Amazon deliveries are getting faster. On Tuesday, the online retailer announced it was launching a 30-minute delivery option called “Amazon Now” in dozens of U.S. cities.
This ultra-fast delivery option allows customers to shop “thousands” of items, including fresh groceries, household essentials, and other locally relevant items, Amazon says.
Amazon Now will be widely available in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and Seattle at launch, and is expanding to Austin, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Orlando, Oklahoma City, and Phoenix. Amazon expects to serve tens of millions of customers in these and other cities by the end of the year as rollouts continue across the United States.
Eligible items will be indicated by a “30 Minute Delivery” banner on the Amazon app and website. Amazon Now products also appear as customers shop.
Amazon began pilot testing 30-minute delivery in Seattle and Philadelphia last December, putting the retailer in competition with other fast delivery services like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Instacart.
In addition to speed, services compete on price. Amazon Now shipping isn’t free, but Prime members save money by paying just $3.99 per order compared to $13.99 for non-Prime members. Orders under $15.00 will be subject to an additional small order fee of $1.99 for Prime members and $3.99 for non-members. This is a simpler fee structure than our competitors. And they’re often cheaper for Prime members than competitors, who charge varying shipping fees along with service fees, estimated shopper tips, and sometimes per-item price increases.
To enable these faster orders, Amazon leverages a network of smaller fulfillment locations located closer to where customers live and work compared to the company’s large warehouses. Delivery times may be reduced due to limited item selection and reduced travel distances.
At launch, Amazon Now orders may include fresh produce, dairy and eggs, bakery items, medical and personal care products, baby and pet supplies, electronics and alcohol, where permitted. In most areas, this option is available 24 hours a day.
“Amazon Now is for people who need or want the convenience of having their Amazon orders delivered in 30 minutes or less,” Udit Madan, senior vice president of Amazon Worldwide Operations, said in a statement about the launch. “With thousands of items available for super-fast delivery, you can get everything from groceries for dinner to AirPods before your 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 one-hour and three-hour delivery for more than 90,000 products as of March and same-day delivery options for millions of items. Amazon is experimenting with 60-minute drone deliveries through Prime Air in eight locations in the United States.
In 2025, Amazon Prime members received a total of more than 13 billion items with same-day or next-day delivery globally. In the U.S. alone, there were 8 billion such items, a 30% increase over the previous year.
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