Amazon has further expanded its one-hour delivery service Prime Now to three more US cities,
Atlanta, Austin and Dallas, and is getting closer to launching drone delivery tests in the US.
The e-commerce giant said that Amazon Prime members in various parts of Atlanta, Austin and
Dallas can now choose from tens of thousands of goods through a mobile app and profit from the
ultra-fast one-hour shipping service.
The service was launched in parts of Manhattan, New York, in December 2014, extended to Brooklyn
and then launched earlier this year in Baltimore and Miami. Further US cities are expected to be
added during this year.
The Prime Now service, available at slightly different times in the various cities, costs $7.99
for a one-hour delivery while two-hour delivery is offered for free. The service is based on using
local fulfillment centres within the cities and rapid final-mile delivery.
Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations, said: “This new benefit for
Prime members in Atlanta is fuelled by our growing operations and we are excited to continue
expanding Prime Now to additional cities this year.
“Our existing operations in the Dallas area that utilise advanced technology to fulfill customer
orders are now home to a Prime Now hub that is fuelling this super-fast delivery.” In 2013, Amazon
opened two fulfillment centers in the Dallas area, creating more than 1,500 full-time jobs
locally.
Initially launched in select Austin, Atlanta and Dallas zip codes, Prime Now will be expanded
rapidly to additional zip codes within each city soon. All Prime members can download the Prime Now
app, available on iOS and Android devices. This way, they can be notified when the service is
available in their local area.
Prime members pay only $5.99 for all the same-day delivery items they order. Amazon Prime is an
annual membership programme for $99 a year that offers customers unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on
more than 20 million items across all categories.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s ambition to launch drone deliveries in the USA has been given a boost by the
Federal Aviation Authority. In March the authority already gave the company permission to test a
specific type of drone under strict operating conditions. But Amazon later disclosed that it had
taken so long even to get this permission that the prototype machine was no longer usable, and it
submitted another application.
This second application was approved last week. The FAA said it was giving the company
permission until April 30, 2017, for more extensive tests, as long as the drones fly no higher than
400 feet from the ground and no faster than 100 miles per hour.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has a vision of the company using small drones in future for ‘Prime Air’
30-minute deliveries of small parcels up to 2.3kgs within a 10-mile radius of the company’s
expanding network of distribution centres.
