Amazon to Retire Beloved Prime Now Service Prime Now, which originally launched in 2014, uses Amazon and affiliated local stores to deliver last-minute items to members.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Since Amazon Prime came on to the scene in 2007, shoppers became accustomed to an online shopping experience that was nearly as irresistibly fast and convenient as walking into a brick-and-mortar store and purchasing what they wanted then and there.
With the creation of Prime Now seven years later, shoppers were able to order and receieve select essentials within a two-hour window.
Today, the online retail giant announced that it would be shuttering the Prime Now app and website by the end of the year and instead shouldering its Prime Now services under the main Amazon app and website, instead of having Prime Now exist as a standalone entity.
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"Prime Now has become a customer favorite, attracting millions of Prime members around the world with ultrafast delivery of everyday essentials, gifts, toys, high quality groceries and more from Amazon and local stores," said Stephenie Landry, vice president of grocery at Amazon, in a statement. "We are moving the experience onto the Amazon app and website so customers can shop all Amazon has to offer from one convenient location."
The integration has already happened in India, Japan and Singapore.
Prime Now, which originally launched in 2014, uses Amazon and affiliated local stores to deliver last-minute items to members with the click of a button, something that revolutionized the online grocery and shopping world upon its launch.
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Amazon added that the same "ultrafast delivery" that Prime Now members are accustomed to will now be available through Amazon, with shoppers having the option to continue adding to orders after they are already placed up until the time that Amazon or third-party vendors begin packaging.
U.S. customers will also be able directly add items from their shopping list on Alexa to their Whole Foods Market or Amazon Fresh shopping cart.
This full integration doesn't mark the first time that Prime Now and Amazon have come under one roof. In 2019, two-hour grocery deliveries via Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh became available directly on Amazon's website and app.
"I'm so grateful to the teams who have continued to innovate on behalf of our customers to create a shopping experience that isn't just convenient," Landry said. "It's magic."
