First such launch in the US after London.
By Raif Karerat
Amazon is continuing its unending quest to completely dominate the United States’ trade ways by offering one-hour delivery of wine, beer, and spirits in the U.S. for the first time, albeit only in Seattle, Washington, at the moment.
While the company already has rapid alcohol delivery in London, the rest of the U.S. must settle for just wine.
Amazon users outside of Seattle might need to wait a bit longer to get the service.
“We will continue to learn from customers and if they love the offering of alcohol in the Prime Now service, we will look to continue to expand the offering in other locations,” an Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire.
Prime Now, which operates via a stand-alone app on iOS and Android devices, already operates in a number of major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, and New York, where it launched last year.
Amazon’s one- or two-hour service, Prime Now, is available as a free perk for Amazon Prime subscribers, who pay $99 a year for an ecosystem of Amazon products and services that include expedited delivery, Prime Music, and Prime Instant Video. However, the one-hour delivery service costs an additional $7.99 across the board.
On-demand grocery delivery is a growing and competitive market in the United States. Instacart, a grocery delivery company, announced on Tuesday that it had expanded to Indianapolis, its 17th city, according to Reuters. Other startups, like Postmates, which focuses on meal delivery, also deliver personal care-related goods and alcohol to customers, territory that Amazon hopes to make a direct incursion into.