Amazon is expanding its new Prime Now service to offer quick delivery of food, including specialty bakery items, from local stores in Manhattan. Months ago, Amazon launched Prime Now, a one-hour delivery option for Amazon Prime members in New York City. The service should roll out to additional cities through 2015. It covers tens of thousands of what Amazon calls “essential” products.
Amazon Prime Now delivers groceries and prepared meals from D'Agostino, Gourmet Garage and Billy's Bakery to some neighborhoods in Manhattan in one hour. In Chelsea, Billy's Bakery is promoting free two-hour delivery of cupcakes, cookies, brownies and more through Amazon Prime Now.
More markets, including Westside Market and Italian fine foods palace Eataly, will be added to the list next month, according to CNet.
The online shopping giant has offered immediate delivery of its own stock through Amazon Prime Now for a few months, but this is the first time it has added local stores to the roster. As before, orders must through the Prime Now app. Customers pay $7.99 for delivery in an hour, but for a two hour wait, delivery is free (as long as you’re a Prime subscriber).
The local one-hour delivery is a service that Amazon arguably has to offer in order to stay competitive with the growing number of startup services offering similar benefits, including trials from larger companies like Uber. The local delivery business has ensured that especially in hubs like NYC, buyers have options that generally undercut Amazon’s standard delivery rates in terms of expediency for certain staple items.