In other Amazon news, the company has expanded its coverage for Prime Now to a number of new post codes in North London and the East of England.
Prime members can now choose delivery on several thousand Prime goods within one hour of ordering for a £6.99 fee, or free delivery within a choice of two hour, same day delivery slots between 0800-midnight, seven days a week.
In addition, two hour delivery windows are now available in selected postcodes in Edgware, Enfield, and Watford.
“Prime Now is our fastest delivery option ever and we are delighted to bring it to new areas like North London, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. From today, even more Prime customers can get the items they need quickly delivered right to the door in under an hour,” said Jason Weston, director of Amazon’s Prime Now service in the UK.
Amazon first introduced the Prime Now service to parts of London in June 2015. It is now available to more than 30% of the UK population and available in selected postcodes in London, Surrey, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Portsmouth, South Yorkshire and Glasgow.
The annual fee for Prime membership is £79 and customers can sign up for the Amazon Prime 30-day free trial at www.amazon.co.uk/prime.
Sainsbury’s newly acquired Argos is the chief competitor to Amazon, and until the two companies have been through the process of amalgamation Amazon has time to rapidly expand its network across the UK with little competitive pressure in this regard. Expect record Prime membership figures in the coming year…