Prime Now Explained

Areas Served:France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States
Website:see below

Prime Now, LLC is a subsidiary of Amazon that oversees its same-day grocery shopping and delivery service. The name also originated a brand, including a custom app, to distinguish the service from Amazon's other offerings, but both the branding and the app have since been discontinued. The service is used chiefly by the company's own Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh subsidiaries. An Amazon Prime subscription includes and is required for access to the service, though it may not be available in all locations where Amazon Prime is offered. Third-party retail partners may also participate in the service and sell goods through Amazon's website.

In a May 2016, survey conducted by Cowen & Co., approximately one in four Amazon Prime users had used Prime Now.[1]

Overview

Users can order groceries from local retailers to be delivered by independent contractors, similar to Instacart.[2] Participants in the program include Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, and local partners such as Uwajimaya. Sprouts Farmers Market was a former participant, ending its partnership after Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods.[3] [4] To eliminate packaging waste, items are placed in paper bags for delivery and taken out of insulated bags at the time of delivery to be reused.[5]

In February 2018, Prime Now began adding the ability to place orders from Whole Foods Market stores in the service area.[6] As of April 2018, the service was live in 10 markets.[7]

In addition to delivery, grocery pickup is also available in some markets.[8]

Areas served

Prime Now is available in most major metropolitan areas of the United States and United Kingdom, and in select markets in the rest of the world.

In December 2014, Prime Now first launched in parts of New York City, by Stephenie Landry, an Amazon vice president who also heads up AmazonFresh and the now defunct Amazon Restaurants.[9] The Prime Now service allows members to have products delivered to them within one hour for a fee of $7.99, or within two hours for no additional fee. As of 2014, 25,000 daily essential products were available through the service.[10]

In February 2015, the service was extended to include all of Manhattan.[11] By mid-2016, it had been expanded in the United States to include parts of Chicago, Miami, Baltimore,[12] Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta, Austin, Nashville, Portland, San Antonio, and Tampa.[13] [14] [15] It has also expanded to certain cities in the United Kingdom, including London,[16] Birmingham,[17] Newcastle, Manchester,[18] and Liverpool.[19] Other cities around the world with Prime Now include Rome, Milan,[20] Munich, Berlin,[21] Paris,[22] Barcelona,[23] Madrid,[24] Valencia,[25] Tokyo,[26] Osaka,[27] Kawasaki, Yokohama,[28] and Singapore.[29]

Amazon launched its 2-hour grocery delivery service, Amazon Now, in India in February 2016 in Bangalore.[30] The service spread to Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad the same year. Available only as an app on Android and iOS devices, the service was re-branded as Prime Now in May 2018.[31] Apart from tying up with local hypermarkets and supermarkets like Big Bazaar and More,[32] Amazon has also set up its own fulfillment centers in these cities to meet consumer demand.

Amazon Restaurants

Amazon Restaurants was an online food ordering service available in 20 metro areas throughout the United States.[33] [34] In January 2018, the service had 7,601 restaurants, which offered delivery through the Prime Now service.[35] [36] In addition to independent restaurants, the service offered delivery from chains such as Red Robin, Applebee's, Olive Garden, and P.F. Chang's. Amazon Restaurants was available on the Prime Now mobile app and on Amazon's website.[37] One-hour delivery was free once users meet a certain spending amount, determined by the restaurant.[38] In November 2018, Amazon announced plans to withdraw from the United Kingdom market, citing an over-saturation of the market by competitors.[39] In June 2019, Amazon shut down the service in remaining markets.[40] It has not withdrawn from the restaurant delivery business entirely: in May 2019 Amazon announced its investment in the UK-based restaurant delivery service Deliveroo.[41]

Employment

Most workers who shop for (or "pick") groceries are employees of Amazon or Whole Foods and remain at the facility to prepare orders. To meet the on-demand delivery needs of Prime Now, Amazon launched Amazon Flex,[42] a platform for gig workers, in 2015.[43] Drivers for the program use a proprietary app to complete deliveries.[44] The contractors do not wear Amazon branded apparel, and deliver using their personal vehicles.[45] Zur and Brown note the benefits to Amazon.com of this "flexible-capacity model".[46]

Lawsuits

See also: 2020 California Proposition 22. In October 2015, former Flex contractors sued Amazon as they were earning below the minimum wage while working out of Amazon facilities and wearing a badge identifying that they were with Amazon.[47]

