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SEATTLE – Amazon today said it continues to increase the speed with which it gets deliveries to customers. Nearly 60% of orders placed through Prime across 60 U.S. metro areas in the first quarter arrived the same day or next day, the company said.
Prime members in major cities across the U.S. can get free Same-Day Delivery on eligible orders of millions of items, including beauty, home, pets and apparel, across Amazon and local retail stores. Shoppers who do not have a Prime membership, which costs $139 a year, can choose Same-Day Delivery for a fee of $9.99.
Amazon has said it expects gains in delivery speeds to increase in 2024. In the fourth quarter of last year, Amazon said, the number of items delivered in the U.S. on the same day or overnight increased by more than 65% from the comparable period a year earlier.
Amazon plans to make same-day and next-day delivery the standard, and it intends to double the number of same-day delivery facilities in the U.S. within the next few years.
The initiative has focused on improving inventory placement to shorten the distance deliveries need to travel to reach customers. Same-Day Delivery sites are part fulfillment center, part delivery station, and allow the company to fulfill, sort, and deliver products from one location.
Amazon said it added nine such sites last year, serving 18 additional U.S. cities, taking the number of metro areas where it offers Same-Day Delivery to more than 110.
The company continues to work on drone deliveries through its Prime Air program.
