Amazon deliveries keep getting faster. On Tuesday, the online retailer announced the launch of its 30-minute delivery option, dubbed “Amazon Now,” in dozens of U.S. cities.
This ultra-fast delivery option will allow customers to shop across “thousands” of items, Amazon says, including fresh groceries, household essentials, and other locally relevant items.
At launch, Amazon Now will be widely available in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and Seattle, and is expanding to Austin, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Orlando, Oklahoma City, and Phoenix. By year-end, Amazon expects to bring the service to tens of millions of customers in these and other cities, as the rollout continues across the U.S.
The eligible items will be flagged with “30-minute delivery” banners in the Amazon app and website. Amazon Now offers will also be displayed to customers as they shop.
Amazon began pilot tests of 30-minute deliveries in Seattle and Philadelphia in December, a move that pitted the retailer against other quick delivery services like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart.
In addition to speed, the service competes on price. While Amazon Now deliveries aren’t free, Prime members still save as they pay only a $3.99 per-order fee, compared with $13.99 for non-Prime members. An additional small order fee of $1.99 for Prime members, or $3.99 for non-members, is charged on orders below $15.00. That’s a more straightforward fee structure than competitors — and one that often ends up being cheaper for Prime members, compared with competitors that charge variable delivery fees alongside service fees, expected shopper tips, and sometimes even price markups per item.
To make these fast orders possible, Amazon taps into a network of smaller fulfillment locations that are placed closer to where customers live and work, as compared with the company’s larger warehouses. With a more limited selection of items and reduced travel distances, the delivery times can be sped up.
At launch, Amazon Now orders can include fresh produce, dairy and eggs, bakery items, healthcare and personal care items, baby and pet needs, electronics, and alcohol, where permitted. In most areas, the option will be available 24 hours per day.
“Amazon Now is for when you need or want the convenience of getting your Amazon order delivered in 30 minutes or less,” said Udit Madan, Senior Vice President, Amazon Worldwide Operations, in a statement about the launch. “With thousands of items available for ultra-fast delivery, you can get everything from groceries for dinner, to AirPods before a flight, to household essentials like laundry detergent or toothpaste delivered right to your door.”
The service also joins Amazon’s existing fast-delivery options, including its 1-hour and 3-hour deliveries available across more than 90,000 products as of March, and its same-day delivery option across millions of items. In eight U.S. locations, Amazon is also experimenting with under-60-minute drone deliveries via Prime Air.
In 2025, Amazon Prime members received over 13 billion total items via either same-day or next-day delivery globally. The U.S. alone accounted for 8 billion of those items, a figure up 30% year-over-year.
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