Amazon Prime comes with a large number of perks, including free two-day shipping on most orders. Recently, Amazon has expanded on that two-day shipping option and made free same-day shipping a reality for Prime subscribers in select areas. Buyers can order their items in the morning and will receive them “before bedtime” on the same day, even on Sundays. As Amazon continues to focus on making Prime subscriptions more appealing, they announced on Wednesday that they’ll be expanding the free same-day shipping for Prime subscribers to a few new metro areas. Throughout the United States, there are eleven new areas, to be exact.
With Wednesday’s expansion, Amazon Prime customers will be able to take advantage of free same-day shipping in the areas of Charlotte, Cincinnati, Fresno, Louisville, Milwaukee, Nashville, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Stockton, and Tucson, in addition to areas already serviced, like Los Angeles and Tampa Bay. In total, this brings the stable of cities and towns nationwide that are serviced by Prime’s free same-day shipping up past the 1,000 mark. Along with the existing option for Prime subscribers to get free two-day shipping, this new rollout makes it more viable than ever for everyday essentials, trip supplies and spur-of-the-moment purchases to be done through Amazon rather than normal retail channels.
The new free same-day shipping option is still limited in location as Amazon works on the rollout, currently up to 27 metro areas, and is limited by the type of item being bought, in some cases. Eligible items number well over a million and include most of the bigger names and household essentials. Otherwise, the criteria is the same as any Prime free two-day shipping order; the total must be over $35 and it has to be ordered in a certain timeframe. According to Amazon’s press release, an order made in the morning will hit before 9 PM that same day, whereas orders made in the afternoon or later in the evening will be delivered first thing the next morning. The extra shipping considerations for Prime customers have been said to present the possibility of deprioritization and shipping delays for non-Prime customers, but Amazon is holding fast to the strategy of enhancing Prime, holding out hope that most, if not all Amazon customers will get on board.