AMAZON has confirmed it’s to end a hugely popular service for customers.
The online giant looks to reduce overlap in its fast shipping options – leading to the closure of Amazon Today.
Amazon is stopping its Amazon Today delivery[/caption]
The Prime delivery service that came out in 2022 featured brands like PacSun, GNC and SuperDry[/caption]
Amazon Today is a same-day delivery program that collected orders from retailers’ local stores.
The program will stop offering delivery and in-store pickup services with select retailer partners on January 24, 2025, a spokesperson has confirmed to The Sun.
But not to worry – the majority of products that are available on Amazon Today will continue to be available through other same-day and next-day delivery methods.
The team includes around 175 people, but most of those impacted by the program’s closure are to be transferred to other positions within the company.
Amazon Today’s closure is to streamline its offerings as it has “seen a growing overlap” between its other fast delivery programs and the service, a spokesperson told The Sun.
The Prime delivery service that came out in 2022 featured brands like PacSun, GNC and SuperDry.
Amazon previously endorsed their Today program as a way to offer customers a wider range of products at lightning speed.
And retailers involved in the program had to make sure their in-store fulfilment operations aligned with Amazon’s high expectations.
For example as of January 2023, stores had to maintain an unbelievable 99 per cent pickup readiness rate – which translates to having orders successfully packed and staged within an hour of the order.
Although Amazon Today will soon cease existence, the online giant continues to expand its fast shipping capabilities.
An Amazon spokesperson told The Sun: “As we’ve continued increasing the selection available with Same-Day and One-Day Delivery, we’ve seen a growing overlap between those programs and Amazon Today, so after careful consideration, we’ve made the decision to sunset Amazon Today.
“This will streamline our offerings for customers, and the majority of selection our customers buy from Amazon Today will continue to be available for same- and one-day delivery.
“In the US, Amazon offers Same-Day Delivery in more than 120 metro areas, and Prime members can shop tens of millions of the most popular items, across 35 product categories, with Same-Day and One-Day Delivery.”
It comes as Amazon has launched a brand new Fire Stick device in its latest product shake-up.
The move comes as the retail giant just announced new Kindles too, including the company’s first ever colour e-reader.
But for those who want to stream TV without breaking the bank they will now have to turn to the new Amazon Fire TV Stick HD.
It replaces the existing Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite.
On first look, you may struggle to notice anything different at all.
The stick itself looks exactly the same as before, in a black rectangular form.
And although “HD” has been added to the name, it’s still 1080p Full HD – which was what the previous models were capable of.
They appear to have the same processing power and storage capacity, 8GB, too.
But in the box there is a small change for the Lite version at least.
The controller has been upgraded to the recent one released this year.
Again, most people may struggle to notice the difference.
However, there are some new buttons compared to the one previously included with the Lite version.
It now provides full controls for your TV as well as the Fire Stick, so you can adjust the volume and mute without needing to use your TV’s main remote.
This can be used for soundbars too.
Amazon Prime perks you might have missed
Check these out…
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First up is Prime Try Before You Buy, which is a Prime exclusive.
This lets you try new styles and sizes of clothes before buying them.
You can return them within seven days at no cost – and you’ll only have to pay for the products that you keep.
It’s a thriftier way to try on clothes, as it means you’re not fronting up money every time.
Second is Amazon Photos, which is extremely handy if you’re a serial snapper.
This gives you access to unlimited full-res photo storage, plus 5GB of video storage.
Third is Prime Reading, which serves up “a rotating collection of over 3,000 digital books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and more”.
Fourth is another perk for book-lovers: Amazon First Reads.
This gives you early access to a brand new book for free every single month.
Fifth is a brilliant perk called Prime Gaming.
This gets you free games and in-game content every single month, as well as a free Twitch channel subscription to use each month.
You’ll also be able to play a rotating selection of free games on Amazon’s cloud gaming service Luna.
Sixth on the list is Membership Sharing.
This lets you share your existing Prime membership with your family – specifically between two adults, four teens, and four children under 13.
Seventh on the list is Amazon Music.
This gets you ad-free listening to over 100 million songs, along with thousands of playlists and popular podcasts.
And finally, don’t forget to unlock Grubhub+.
If you’re a Prime member in the US, you can get a one-year Grubhub+ trial, which normally costs $9.99 a month.
This gets you unlimited $0 delivery fees on any order over $12.
- Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime here
