Highlighted Points
- As per the latest reports, Amazon is about to end its independent Prime Now app and site.
- The service was introduced in 2014 for Prime members to quickly deliver a variety of goods, including household essentials, toys, groceries, books, and more.
- Users yet can enjoy quick delivery on the Amazon site or app.
Amazon declared Friday it is closing down its Prime Now platforms and leading shoppers who need speedy delivery on groceries, books, and other items to buy them by the Amazon application or website. The Prime Now website will be eliminated at this year’s end, Amazon said.
“To make this experience even more seamless for customers, we are moving the experience from a separate Prime Now app onto the Amazon app and website so customers can shop all Amazon has to offer from one convenient location,” stated Stephenie Landry, the VP of grocery at Amazon.
Customers can pick two-hour delivery on necessary and extra goods through the Amazon app/site. Besides, any intermediary local stores or retailers given on the Prime Now Application will be shifted over to Amazon, comprising Union Square Wines & Spirits based in New York City, and Bartell Drugs, a pharmacy chain based out in Seattle.
Amazon introduced Prime Now in 2014 for its Prime members to receive household essentials, toys, books, and other items given to their doorstep within 1 or 2 hours for a bit of fee. Prime Now was released initially in preferred cities, but it’s currently available in over 5,000 towns and cities.
Landry said in a blog post, “In 2014, I wrote a six-page document outlining a service that would allow customers to get last-minute items in about an hour.” Adding further, he mentioned, “We even gave the project the internal code name ‘Houdini.’ In just 111 days, our team took the concept outlined in that six-page document and turned it into Prime Now, which became the foundation for Amazon’s ultrafast grocery and same-day delivery businesses.”
Amazon’s goals in grocery have expanded with each passing year. It has launched various services, obtained high-end supermarket series Whole Foods for $13.4B in 2017, and rolled out its Fresh grocery stores’ chain, which has caused a slightly disorganized grocery approach.
The organization has lately taken steps to ease its grocery offerings. Amazon shuttered its Prime Pantry Service in January, which offered durable groceries. Moreover, the organization rebranded its Go Grocery name to Amazon Fresh and shut down one of two Go Grocery locations, GeekWire reported this week.
The move to shut down Prime Now’s app and website had been underway for some time. The company recently started leading customers to the Amazon application and website through a pop-up in the Prime Now application.
Moreover, Amazon stated it has already stopped the Prime Now site and app in Singapore, Japan, and India. It even began providing two-hour delivery Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh in 2019.
