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With the Amazon.com ( AMZN ) one-hour delivery app Prime Now , it’s possible to order a big-screen television on New Year’s day from a mobile phone and still catch that day’s football bowl games. This capability is going to help Amazon destroy the advantage that Wal-Mart ( WMT ), Target ( TGT ) and others hope to gain by offering online orders, in-store pickup and stores as warehouses for online deliveries, according to a Wells Fargo analyst. Though ordering a TV from a smartphone and having it delivered immediately is not a typical use of Prime Now, Amazon’s app has caught on with consumers. The Seattle-based giant has brought the service to 26 markets in just over a year. It’s part of the company’s move to dominate “Need It Now” shopping, Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer wrote in a research note late Monday. Prime Now members must be members of the company’s Amazon Prime loyalty program, which costs $99 a year. Amazon Prime includes free two-day shipping, free video streaming and a host of other perks. Those perks include Prime Now, which offers free two-hour shipping of roughly 30,000 products in markets where it’s available, and one-hour shipping for $7.99 per delivery. Amazon’s push may eliminate a key advantage of physical retailers — the last-mile convenience of being able to get something immediately. As that advantage disappears, so do other advantages touted by brick-and-mortar stores, such as the ability to pick up an online order quickly at your local store. Prime Now is gaining even in food delivery, Nemer says. He says that Prime Now has a better app for Apple ( AAPL ) iOS users than Google Express, the Alphabet ( GOOGL ) food delivery service. Wal-Mart, Target and other retailers have struggled to compete with Amazon’s growth rate and innovation — especially around customer loyalty programs. Target recently launched its Red Card loyalty program. Amazon stock was up nearly 1%, near 567, in afternoon trading on the stock market today. In the research note, Nemer says that Prime Now, though not currently profitable, helps Amazon retain Prime member loyalty and will, with scale, become profitable. Prime also gives the company opportunities to experiment — for example, selling products in smaller pack sizes or offering high-turnaround fresh groceries that would be impossible to sell on Amazon.com. Nemer says that Amazon’s delivery of local food items “suggests” that it may compete with food-delivery platforms like GrubHub ( GRUB ) and privately held Uber’s UberEats. It’s also possible, Nemer says, that Amazon could begin to eat into convenience store market share. If Amazon can deliver small-pack sizes for lower prices with free delivery, convenience stores could have trouble competing, he says. Scalper1 News
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