Amazon Is Doing Free Two-Hour Delivery In NYC For Prime Subscribers
For now, it's Manhattan only. And it's only for Amazon Prime subscribers, which costs $99 a year.
Prime Now will allow people to order what they need and, for $7.99, have it 60 minutes later. Two-hour delivery is free.
The reasoning behind the need for Prime Now is that there are plenty of people who just don't want to go to the store, or who don't have time.
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com, Inc. today announced Prime Now, the newest benefit for Prime members, which offers one-hour delivery on tens of thousands of daily essentials through a mobile app. Prime Now is powered by Amazon's growing network of fulfillment centers that utilize high-end technology to speed up order delivery times for customers. Now, Prime members can get products like paper towels, shampoo, books, toys and batteries delivered right to their door in an hour or less.
"There are times when you can't make it to the store and other times when you simply don't want to go. There are so many reasons to skip the trip and now Prime members in Manhattan can get the items they need delivered in an hour or less," said Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations. "We've long felt that Amazon Prime is the best deal in the history of shopping and now it has gotten even better. Prime members in Manhattan are going to love this service and we cannot wait to roll out Prime Now to additional cities in 2015."
Amazon is launching Prime Now in select areas of Manhattan today. All Prime members can immediately download the Prime Now app, available on iOS and Android devices, and will be notified when the service is available in their local area. Prime Now is available from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. Two-hour delivery is free and one-hour delivery is available for $7.99. A portion of Amazon's new building on 34th Street in Manhattan will serve as a hub for delivery of Prime Now orders.
Tens of millions of members around the world already enjoy Prime. In the US, membership includes unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 20 million items, instant streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes through Prime Instant Video, one million songs and hundreds of playlists through Prime Music, free unlimited photo storage through Amazon's Cloud Drive, early access to select Lightning Deals and access to over 600,000 books to borrow through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.