The big picture: Amazon is further simplifying its delivery options by rolling its standalone Prime Now service into the main Amazon app and website. It’s part of a multi-stage consolidation effort that started in January when the e-commerce giant quietly discontinued its Prime Pantry service and rolled the household goods and food items sold there into the main Amazon catalog, allowing such products to be ordered alongside other ordinary goods.
Amazon’s on-demand shopping and delivery service debuted in late 2014 and eventually got its own portal, PrimeNow.com, a couple of years later. The service allows Prime subscribers in select regions to receive two-hour delivery from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and participating local stores like Bartell Drugs in Seattle and Monoprix in Paris.
With the change, Amazon said Prime members will be able to find what they need alongside the millions of other items already available on Amazon.
By the end of the year, the Prime Now app and dedicated website will be retired globally. The company has already made the transition in Singapore, India and Japan, we’re told.
Amazon recently announced plans to hire an additional 75,000 employees to work in fulfillment and transportation centers across Canada and the US. Perhaps that hiring wave was in preparation of this consolidation?
Image credit Joni Hanebutt