In October 2016, another group of Amazon Flex contractors sued the company in the federal court in Seattle, stating that they should be classified as employees due to factors such as mandatory training sessions and having to follow a route decided by Amazon.[48]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 7 Things You Probably Don't Know About Amazon Prime Now. Neiger. Chris. 3 March 2016. The Motley Fool. 30 January 2018.
  2. News: I Live by Amazon Prime Now For Grocery Shopping — Here's Why. Phillips. Hedy. 11 September 2017. PopSugar. 30 January 2018.
  3. News: In the bag: Sprouts pairs with Amazon for Dallas grocery deliveries. Robinson-Jacobs. Karen. June 2016. The Dallas Morning News. 30 January 2018.
  4. Web site: Sprouts says it ended Amazon Prime partnership as of May, cuts sales target. CNBC. 3 May 2018.
  5. News: We ordered breakfast on Amazon Prime Now's one-hour fresh food delivery service and here's what happened. Myall. Steve. 8 October 2015. Daily Mirror. 30 January 2018.
  6. News: Whole Foods Grocery Delivery Coming For Prime Members. 8 February 2018. PYMNTS. 13 February 2018.
  7. News: Whole Foods grocery delivery expands, now live in 10 markets. Perez. Sarah. 24 April 2018. TechCrunch. 29 April 2018.
  8. News: Amazon Launches Grocery Pickup at Select Whole Food Stores Using 'Prime Now' Mobile App. Broussard. Mitchel. 8 August 2018. MacRumors. 6 October 2018.
  9. Web site: Amazon has combined the leadership of Prime Now and Amazon Fresh under one rising-star executive. Rey. Jason Del. 21 December 2017. Vox. en. 10 April 2020.
  10. Prime Now. Wired. 22 December 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20141222141040/http://www.wired.com/2014/12/prime-now/. 22 December 2014. Alba. Davey. Davey Alba.
  11. News: Amazon's One-Hour Delivery Service Goes Live Across Manhattan. 17 February 2015. 17 February 2015. Jordan. Crook. TechCrunch. Oath Inc.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150218003253/http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/17/amazon-prime-now-one-hour-delivery-goes-live-across-manhattan/. 18 February 2015.
  12. News: Amazon launches one-hour delivery service in Baltimore. The Baltimore Sun. 19 March 2015. 19 March 2015. Colin. Campbell. Kevin. Rector. Jessica. Anderson. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150319190538/http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-amazon-now-20150319-story.html. 19 March 2015.
  13. Web site: Prime Now. Amazon.com. 19 March 2015.
  14. Web site: Amazon takes the NYC subway to shorten delivery times . . 18 May 2015 . 19 May 2015 . Andre Revilla . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150521024804/http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/amazon-nyc-subway-deliveries/ . 21 May 2015 .
  15. Web site: Amazon launches Prime Now two-hour delivery service in Tampa Bay. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160630080714/http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/retail/amazon-launches-prime-now-two-hour-delivery-service-in-tampa-bay/2274812. 30 June 2016.
  16. News: Lomas. Natasha. Amazon Takes Prime Now Outside U.S., Opens One-Hour Delivery In London. 14 July 2015. TechCrunch. 30 June 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150713033518/http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/30/prime-now-london/. 13 July 2015.
  17. News: Lomas. Natasha. Amazon expands Prime Now one-hour deliveries to Birmingham. 6 August 2015. Engadget. 6 August 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150809022258/http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/06/amazon-prime-now-birmingham/. 9 August 2015.
  18. Web site: Amazon Prime Now expands across UK (so you can have shopping delivered in less than an hour). Metro.co.uk. 31 December 2015. Nicole. Morley. 29 December 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160101063331/http://metro.co.uk/2015/12/29/amazon-prime-now-expands-across-uk-so-you-can-have-shopping-delivered-in-less-than-an-hour-5589938/. 1 January 2016.
  19. Web site: Amazon brings one-hour Prime Now deliveries to Liverpool. Engadget. 29 January 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160128095807/http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/27/amazon-prime-now-liverpool/. 28 January 2016.
  20. Web site: Amazon launches Amazon Prime Now in Italy. Ecommerce News. 6 November 2015. 13 December 2015. en-US. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20151217231207/http://ecommercenews.eu/amazon-launches-amazon-prime-now-in-italy/. 17 December 2015.
  21. Web site: Berlin: Amazon startet Lieferung binnen einer Stunde. computerbild.de. 11 May 2016. de-DE. 20 June 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160614230158/http://www.computerbild.de/artikel/cb-News-Internet-Amazon-Prime-Now-13200047.html . 14 June 2016.
  22. Web site: Amazon Prime Now débarque à Paris, avec sa livraison en une heure. lsa-conso.fr. fr-FR. 16 June 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160616173405/http://www.lsa-conso.fr/amazon-prime-now-debarque-a-paris-avec-sa-livraison-en-une-heure,240138. 16 June 2016.
