Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) will now make its Prime users pay for same-day delivery, a move that looks to help bolster revenues despite the group reporting strong results in its second quarter earlier this month.
Having previously offered the service for free to members who ordered a product before 12 pm, Prime users will now have to pay a £1.99 fee every time they want a same-day delivery for any product under £20, according to an email to customers.
The revised policy will take effect from 18 September 2023; however, Prime members who spend more than £20 will still be entitled to free same-day delivery when it's applicable to their order.
Amazon clarified via an email saying: “Same-day delivery can be selected at checkout, but there will be a fee of £1.99 per delivery for orders under £20. The fee for customers who are not Prime members will remain £5.99.”
The change has received pushback from users online, many of which took to social media to express their displeasure.
One Facebook user claimed “there’s not much point in being a Prime member soon”, while another added “unless you use next-day delivery a lot or video it’s not that beneficial”.
Shares in Amazon are a little over 0.5% higher in pre-market trading on Monday, having closed at just over US$133.
They're removing free same day delivery from Amazon Prime. That poor billionaire mustn't be making enough money. Such a shame.
"As we invest to improve our Same-Day delivery service..."
How the hell is that an improvement?
— It was XyrianZ all along (@XyrianZ) August 18, 2023