Internet retailer enlists the aid of the US Postal Service for the new offering, which will be free for Amazon Prime members. November 10, 2013 10:00 PM PST An Amazon warehouse. (Credit: Amazon.com) Amazon will begin Sunday delivery of packages to customers in the nation's two largest cities later this month with the help of the US Postal Service. The Internet retail giant announced late Sunday it expects to begin offering Sunday as a delivery option for certain items to its Amazon Prime members in New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas on November 17. Amazon expects to expand the offering next year to Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Phoenix, the company said in a statement. "If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can order a backpack for your child on Friday and be packing it for them Sunday night," Dave Clark, Amazon's vice president of worldwide operations and customer service, said in a statement. Sunday delivery will not be available for all merchandise offered on the site; only eligible items will offer Sunday delivery as an option. The delivery option will be free to Prime users who choose the two-day shipping option. Non-Prime members will pay standard shipping costs for business day delivery. Amazon will deliver packages to USPS locations on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings, and the post office will then deliver the packages to customers, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than a year, the service has been building a "flexible" workforce that would be willing to work Sundays, the newspaper reported. Related stories Blockbuster stores meet their end Amazon makes play for small retailers with Kindle deal iPad Air topped by Kindle Fire HDX in display quality test Amazon did not reveal how much it would pay the USPS for service on Sundays, a day in which mail and packages are usually not delivered by the service. CNET has contacted Amazon for more information and will update this report when we learn more. The move ratchets up retailer competition to win customers through promises of quicker delivery. Amazon first turned up the heat in 2009 with Local Express Delivery, which offered same-day delivery of items to customers in select cities. Google began testing same-day deliveries in San Francisco last year, while eBay announced last month it would expand its same-day delivery service, dubbed eBay Now, to 25 cities next year.
Internet retailer enlists the aid of the US Postal Service for the new offering, which will be free for Amazon Prime members.
An Amazon warehouse.
(Credit: Amazon.com)
Amazon will begin Sunday delivery of packages to customers in the nation's two largest cities later this month with the help of the US Postal Service.
The Internet retail giant announced late Sunday it expects to begin offering Sunday as a delivery option for certain items to its Amazon Prime members in New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas on November 17. Amazon expects to expand the offering next year to Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Phoenix, the company said in a statement.
"If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can order a backpack for your child on Friday and be packing it for them Sunday night," Dave Clark, Amazon's vice president of worldwide operations and customer service, said in a statement.
Sunday delivery will not be available for all merchandise offered on the site; only eligible items will offer Sunday delivery as an option. The delivery option will be free to Prime users who choose the two-day shipping option. Non-Prime members will pay standard shipping costs for business day delivery.
Amazon will deliver packages to USPS locations on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings, and the post office will then deliver the packages to customers, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than a year, the service has been building a "flexible" workforce that would be willing to work Sundays, the newspaper reported.
Related stories
- Blockbuster stores meet their end
- Amazon makes play for small retailers with Kindle deal
- iPad Air topped by Kindle Fire HDX in display quality test
Amazon did not reveal how much it would pay the USPS for service on Sundays, a day in which mail and packages are usually not delivered by the service. CNET has contacted Amazon for more information and will update this report when we learn more.
The move ratchets up retailer competition to win customers through promises of quicker delivery. Amazon first turned up the heat in 2009 with Local Express Delivery, which offered same-day delivery of items to customers in select cities. Google began testing same-day deliveries in San Francisco last year, while eBay announced last month it would expand its same-day delivery service, dubbed eBay Now, to 25 cities next year.