  23. Web site: Amazon estrena hoy en Barcelona un centro de reparto y las entregas en una hora. lsa-conso.fr. fr-FR. 16 June 2016.
  24. Web site: Amazon launches Prime Now food deliveries in Madrid . www.telecompaper.com. 20 July 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160724031649/http://www.telecompaper.com/news/amazon-launches-prime-now-food-deliveries-in-madrid--1154060. 24 July 2016.
  25. News: Amazon Prime Now llega a Valencia: alimentos frescos del mercado en solo 1 hora. El Grupo Informático. 11 February 2018. es-ES.
  26. Web site: Amazon Prime Now comes to Tokyo « Post & Parcel. 20 November 2015 . postandparcel.info . 13 December 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222075502/http://postandparcel.info/69532/news/amazon-prime-now-comes-to-tokyo/. 22 December 2015.
  27. Web site: Amazon's Prime Now Launches in Osaka • Content Index. www.kriq.com. en. 25 February 2018.
  28. News: Amazon's 'Prime Now' service covered area where Pochi products arrive in 1 hour expands to Osaka, Hyogo and Yokohama. GIGAZINE. 25 February 2018. en.
  29. News: Amazon Prime Now lands in Singapore app stores. 29 July 2017. Channel NewsAsia. 26 July 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170729134959/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/amazon-prime-now-lands-in-singapore-app-stores-9066916. 29 July 2017.
  30. News: Amazon's 2-hour delivery service is 'Prime Now'. @businessline. 8 November 2018. en.
  31. News: Amazon India brings 2 hr deliveries to Prime members with rebranded Prime Now - ETtech. www.ETtech.com. The Economic Times. en. 8 November 2018.
  32. News: Big retail selling on Amazon Prime Now see drop in orders. Bansal. Varsha. 28 August 2018. The Economic Times. 8 November 2018. Srinivasan. Supraja.
  33. News: Amazon to Bring Restaurant Food Delivery to More Than 20 Cities in the U.S.. Galarza. Daniela. 11 November 2015. Eater. 21 January 2018. Vox Media. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180122125537/https://www.eater.com/2015/11/11/9712426/amazon-prime-now-food-restaurant-delivery. 22 January 2018.
  34. News: Amazon has launched its restaurant food delivery service in London. Shead. Sam. 7 September 2016. Business Insider UK. 21 January 2018.
  35. Web site: Amazon Restaurants. Amazon.com. 21 January 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170511223310/https://www.amazon.com/restaurants. 11 May 2017.
  36. Web site: Amazon Restaurants. Amazon.co.uk. 21 January 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170511070138/https://www.amazon.co.uk/restaurants. 11 May 2017.
  37. News: Amazon launches one-hour restaurant delivery in London. Heathman. Amelia. 7 September 2016. Wired UK. 21 January 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180122125624/https://www.wired.co.uk/article/amazon-launches-restaurant-delivery. 22 January 2018.
  38. News: Amazon starts testing restaurant delivery. Malcolm. Hadley. 8 September 2015. USA Today. 21 January 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180122134029/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/09/08/amazon-prime-now-testing-restaurant-delivery-seattle/71872366/. 22 January 2018.
  39. News: Amazon takeaways axed after two years following fierce competition from Deliveroo. Prynn. Jonathan. 22 November 2018. Evening Standard. 27 November 2018.
  40. News: Amazon, in rare defeat, to end its U.S. restaurant delivery service. 11 June 2019 . . 12 June 2019.
  41. News: Olson . Parmy . 17 May 2019 . Amazon Invests in U.K. Food-Delivery Startup Deliveroo . 14 June 2019 . The Wall Street Journal.
  42. Amazon.com, Amazon Flex, accessed 2 November 2022
  43. Schoolov, K., What it's really like to be an Amazon Flex delivery driver as Prime one-day shipping expands, CNBC, updated 19 June 2019, accessed 2 November 2022
  44. News: Amazon Flex will pay you "$18-25 per hour" to deliver Prime Now packages. Machkovech. Sam. 29 September 2015. Ars Technica. 21 January 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180122125254/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/09/amazon-flex-will-pay-you-18-25-per-hour-to-deliver-prime-now-packages/. 22 January 2018.
  45. News: Amazon Flex Drivers Are Kind Of Freaking Customers Out. Northrup. Laura. 7 October 2016. Consumerist. 21 January 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180122125413/https://consumerist.com/2016/10/07/amazon-flex-drivers-are-kind-of-freaking-customers-out/. 22 January 2018. Consumer Media LLC.
  46. Zur, I. and Brown, J., NextGen Supply Chain: How Crowdsourcing is Transforming the Face of Final Mile Delivery, Supply Chain Management Review, published 15 January 2018, accessed 2 November 2022
  47. News: Amazon sued by delivery drivers. Bhattacharya. Ananya. 29 October 2015. CNNMoney. 3 February 2018.
  48. News: Amazon delivery drivers sue company over job status. González. Ángel. 5 October 2016. The Seattle Times. 3 February 2018.

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