One of the most successful retail corporations in the U.S. has expanded their “Prime Now” one-hour home-delivery, initiating the service in the Raleigh area Feb. 4. Prime Now covers approximately 100,000 basic household, grocery and daily needs, only a fraction of Amazon’s total 200 million product inventory.
The service is reserved only for members of Amazon Prime, the company’s highest loyalty program that costs $99 per year. Prime also includes music, Amazon Instant Video as well as two-day shipping for select Prime products from an inventory of approximately 20 million.
Amazon decided to expand Prime Now to include Raleigh due to the high volume of Prime members in the area, the company’s product representative announced in a press release. In addition to the $7.99 shipping premium for one-hour delivery, or free shipping for two-hour delivery, customers are required to spend a minimum of $20 to complete an order.
“It seems incredibly convenient, a bit pricy, but since I’m impatient, it sounds like a good idea if I could afford Amazon Prime,” said Amazon subscriber Sabrina Howland, senior.
Prime Now is available seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. and works only via the Amazon Now app available for Android and Apple. After a customer submits an order, it is sent directly to a “Prime Now Hub,” located on 3200 Bush Street in Raleigh. This center is stocked with the limited 100,000 Amazon Now select products. From the Prime Now Hub, employees select and sort product orders, handing them off to delivery personnel who use a combination of private and public transportation to deliver products.
Customers receive a notification once the product is enroute to their delivery location. Upon receiving any product, customers are able to hand it right back if they are unsatisfied or decide against their purchase for any reason, just as they would for a normal return.
“Prime Now will be able to do a lot of great things for Amazon customers and for the company in the long run,” said Thomas Newly, Amazon Prime Now delivery driver.
Similar Amazon services include free same-day delivery for a product list between those included on the Prime two-day shipping and Prime Now services, covering about one million on the site. However, this same-day service is currently only available in 16 select metro areas in the U.S., not including Raleigh and customers must spend at least $35 .
“Amazon seems to be doing a lot of interesting things and I can’t wait to try out the Prime Now service for the first time,” said Amazon Prime member Veronica Romero, senior.
Prime Now comes during a time of rapid service expansion for Amazon. “Dash Button,” one of the company’s latest innovations, attaches to household surfaces near products that are regularly deplenished, such as laundry detergent and groceries allowing customers to order replacements when supply runs low.
“I’m not much of an online shopper, but this could easily be the new thing for me.
It’s a whole lot easier to just click and order instead of driving all the way to the mall,” Romero said.
