What just happened? Amazon has launched new 1-hour and 3-hour delivery options in the US. The service is available on more than 90,000 products and arrives as Walmart, among others, continues to make ultrafast delivery a bigger part of its appeal to shoppers.
The new delivery windows are rolling out in major metro areas such as Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as smaller cities including Boise, Idaho.
Amazon says the 3-hour option is now live in more than 2,000 cities and towns across the country, covering everything from everyday essentials and pet supplies to toys, electronics, and toilet paper.
More speed costs extra money, of course. Prime members pay $9.99 for 1-hour delivery and $4.99 for 3-hour delivery, while non-Prime customers are charged a hefty $19.99 and $14.99, respectively.
Eligible products are marked with new "in 1 hour" and "in 3 hours" filters on Amazon's app and website, alongside a dedicated storefront in supported areas.
Amazon says it's using its existing same-day infrastructure to make the faster deliveries happen, but it has still had to tweak operations inside fulfillment sites.
The company has added dedicated workstations for the ultrafast orders, new yellow labels to help workers identify packages, and updated signage to move them through facilities more quickly. Perishable groceries are also included in select areas, suggesting Amazon wants these new options to cover the kinds of purchases that once required a trip to a store.
"Our customers are busier than ever and are looking for new ways to save time while keeping their households running. We saw an opportunity to use our unique operational expertise and delivery network to help make customers' lives a little easier while unlocking even more value for Prime members," Udit Madan, senior vice president of Worldwide Operations at Amazon, said in a statement.
This is the latest step in Amazon's increasingly aggressive delivery push. In December, the company began testing Amazon Now, a separate service that offers delivery in around 30 minutes or less for thousands of grocery items and household essentials in parts of Seattle and Philadelphia.
Earlier this year, Amazon said the expansion of its same-day network in 2025 helped drive a 70% year-over-year increase in items delivered in less than a day in the US, with 4 billion grocery and everyday essential items arriving the same or next day.
Amazon is hardly alone here. Walmart has been leaning heavily into rapid fulfillment too, touting delivery in under three hours and, in some cases, as fast as 30 minutes.