As if brick-and-mortar bookstores didn’t have enough to worry about, Amazon has introduced a whole new way to rise above the rest and lure customers: Sunday delivery. Rolling out in two major cities and slated for more cities in 2014, the online retailer announced it will offer seven-day-a-week delivery, basically eliminating any concerns about timely arrival of products that consumers may have.
Amazon certainly isn’t alone in the concept, as both Google and eBay have similar offerings for their customers in limited geographical markets. But an article by Mark Rogowsky for Forbes demonstrates that Amazon’s new delivery structure, when paired with the estimated more than ten million Prime members who receive free two-day shipping as only one of the perks of their memberships, stands to take down a number of retailers now that consumers can get all of their shopping done online on a Friday and receive those items before returning to work on Monday.
What will other retailers have to do in order to compete with this new offer? First, finding a more convenient option, such as Google’s partnering with a number of other retailers to deliver their products to customers’ doors, but more importantly, taking a stab at the $79 per year membership fee to join Amazon Prime. That fee doesn’t seem to have deterred anyone, though, as Amazon announced that millions of new customers had joined in the last few months alone, as well as disclosed that Prime members bought nearly twice as much product as non-members, proving that Prime members are enjoying their benefits.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.