Amazon asks sellers in US to pay up for faster delivery as it expands sub-same day service

Amazon is pushing its sellers to participate in a sub-Same Day delivery program to speed up product delivery, according to an email sent to merchants. The service, which can deliver orders in as little as two hours, is currently available in 2,300 metropolitan areas. Amazon is asking selected sellers using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to bid on their products to be eligible for the service.

Those that participate have seen an average 12% increase in sales compared to the regular FBA service. This move shows Amazon's continued experimentation with its fulfilment economics, putting the decision of which products get sub-Same Day delivery partly in the hands of merchants. Sellers must weigh the potential sales boost against any additional costs involved.

Fulfillment by Amazon has become a crucial part of Amazon's marketplace, where independent sellers handle tasks like picking, packing, and shipping orders in Amazon warehouses. Sub-Same Day takes this model a step further, prioritising speed for customers who want their orders almost immediately. The specifics of how much each seller will have to bid to participate have not been disclosed by Amazon.