Amazon Prime
brings same-day delivery to Orlando.
Amazon is taking aim at Central Florida retailers by expanding its same-day-shipping program to Orlando, analysts say.
The Seattle-based Internet retailer said Wednesday that it would expand the service to the Orlando metropolitan area for customers of its subscription Prime program.
Orlando becomes the 18th city nationwide where Amazon will allow customers who subscribe to its $99 a year Prime program to receive same-day shipping. Amazon has defined the service area to extend as far north as Deltona, south to Kissimmee and west to Winter Garden.
Amazon also added Chicago to its same-day-shipping program Wednesday.
Amazon’s expansion is serious competition for local retailers, said Steve Kirn, a business professor at the University of Florida who specializes in the retail industry.
“The pressure for online retailers has been to shorten and shorten that delivery time so that you can come as close to replicating that in-store experience as possible,” Kirn said.
Quick-delivery programs are also extremely expensive, Kirn said, and rely on an already established network of drivers.
“They say that that most expensive mile is the last one,” he said.
Amazon has experimented with an Uber-like contractor model for deliveries in some cities called Flex but wouldn’t confirm whether it would use that in Central Florida in the future.
Amazon says it has about 1 million items available for same-day shipping.
“We’re focused on making Prime better and better and every day members discover how Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery can make their lives easier,” said Greg Greeley, vice president of Amazon Prime, in a statement.
Orders apply to select items from Amazon and on purchases of more than $35. They usually have to be placed before noon to receive the shipment the same day.
Amazon built a 1.1 millionsquare-foot fulfillment center in Ruskin, near Tampa, in 2014 and employs about 1,100 people there.