Dive Brief:
- Amazon now provides one-hour and three-hour delivery options in the U.S. for more than 90,000 products, including those "typically found in a local supercenter," according to an announcement Tuesday.
- The new delivery methods can cover a litany of goods, including pantry items, cleaning supplies, health and beauty products, over-the-counter medications, electronics, toys, clothing, accessories, and home and garden items, according to Amazon.
- One-hour delivery is currently available in hundreds of cities and towns, including parts of Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., along with smaller locations such as Des Moines, Iowa, and Boise, Idaho. Three-hour delivery is live in over 2,000 communities, including smaller locations like Cornwall, Pennsylvania, and Harrah, Oklahoma. Amazon said it aims to expand both capabilities to more areas in the coming months.
Dive Insight:
Faster delivery options are all the rage among retail giants looking to satiate convenience-focused consumers, with Amazon's new one- and three-hour options adding to that trend. Other examples include Walmart growing its three-hour delivery reach to 95% of U.S. households, Target expanding its next-day delivery capabilities and Dollar General building out its same-day rural delivery reach.
While many retailers leverage their extensive store footprints for quick delivery, Amazon's new fast shipping options are possible through its Same-Day Delivery facilities, which "enable the full lifecycle of an order under one roof, from fulfillment to final delivery," per the release. The hubs, in combination with predictive AI inventory placement algorithms, have enabled Amazon to streamline the picking, sorting and fulfillment process.
Amazon said the new options will help the company deliver at even faster speeds this year, building upon recent quick shipping gains to combat rivals like Walmart. CEO Andy Jassy said in February that same-day is Amazon's fastest-growing delivery option, with items delivered the same day jumping nearly 70% year-over-year in 2025. The company is also testing its 30-minutes-or-less Amazon Now service, which focuses on essential goods and groceries, in select U.S. locations.
"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 SVP of worldwide operations, said in the announcement about the one- and three-hour delivery options.
Faster deliveries come at a price. For Amazon Prime members, one-hour delivery includes a $9.99 fee and three-hour delivery has a $4.99 charge. Customers without a Prime membership pay $19.99 for one-hour delivery and $14.99 for three-hour delivery.
