Amazon Prime Now: 1hr delivery of books and sundries

[fjtorres]

FromCNET:
http://www.cnet.com/news/amazons-new...hour-delivery/

Amazon launched on Thursday a new service that will deliver shampoo, books, batteries and other products to Prime members in 60 minutes or less.

Known as Prime Now, the service is available only for subscribers of Amazon's $99-per-year Prime subscription program. With the new Prime Now mobile app in the iOS, Android and Amazon app stores, Prime members can order items from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. Two-hour delivery is free. To get an order in one hour or less, you'll have to pony up $7.99.

More at the source.

[SCION]

I installed the app, but didn't see an option to be notified when service in my area is available. All it says is I don't have an eligible address on file, would I like to add one.

For those in Manhattan the only eligible zip code is 10001.

[tubemonkey]

Alright, it's been 63 minutes and my tootsie rolls still ain't here

[rollei]

Two-hour delivery is free and one hour costs $7.99? I can wait for two hours..

[jocampo]

Funny, we have had that in Colombia for years, hahaha. My mom calls the mini market around the corner and they deliver bread and stuff in 10 min, free. It's a kid in a bicycle, hahahahaha ...

[DreamWriter]

Here's a link to Amazon's press release: Amazon Introduces Prime Now: One-Hour Delivery on Tens of Thousands of Daily Essentials Exclusively for Prime Members.

It'll be interesting to see if Prime Now ever expands to my small town, but I can't think of anything I'd actually need within an hour or two, anyway. Two-day delivery is fast enough for me.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Funny, we have had that in Colombia for years, hahaha. My mom calls the mini market around the corner and they deliver bread and stuff in 10 min, free. It's a kid in a bicycle, hahahahaha ...

Tens of thousands of items delivered across manhattan traffic? Is the kid's name Wally West?

[fjtorres]

NBCNEWS tested the service right at rush hour:

http://t.today.com/money/amazons-new...est-1D80390021

The kid delivered in 30 minutes.

Of note:
1- the app lets you track the package in more or less real time
2- recommended tip was $5

Two hour "free" delivery sounds better by the minute.

The kid may not be a Flash but that was a pretty good run.

[pdurrant]

Sorry - recommended tip?

It's bad enough that the US food service industry is completely dependent on tips instead of proper wages. And I can see how that came to include take-out food delivery people.

But I don't like Amazon trying to introduce tipping on delivery of non-food items. Just make the delivery charge enough to pay your delivery people properly!

[Hampshire Nanny]

Amazon launched on Thursday a new service that will deliver shampoo, books, batteries and other products to Prime members in 60 minutes or less.

Known as Prime Now, the service is available only for subscribers of Amazon's $99-per-year Prime subscription program. With the new Prime Now mobile app in the iOS, Android and Amazon app stores, Prime members can order items from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. Two-hour delivery is free. To get an order in one hour or less, you'll have to pony up $7.99.

Ummm... Since I live outside their delivery area -- and I can't imagine the service *ever* expanding to where I live -- it is my Prime fees that is underwriting the free two-hour delivery. I think I should get a discount on Amazon Prime.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Sorry - recommended tip?

It's bad enough that the US food service industry is completely dependent on tips instead of proper wages. And I can see how that came to include take-out food delivery people.

But I don't like Amazon trying to introduce tipping on delivery of non-food items. Just make the delivery charge enough to pay your delivery people properly!

I agree. Tipping is a bad idea.

Originally Posted by fjtorres

FromCNET:
http://www.cnet.com/news/amazons-new...hour-delivery/



More at the source.

Should not the title be that it rolls out the service to a small portion of Manhattan? Maybe it will expand to the core area of other major cities, but I don't see it coming to the Wisconsin North Woods.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Sorry - recommended tip?

It's bad enough that the US food service industry is completely dependent on tips instead of proper wages. And I can see how that came to include take-out food delivery people.

But I don't like Amazon trying to introduce tipping on delivery of non-food items. Just make the delivery charge enough to pay your delivery people properly!

Exactly! That and if a tip is expected any pricing advantage for buying through Amazon would be gone I would think. Drones???

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Ummm... Since I live outside their delivery area -- and I can't imagine the service *ever* expanding to where I live -- it is my Prime fees that is underwriting the free two-hour delivery. I think I should get a discount on Amazon Prime.

Good point.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Ummm... Since I live outside their delivery area -- and I can't imagine the service *ever* expanding to where I live -- it is my Prime fees that is underwriting the free two-hour delivery. I think I should get a discount on Amazon Prime.

Prime Now should be part of a premium Prime membership. Amazon could charge $119 for it.

[Jon_Doh]

How are they going to deliver in 60 minutes when they can't deliver their regular Prime merchandise on time? It's been over two weeks since I placed a Prime order and I'm still waiting on it. It was in stock and supposed to be to me in two days. I order a lot from Amazon, or until now did, and not a single item I've ordered in the last 45 days has been delivered on time. So, I'm just wondering about this new service....

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Sorry - recommended tip?

It's bad enough that the US food service industry is completely dependent on tips instead of proper wages. And I can see how that came to include take-out food delivery people.

But I don't like Amazon trying to introduce tipping on delivery of non-food items. Just make the delivery charge enough to pay your delivery people properly!

Tipping is not limited to food.

The custom varies by region but it is not unheard of to tip providers in various service industries like hotels, barber shops/hair salon, etc as a way to express satisfaction/gratitude.
In my mother's region it is customary to "tip" the garbage collection workers for the holiday season.

I wouldn't assume Amazon is *introducing* the practice without first verifying whether it is already customary to tip bike messengers in manhattan.

Different social contracts, remember.
It is like charity: traditionally, americans have preferred to give money direct to charity (and do so to a greater extent than most first world nations, according to THE ECONOMIST) than to pay higher "social charges" and have politicians and bureaucrats decide how to distribute the money. (Charity aggregators like the United Way even have mechanisms that let donors target their money at/or away from certain recipients.)

In fact, the fact that tipping is supposed to be a variable reward for above average service is why so many folks are unhappy that servers are paid sub-minimum wages and are expected to make up for it through tipping. It is a perversion of an established custom. As is automatically rolling a fixed tip in the restaurant bill.

It comes down to local customs.

Manhattan tipping customs are pretty broad:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g6...ng.In.Nyc.html

Not sure about NYC but tipping bike messengers is customary in San Francisco.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/02/pos...ier-for-a-day/