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Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

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Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#111
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Where free actually means: Prime members in selected areas now receive FREE Same-Day Delivery on qualifying orders over $35.

I'm always surprised at people's ability to spin positive things in negative light.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#112
post #91

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.

Fair point. Seems to be Amazon strategy though, after looking at their distribution center map: https://scmmsublogs.wordpress.com/scm-strategies/amazon-com-... Wouldn't be surprised to see Chicago added to the list of supported cities soon, but Houston, Minneapolis, and Kansas City are all pretty far from current/planned distribution centers.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#113

What kind of infrastructure does it take to be able to offer this kind of service in the chosen metropolitan areas? Do they have warehouses and delivery trucks located nearby that are ready to go at a moment's notice? In any case, this is super cool of Amazon, they are really stepping up their game.

> Do they have warehouses and delivery trucks located nearby that are ready to go at a moment's notice?

Likely this. I noticed when I got my last Amazon Fresh purchase that there was a number of regular Amazon boxes along with the groceries, so at least in Fresh markets they piggyback off that.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#114
post #86

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…

In the UK supermarket deliveries are well established. My family gets 2 or 3 Ocado deliveries a week (they have a Prime equivalent where you pay £11 a month to get free deliveries on orders over £40, within a one-hour time slot, usually available at about 24 hours' notice). Add that to Amazon, and I basically now only shop in shops when size/fit or feel are crucial — clothes, shoes, etc. And I really resent this — I'…

So many places have great return policies, so it doesn't really matter anymore. There are places that specifically encourage you to buy like 2-3 pairs of shoes for example and ship back the ones that don't fit. If you are normally a size 10.5 shoe you can happily order 10/10.5/11 and then send the 2 that don't fit back for free. http://www.zappos.com/ is a good example. free shipping both ways.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#115
post #86

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…

In the UK supermarket deliveries are well established. My family gets 2 or 3 Ocado deliveries a week (they have a Prime equivalent where you pay £11 a month to get free deliveries on orders over £40, within a one-hour time slot, usually available at about 24 hours' notice). Add that to Amazon, and I basically now only shop in shops when size/fit or feel are crucial — clothes, shoes, etc. And I really resent this — I'…

I love my Ocado deliveries, especially because they auto-populate the delivery based on our past orders + some light guidance (list of stuff to never add automatically + list of stuff to always add) and it's generally "close enough" that I often can't even be bothered to log in to check or modify the order...

Like you, I really resent the clothes shopping as the last bastion...

There are options there too, though, I just haven't gotten around to testing them.

E.g. ASOS offers a premier type subscription for a tenner that gives you free next day delivery and one free returns pickup per order, so you actually can order stuff, try it on and send it back as much as you like. They focused on women first but apparently have a large range for men too. I think you also can hand in returns at local corner shops many places if it's not convenient to have them pick it up...

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#116
post #86

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…

In the UK supermarket deliveries are well established. My family gets 2 or 3 Ocado deliveries a week (they have a Prime equivalent where you pay £11 a month to get free deliveries on orders over £40, within a one-hour time slot, usually available at about 24 hours' notice). Add that to Amazon, and I basically now only shop in shops when size/fit or feel are crucial — clothes, shoes, etc. And I really resent this — I'…

> (they have a Prime equivalent where you pay £11 a month to get free deliveries on orders over £40, within a one-hour time slot, usually available at about 24 hours' notice)

This is great. The last time I looked (admittedly not too recently), delivery in my area of the US was just too expensive to bother, living around the corner from a supermarket and all. If it got cheaper, I'd be on that in a second.

As for the market opportunity, I'm almost positive I saw a site that "translated" sizes between brands, but I can't find the thing anymore. It's worth searching for though.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#117

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.

Are you paying the $299 fee a year?

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#118
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.

I'm pretty sure this is the only answer. Those cities are where their warehouses are located, which is why they can offer same-day delivery from it. It's pretty unfeasible to offer the service for a city located 150mi away from a warehouse, for instance. The cost would be too high.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#119
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile that laptop battery I ordered from Alibaba 2 months ago just shipped. They said it should arrive in 30 - 45 days. Yesterday I just got a new blade for my bandsaw, it was shipped 10 days ago. Isn't it amazing what our expectations for shipping times are now.

Ugh I ordered something from Deal Extreme a while back and had completely forgotten I ordered it by the time it came in the mail several months later.

I've come to enjoy this about Deal Extreme. As long as you know to expect several month long shipping times, it ends up being a happy surprise when an awesome little gift arrives at your door that you had completely forgotten about ordering.

Re: Amazon launches same day delivery for Prime customers

#120
post #60
post #42

This is anecdotal and not 100% related, but I had Prime for awhile for the fast shipments. When I signed up, Prime was substantially faster than the average standard ship times. When the cost of Prime went up, I cancelled because it wasn't worth it to me anymore. However, I noticed my stuff was still arriving fast. It wasn't marked as "Prime", and it wasn't guaranteed 2-day delivery, but it was much faster than I rem…

Prime really doesn't have anything to do with 2-day delivery. They wouldn't be able to afford to ship everything by air for free. The advantage of Prime is really that you can have everything shipped for free without worrying about minimums. Well that and all the other perks, like streaming video, photos, etc. They now have warehouses located within 1 day ground shipping distance of everywhere in the continental US.…

Amazon heavily talks up the two-day shipping speed of Prime:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=2...

There's nothing in there about it being different if it's not close to you. The only exception to "two days" is the typical "it's business days, not actual days" exception, and an exception for stuff that can't be sent right away.

If they are indeed behaving as you say then it's a flat-out lie. The advantage of Prime is, as stated, that you can have everything shipped for free without worrying about minimums and get it fast.

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