Amazon will begin Sunday delivery of packages to customers in the
nation's two largest cities later this month with the help of the US
Postal Service.
The Internet retail giant announced late Sunday it would begin offering the delivery option for certain items in New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas on November 17. Amazon expects to expand the offering next year to Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Phoenix, the company said in a statement.
"If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can order a backpack for your child on Friday and be packing it for them Sunday night," Dave Clark, Amazon's vice president of worldwide operations and customer service, said in a statement.
Sunday delivery will not be available for all merchandise offered on the site; eligible items will offer Sunday as a delivery option at chckout. The delivery option will be free to Prime customers who choose the two-day shipping option. Non-Prime customers will be able to use Sunday delivery as well, but they will pay standard shipping costs for business day delivery.
Amazon will deliver packages to USPS locations on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings, and the post office will then deliver the packages to customers, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than a year, the service has been building a "flexible" workforce that would be willing to work Sundays, the newspaper reported.
Amazon did not reveal how much it would pay the USPS for service on
Sundays, a day in which mail and packages are usually not delivered by
the service. Amazon declined to offer more details on its arrangement
with the USPS.
The move ratchets up retailer competition to win customers through promises of quicker delivery. Amazon first turned up the heat in 2009 with Local Express Delivery, which offered same-day delivery of items to customers in select cities. Google began testing same-day deliveries in San Francisco last year, while eBay announced last month it would expand its same-day delivery service, dubbed eBay Now, to 25 cities next year.
The Sunday delivery option could also be a shot in the arm for the USPS, which is expected to lose $6 billion this year.
The Internet retail giant announced late Sunday it would begin offering the delivery option for certain items in New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas on November 17. Amazon expects to expand the offering next year to Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Phoenix, the company said in a statement.
"If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can order a backpack for your child on Friday and be packing it for them Sunday night," Dave Clark, Amazon's vice president of worldwide operations and customer service, said in a statement.
Sunday delivery will not be available for all merchandise offered on the site; eligible items will offer Sunday as a delivery option at chckout. The delivery option will be free to Prime customers who choose the two-day shipping option. Non-Prime customers will be able to use Sunday delivery as well, but they will pay standard shipping costs for business day delivery.
Amazon will deliver packages to USPS locations on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings, and the post office will then deliver the packages to customers, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than a year, the service has been building a "flexible" workforce that would be willing to work Sundays, the newspaper reported.
The move ratchets up retailer competition to win customers through promises of quicker delivery. Amazon first turned up the heat in 2009 with Local Express Delivery, which offered same-day delivery of items to customers in select cities. Google began testing same-day deliveries in San Francisco last year, while eBay announced last month it would expand its same-day delivery service, dubbed eBay Now, to 25 cities next year.
The Sunday delivery option could also be a shot in the arm for the USPS, which is expected to lose $6 billion this year.
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