same-day delivery
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Amazon will deliver some same-day orders in just a few hours
We knew Amazon was considering making one-day shipping the default for Prime-eligible purchases, but now, the company is going even further. Prime members in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando and Dallas can now expect their same-day orders to arrive in just a few hours.
Target's same-day shipping service is now available in-app
You no longer have to fire up Target's desktop website to access its Shipt same-day delivery service if you need to get your purchase as soon as possible. The retail giant is bringing the service to its iOS and Android mobile apps, just in time for some on-the-go (and possibly last-minute) Thanksgiving shopping.
Target launches same-day delivery across the US
Target is expanding its same-day delivery service to just about everyone. The giant retailer announced today that customers in 47 states will now be able to place orders on Target.com and have them delivered in as little as one hour. Deliveries will cost a flat fee of $9.99 and will be fulfilled by Shipt, a delivery startup acquired by Target in 2017.
eBay is shutting down its on-demand delivery service
It was only a matter of time before eBay Now would be put out to pasture once and for all. But that's official as of today, eBay revealed in a statement about how it plans to simplify shopping for users. The company introduced its same-day, on-demand delivery service in 2012, but struggled to capture valuable attention from consumers -- which led eBay to retire the eBay Now apps and slow down the product's expansion strategy. Additionally, eBay also revealed it will be killing a few other applications over the coming weeks, with those being Fashion, Motors and Valet. It's been a busy month for eBay in terms of restructuring; earlier this month it finally let go of PayPal, a process that began back in 2014.
Amazon Prime same-day delivery is now free in 14 cities
Amazon can get you a package in an hour, but if you "only" need it the same day, delivery is now free in 14 metropolitan areas. To get the service, you'll need to place an order of $35 or more and be an Amazon Prime subscriber at $99 per year. You'll also need to be in specific urban centers, including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle/Tacoma (check your zip code here). The move is yet another carrot for Prime subscribers and probably a blow to brick-and-mortar stores, who now rely a lot on impatient shoppers.
Amazon Prime Now brought me candy in 23 minutes
Amazon's new one-hour delivery service, Prime Now, works so well it might just inspire entirely new levels of laziness in all of us. After all, why bother going to the store when you just need to shell out $7.99 to get anything brought to your door in an hour? But as anyone who's made Seamless or GrubHub food deliveries an essential part of their diet can tell you, this sort of instant gratification can be dangerously addictive. And eventually, you might end up having no reason to leave your house at all. As the Amazon courier handed me a bag full of candy I couldn't help thinking this is how Wall-E's dystopian future begins -- a world we're all infantilized to the point of not being able to walk, or do pretty much anything, on our own.
Amazon is exploring taxi deliveries in San Francisco and Los Angeles
Amazon is reportedly testing taxis to help speed up its delivery service, which is sadly not nearly as cool as drones. According to the Wall Street Journal, the online retail giant is using Flywheel's taxi service for one-hour deliveries in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Sources say Amazon is also considering more ways to tap into taxi deliveries. It's unclear when and if it'll expand beyond those two markets. The news isn't exactly surprising. Amazon will need as many methods as possible to make the dream of one-hour deliveries a reality. We're also seeing plenty of startups like Deliv and Postmates offering retailers and consumers ways to get whatever they need quickly (often within an hour). It's also competing with Google and eBay when it comes to same-day deliveries. And we're sure Amazon is paying close attention to the mistakes of its competitors, given that eBay's entry is essentially dead. [Photo: Mike Seyfang/Flickr]
Amazon UK launches free same-day collection for Prime members
In a bid to deal another blow to bricks-and-mortar stores in the UK, Amazon is branching out into same-day deliveries. It's teamed up with newspaper distributor Connect Group to launch "Pass My Parcel," which will ensure packages are sent free to local shops and high street stores across Britain within 12 hours until the end of the year, if you have a Prime subscription (£4.99 for non-members). If you've previously used the online retail giant's "Click & Collect" service, you'll be familiar with how Pass My Parcel works, but your package will now arrive a whole lot quicker.
eBay revamps eBay Now for iPhone, announces plans to expand service in the Bay Area and NYC
Same-day delivery may not exactly be a brand new idea anymore, but it's one that's yet to reach its full potential, we'd say. With the launch of eBay Now last year, the internet giant kicked off a beta program where it gave iPhone users in the Bay Area the chance to order stuff from some local retailers and have it arrive on their front door an hour (or two) later. Now, the company's announcing plans to bring its handy service to more areas around the Bay Area and New York City, with the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs expected to "soon" join Manhattan in being able to take advantage of eBay Now. The iPhone application, meanwhile, today reached version 2.0, boasting a completely new look that's designed to provide "an even better browsing experience." Included in this release are also search enhancements that should make it easier to find what you're looking for, as well as options for either PayPal or a credit card to check out. We hope eBay Now comes to more cities in the not-so-distant future, but for now, all you impatient shoppers who can use it should hit the source link below to grab the app's latest update.
NYT: Google actively trialing same-day delivery from retail for the chronically impatient
Rumors have floated for the better part of a year that Google has been prepping a same-day delivery service that would pressure eBay and make even Amazon Prime seem pokey. If we're to believe a pair of New York Times contacts, it's much closer to reality. Google staffers and their close connections are supposedly in the midst of testing the extra-fast shipping option in San Francisco with at "at least one" major clothing chain participating alongside local shops. Most details are still missing, including the price premium for waiting mere hours as well as the implied mobile option; Google certainly isn't talking on the record. We're almost hoping that the story is bogus, as the last thing we need is one less reason to step outside.
eBay unveils redesign, deals site and launches same-day delivery
After eBay finally straightened out its logo and became ebay (it'll always be camel-cased in our hearts) it seemed only logical that the site itself would get a long overdue facelift too. At a press event today in NYC the tenacious dot-com holdover unveiled the most dramatic redesign of its long and storied existence. The look has been compared, repeatedly in the media, to Pinterest with its endless, uneven grid of product boxes and curated feed of auctions. The design is cleaner, with less text and better suited to scale for mobile and the upcoming onslaught of touchscreens. You can also like auctions on Facebook, which it hopes will drive more traffic to the site. The company quietly launched eBay Lifestyle Deals as well, a local coupon service in the vein of Groupon and Google Offers. Right now the deals are only available in a few major cities, including Washington DC, San Francisco and LA. SF is also the beneficiary of eBay Now, the same-day delivery service that entered beta testing in early August. There isn't an immediate expansion to accompany the end of the trial, but more cities should be added soon. If you're not seeing the new design yet, look for the "Feeds" option on the home page to switch over now.
