Amazon customers now have even more incentive to shop through the online retailer: Sunday deliveries. The U.S. Postal Service has teamed up with Amazon to deliver packages on Sundays in Los Angeles and New York, with plans to expand to more cities next year. Considering that Christmas is just around the corner, this will help people who live in participating areas get their gifts wrapped a little sooner.
As long as Amazon members meet the minimum purchase requirement of $35 on items eligible for free shipping or have Amazon Prime, they won’t have to pay for delivery. Otherwise, the Sunday delivery cost is the same as it would be for any other day of the week.
This move should encourage more people to shop through Amazon, plus it could also increase membership in Amazon’s Prime program. Amazon Prime costs $79 per year and one major perk of joining Prime is getting free two-day deliveries. So, for Prime members who live in L.A. and NYC, if they make a purchase on Friday, they will receive the package on Sunday.
“The three big pieces of growth for us are selection, lower prices and speed,” said Dave Clark, vice president of worldwide operations and customer service. “Adding an additional day is all about delivery speed. An Amazon customer can order a backpack and a Kindle for their child and be packing it up on Sunday for school on Monday.”
USPS & @Amazon are working together to deliver packages on Sunday in the New York and Los Angeles markets, starting yesterday!
— U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) November 11, 2013
Considering the woes the USPS has been facing, many wonder whether this deal with Amazon will help save the Postal Service. The USPS posted over a $1 billion loss in the first quarter of the fiscal year. After making some changes, which included cutting out some mail centers and reducing employee work hours, the USPS improved somewhat as it posted only a $740 million loss in the third quarter. While just how much Amazon is paying for its Sunday deliveries through the USPS hasn’t been released, it’s easy to see that there should be some potential to help the Postal Service rebound, especially as more cities are covered.
Do you think teaming up with Amazon for Sunday deliveries is a good move for the USPS? Respond below.
Kudos to @amazon for negotiating Sunday delivery in NYC and LA this year. Hope this is a win-win-win for USPS, Amazon and consumers!
— jordanMIA (@jordanMIA) November 12, 2013
Win-win-win! #Amazon gains #CompetitiveAdvantage with Sunday deliveries via #USPS which gets revenue. And customers experience new benefit!
— Anirudh Oswal (@anirudhoswal) November 12, 2013
[Image via Twitter]