things from Amazon, Prime membership makes the deal even better. Subscribers only pay $3.99 for delivery on each order, while non-Prime users pay $13.99. If your order is less than $15, you’ll have to pay an extra $1.99 small-basket fee to keep things cheap for quick grabs. Availability isn’t citywide yet—eligibility depends on how close you are to the micro-hubs—so users are encouraged to check the app for real-time updates, as coverage may fluctuate throughout the day.
Competing in the “Blink-and-It’s-Here” Market
Amazon’s move to offer 30-minute deliveries isn’t happening in a vacuum. The company wants to compete with big names like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, and GoPuff, which have made the “quick commerce” model of delivering groceries and other essentials in less than an hour popular. This launch builds on Amazon’s already impressive same-day and next-day delivery service. Last year, it delivered more than 9 billion items to Prime members in a single day.
Amazon has been trying things out around the world. For example, last month it started offering a 15-minute delivery service in the United Arab Emirates. However, the U.S. rollout revives echoes of past experiments like Amazon Restaurants and Amazon Fresh’s short-lived ultra-fast pilots, both of which were shuttered amid operational challenges. Amazon’s current strategy, on the other hand, focuses on controlling inventory in specific areas and making last-mile logistics more efficient to avoid those problems.
People who follow the industry think this could change the game for Amazon’s grocery plans. During a recent earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy talked about how fast the industry is growing. He said that Amazon’s online grocery sales topped $100 billion last year, making it one of the top three U.S. grocery stores without counting physical Whole Foods stores. Jassy said, “We’re changing habits and making Amazon the place to go for groceries.”
What comes next? More growth is on the way
Amazon hasn’t given a firm date for a wider rollout, but the company’s history suggests that it will happen quickly if the pilot goes well. It already has a regionalized logistics network that is optimized for speed after the pandemic, so it could soon add more micro-hubs in cities with a lot of people, like New York or Los Angeles.
For now, people who live in Seattle and Philadelphia are the lucky ones. One of the first people to use it in Philadelphia wrote on social media, “Ordered cat food at midnight—arrived in 22 minutes. Amazon just won my insomniac heart.” It’s not clear yet if this super-fast service will change the delivery landscape or just be another ambitious Amazon project. One thing is for sure: Amazon is putting the pedal to the metal in the race for customers’ time.
