U.S. e-commerce battle heats up! Amazon launches "1-hour delivery," taking on Walmart head-to-head.

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Amazon is pushing delivery speed competition to new heights as a direct counterattack to e-commerce pressure from rivals like Walmart.

According to Reuters, Amazon announced Tuesday the official launch of 1-hour and 3-hour delivery services in multiple U.S. cities, covering major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as smaller cities such as Boise.

The service covers over 90,000 products and is available to both Prime members and non-members for an additional fee. Udit Madan, Amazon’s SVP of Global Operations, said the company hopes to create more value for Prime members by leveraging its existing operational expertise and delivery network.

This move is aimed squarely at Walmart—which relies on its massive network of physical stores and has publicly claimed it can meet the delivery needs of 95% of U.S. households within 3 hours.

Meanwhile, instant delivery platforms such as Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats are also accelerating their deployments. The competitive landscape of the U.S. rapid e-commerce market is being thoroughly reshaped, putting continuous pressure on market share for industry participants.

Service details: Over 90,000 products, tiered pricing with additional fees

Amazon said that the 3-hour delivery service has launched in about 2,000 U.S. cities and towns, while 1-hour delivery covers several hundred regions. Deliverable products include daily groceries, cleaning supplies, over-the-counter drugs, clothing and toys, with fresh food also available in certain areas.

On pricing, Prime members pay an extra $9.99 for 1-hour delivery and $4.99 for 3-hour delivery; non-Prime members are charged $19.99 and $14.99 respectively.

To ensure fulfillment efficiency for ultrafast delivery, Amazon has set up dedicated workstations in existing same-day delivery centers to handle these orders, introduced yellow special labels for quick package identification, and updated in-center signage for efficient sorting by delivery staff.

On the shopping interface, Amazon has added a dedicated entrance page. Users can directly filter for products eligible for 1-hour or 3-hour delivery in search results, or check relevant options via its "getitfast" page.

History: From two-day to minute-level delivery, a twenty-year speed race

Amazon’s pursuit of delivery speed has a long history. In 2005, the company launched free two-day delivery with the Prime membership program and has continued to ramp up since. In 2019, the standard was compressed from two days to next day, and in recent years, Amazon has aggressively expanded same-day coverage, which typically completes delivery within a few hours.

In the ultrafast delivery field, Amazon has made several attempts over the past years with mixed results. In 2021, it shut down its independently operated Prime Now fast delivery service; in 2024, a service promising fast delivery from malls and brick-and-mortar retailers also ended.

Amazon’s "Amazon Now" project is still ongoing—the project focuses on delivery of daily essentials and fresh food within 30 minutes, and is currently being piloted in Seattle, Philadelphia, as well as international markets including the UAE, India, Brazil, and Mexico.

In addition, Amazon has been deeply involved in drone delivery for over a decade—initially launched in two small test markets, it has now expanded to multiple cities. Madan stated: "Twenty years after Prime’s launch, we are still continuously innovating to make delivery faster, while maintaining Amazon’s consistently low prices and wide selection."

Competitive pressure: Walmart leads, instant delivery platforms chase

Amazon’s latest speed upgrade directly responds to increasingly fierce competition in the U.S. fast-delivery market. Leveraging its national network of physical stores, Walmart has formed a unique geographic advantage in delivery speed and uses the ability to cover 95% of U.S. households within 3 hours as a core competitive chip, putting direct pressure on Amazon.

At a broader market level, quick commerce platforms such as Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats are cooperating with more and more retailers, extending instant delivery capabilities into more categories beyond fresh food and further compressing Amazon’s differentiation space.

Amazon says it expects to expand 1-hour and 3-hour delivery services to more regions in the coming months. This expansion leverages its existing same-day delivery network, reflecting the company’s strategic direction of upgrading existing infrastructure to higher speed standards.

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