Amazon looks to expand its overnight delivery service with the launch of Buy with Prime, a new service that competes directly with FedEx and UPS for delivery supremacy as the e-commerce war intensifies.
"Shopping with Prime is a new way to extend the shopping benefits of Prime - including fast and free shipping, a seamless checkout experience and free returns - to merchants' own online stores, increasing selection for consumers. Prime members," the company said in a blog post. . post announcing the news.
Participating merchants will display the Prime logo and expected delivery date on eligible products in their own online store, provide an easy and convenient checkout experience with Amazon Pay, and leverage Amazon's fulfillment network to deliver orders. Amazon will also handle free returns for qualified orders."
Buy with Prime
The launch could have a seismic effect, as it stands, anyone who wants the benefits of the Prime brand should stock inventory in Amazon warehouses. Relaxing these rules means the Amazon brand will be on even more orders and transactions.
Buying with Prime will cost sellers additional fees, and prices will vary based on a number of factors, including payment processing, fulfillment, and storage costs.
Initially, the service will be available to those using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) – where merchants pay to store items in Amazon's warehouses and Amazon handles shipping – but the plan is to expand over time. time.
Amazon conquers all
FedEx, UPS and USPS should view this news with concern.
Amazon is already a giant that dominates the US e-commerce space, a position that was cemented during the pandemic as shopping moved online.
While spending trends show that physical retail is on the rise, Amazon, which facilitates much of the behind-the-scenes heavy lifting in e-commerce, is further widening the company's moat.
Shopping with Prime is limited at launch, by design, but the inevitable expansion in the coming years, bringing more and more direct-to-consumer stores within Amazon's reach, will only strengthen the business.
When you add AWS, which consistently provides Amazon with massive amounts of free money to invest elsewhere, Buy with Prime has huge potential to help Amazon permanently dominate online retail in the United States.