Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#101

Post by TillE » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:01 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #95

frik wrote: post #82

As a Amazon.com customer since the late nineties I don't get the "Prime" subscription model. I have a e-ink Kindle, I buy MP3s, electronics, many books there on their Market Place and I use AWS. But why should I care about "Prime"? Either Amazon cares about long term customers or not, but don't try to force me to Prime by showing full screen "Prime" advertisement (with a little "no thanks" link) at every purchase. I…

I wonder what the cause of your slower shipping was. Another poster said he doesn't have Prime but his shipping speed is still Prime fast. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9619203

It's all anecdotal, but before Prime was introduced in Germany, Amazon always shipped very quickly after placing an order. Total time until delivery was reliably 2-3 days. After, it was taking them days to process an order, so that time went up to about a week.

I eventually gave in and signed up. Prime shipping isn't actually faster here, it's just what the old normal free shipping used to be.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#102

Post by michaelt » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:01 PM UTC

xacaxulu wrote: post #65

I've noticed that Amazon has totally changed my shopping habits from 3-5 years ago. Clothes and household expendable items are almost entirely purchased on Amazon (even if I just want to try on a pair of boots). Prime Subscription or Pantry takes care of most of the rest. I don't need to drive to Costco anymore or spend time walking around Wal-Mart. I look forward to the day when my Whole Foods order can be delivered…

Meanwhile in the UK, Ocado has offered same day grocery delivery since 2009, and Asda (who are owned by wal-mart) have offered it since 2013.

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/channels/supermarkets/ocado-tease...

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#103

Post by frik » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:02 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #95

frik wrote: post #82

As a Amazon.com customer since the late nineties I don't get the "Prime" subscription model. I have a e-ink Kindle, I buy MP3s, electronics, many books there on their Market Place and I use AWS. But why should I care about "Prime"? Either Amazon cares about long term customers or not, but don't try to force me to Prime by showing full screen "Prime" advertisement (with a little "no thanks" link) at every purchase. I…

I wonder what the cause of your slower shipping was. Another poster said he doesn't have Prime but his shipping speed is still Prime fast. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9619203

I suspect it was the introduction of Prime as all my shipments take at least a day longer than before. (in western Europe) It took 1-2 days, now it takes usually 2-7 days. I also found no correlation to the reoccurring strike problems at Amazon warehouses in Germany.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#104

Post by zer00eyz » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:02 PM UTC

I have a love hate relationship with amazon and this is just making it worse.

As a customer, this is amazing service. Sometimes I pay a bit more at amazon just for speedy delivery (it is a trade off you need to balance). And for a lot of things the selection is amazing.

As someone who runs a small business that has to ship products, amazon continues to raise the bar to a level/place that we just cannot meet. Our timelines for delivery and shipping costs are "out in front" and I can assure you that in setting that expectation we are deterring some customers from purchasing.

To that end, we are investing in tools to be more high touch and high engagement, our margins are such that we are able to do that but a lot of other small player simply do not have that ability.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#105

Post by rickyc091 » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:03 PM UTC

TomDavey wrote: post #96

michaelgrosner2 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried Instacart or FreshDirect? (I believe FreshDirect only works in the NYC area)

I'm in NYC, and I love Fresh Direct. I use Fresh Direct for the food, and Amazon for everything else. I feel guilty for not patronizing my local retail establishments, but the cumulative advantages of 1) huge inventory, b) rapid delivery, and c) competitive prices, makes the decision to prefer the online giants a no-brainer.

Have you tried Amazon Fresh? I use FreshDirect for work, but for my own personal groceries I've been using Amazon Fresh and I love it.

I've done a price comparison between Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, Freshdirect. Seems Trader Joes still has the cheapest prices, but Amazon Fresh seems to beat FreshDirect. They delivery in person with 1 hr time slots and 3 hour windows for unattended delivery.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#106

Post by dec0dedab0de » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:04 PM UTC

michaelgrosner2 wrote: post #76

xacaxulu wrote: post #65

I've noticed that Amazon has totally changed my shopping habits from 3-5 years ago. Clothes and household expendable items are almost entirely purchased on Amazon (even if I just want to try on a pair of boots). Prime Subscription or Pantry takes care of most of the rest. I don't need to drive to Costco anymore or spend time walking around Wal-Mart. I look forward to the day when my Whole Foods order can be delivered…

Have you tried Instacart or FreshDirect? (I believe FreshDirect only works in the NYC area)

Fresh Direct is in South Jersey/Philly too, and I'm sure other area's, but it is so much more expensive than a normal supermarket. They're basically giving us NYC prices, and it's not worth the convenience. Also, a localish franchise ShopRite delivers with normal prices, and a $10-$20 fee.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#107

Post by ghaff » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:05 PM UTC

artursapek wrote: post #85

xbryanx wrote: post #75

Does anyone have insights/guesses into the reasons behind the cities where this has been rolled out? It doesn't seem to correlate with market size. Is it: - regulation - supply lines - weather - internal politics ??

Probably a combination, but I'd guess that proximity to their distro centers is the biggest factor.

Note also that, at least with Boston although I assume it's the case with other cities, the area they cover with this is relatively small. Punching in a few zip codes, it looks like this covers Boston essentially inside of Route 128.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#108

Post by bkjelden » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:05 PM UTC

jws wrote: post #41

bkjelden wrote: post #5

The news here seems to be that same day delivery is now free in certain metros, for prime members. Amazon has offered same day delivery for a while, they just charged extra for it.

Where free means: Orders under $35 are just $5.99 per order for Prime members.

yes - good catch.

I wonder if there was any marketing analysis that went into choosing $35, in an effort to get people to pad out their orders with unneeded purchases, or if it was strictly chosen on the break-even point for their cost of same day shipping.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#109

Post by mason240 » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:05 PM UTC

xbryanx wrote: post #91

nostrebored wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would make you say that? These are all large, urban places which are known to utilize Amazon. Indianapolis is the only city that's confusing to me, but they have a warehouse there, and it is located close enough to ship to other locations within the 1 day timeframe.

No Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis, and Kansas City. Upper Midwest is conspicuously absent.

They just started building a new distribution warehouse in the Twin Cities. I'm guessing when it's done we will have same day shipping.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#110

Post by dustincoates » Thu, May 28, 2015, 5:07 PM UTC

xacaxulu wrote: post #65

I've noticed that Amazon has totally changed my shopping habits from 3-5 years ago. Clothes and household expendable items are almost entirely purchased on Amazon (even if I just want to try on a pair of boots). Prime Subscription or Pantry takes care of most of the rest. I don't need to drive to Costco anymore or spend time walking around Wal-Mart. I look forward to the day when my Whole Foods order can be delivered…

> I've noticed that Amazon has totally changed my shopping habits from 3-5 years ago.

Same here, especially with Amazon Fresh. In the 9 months since getting a Prime account, I spent 36% more overall than I did on Amazon from 2003-2013 combined.