Amazon has announced a number of new urban areas that will be able to use Amazon Prime Now from this week, just in time for Black Friday. Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland and Durham have the service today where yesterday Amazon announced that its service would reach Birmingham, Bristol, Dudley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Customers of Amazon Prime can now have their goods delivered within a two hour delivery slot for free, or within the hour for £6.99. The service was trialled in Birmingham and London earlier this year and this recent expansion of the service is indicative of its success.

Argos rushed out its same day delivery Fast Track in October to almost the whole of the UK. The service is cheaper overall at £4.99 and has a wider reach than Amazon. Where Argos can reach even rural parts of the UK, it isn’t known whether the shires and highlands will see the Amazon service any time soon – if at all.

Amazon is about to push an 8 day sale beginning this weekend ahead of Black Friday, a phenomenon the global online shopping giant was instrumental in importing to the UK. The Prime Now service is designed to get more people shopping with the company, compounded with an offer of an introductory rate on Prime membership.

Same day delivery is a relatively new phenomenon in the UK but already there is some competition in the market. Royal Mail has just bought a London focused same day delivery business with a view to tapping into this market. Where next day delivery used to be the offer for the impatient, it seems that the time between clicking the Buy button and getting your gadget is shrinking by the week…