Amazon Rolls Out One-Day Shipping
When Amazon first launched its Prime membership program in 2005, it was the first of its kind to provide express shipping. For a flat annual membership fee, consumers around the United States began receiving unlimited two-day shipping for free on millions of items online. Today, more than 100 million people are loyal Amazon Prime members. In an instant gratification society where people want information and products at their fingertips as soon as possible, what can get any better than free, two-day shipping?
Because Amazon has the answer to almost anything, the company’s CFO Brian Olsavsky revealed in April of this year that the company is planning to speed up Prime’s shipping with next day delivery. The company officially began rolling out free one-day shipping on millions of items for Prime members. These members simply have to find the “free one-day” logo on item listing to ensure their purchase will result in a knock on their door the very next day.
Some items available to members on the one-day shipping list are some of Amazon’s very own. Shoppers can find the Fire TV Stick 4K and Echo smart speaker along with other household items such as the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, a Samsung hard drive, an Apple iPad, and a portal smart screen. This covers just some of the millions of items available to Prime members.
The company announced its move to invest $800 million into this project in the second quarter alone to improve its network and begin delivering packages quicker than ever before. This is just the start for the online empire, as there was no word given to how much they plan on spending overall to ensure these deliveries.
With this move, Amazon is relying heavily on its ability to grow rather than an immediate profit. The decision to implement one-day shipping will not pay off immediately but may increase orders in the market over time. Olsavsky was noted as saying, “We’ll be building most of this capacity through the year, in 2019. We expect to make steady progress quickly and throughout the year.” Its plan overall is to attract new customers to Prime in order to create their profit. This should pay off in the long run with greater memberships and more sales per customer.
This is a calculated investment from Amazon, as they never fail to appeal to consumers. Prime members are loyal shoppers who typically spend twice as much every year as nonmembers. 87% of prime members in the United States said this year that the two-day shipping plan is what they like best about the program. Not only does the new one-day shipping appeal to existing customers, but it will attract potential future customers as well. The ability to have more than 100 million items at your doorstep within 24 hours of hitting the order button is an enticing offer for any consumer.
Amazon Prime’s current annual membership sits at an annual fee of $119. This can also be paid in increments of $12.99 a month.
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