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Amazon has thrown its big, ten gallon hat into the on-demand food delivery game, with today's launch of Prime Now. Now, in addition to San Francisco's steady stream of delivery apps like Munchery, Sprig, Caviar, Doordash and UberEats, hungry couch sitters can place an order through Amazon's new service to receive a meal in an hour or less.
It's the Biggest Prime Now Launch to Date
At launch, delivery spans 33 different zip codes in San Francisco, offering food from 117 different restaurants— according to publicist Tom Cook, it's the company's biggest launch to date. The long list of eateries includes DOSA, The Monk's Kettle, Nick's Crispy Taco, Pressed Juicery, and others. Check out the full list of participating restaurants below.
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How It Works
Prime Now is a separate app from Amazon; once a customer places their order, they're able to track it real time until its delivered to their door by Amazon's drivers. Prime customers pay an annual fee of $99 dollars, giving access to free two-day shipping or $7.99 same day delivery of certain items, from electronics to groceries. At the moment Prime Now delivery is free, though there will certainly be an additional price once everyone gets addicted to Amazon's quickie food service.
The delivery giant first announced plans to expand their Prime Now program to include restaurants last fall, after testing the service in its home base of Seattle. Now cities including Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Portland, San Diego, and others boast the super-quick delivery service, with plans to expand to all markets currently offering Prime Now.
No Markup Price Guarantee
And notably Amazon has a price guarantee in place. Unlike other delivery services (cough, cough Caviar) that have both exorbitant markups and delivery fees, Amazon guarantees that customers will pay the same price with Prime Now as they would at the restaurant; if they don't, they'll receive a refund (if reported within 24 hours).
So, will Amazon prove stiff competition in the land of restaurant food delivery? So far it's differentiated itself from Sprig and Munchery by offering restaurant favorites to loyal customers, and unlike UberEats and Caviar there's no fee (yet). When drones start dropping pizza boxes from the skies, that's when you'll know they've won the delivery game.
