Amazon expands Prime delivery service to other retailers

On Thursday, Amazon.com, Inc. allowed other online merchants to use its Prime service to deliver goods quickly to their customers.

The e-commerce giant launched a new service named Buy with Prime. This feature lets third-party merchants use the firm’s vast shipping and logistics network to fulfill orders on their own sites.

These websites could put the Prime badge on their platforms next to eligible items for free two-day or next-day delivery.

Correspondingly, this move is also appealing to Amazon’s 200.00 million-plus customers. Prime members could use the payment and shipping information stored on their accounts to place an order.

However, the service would not be free for sellers. Pricing would also vary depending on payment processing, fulfillment, storage and other fees.

The Prime delivery service extension will be initially available by invitation to sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

With that service, merchants needed to pay to have their inventory stored in the company’s warehouses. The fee would allow them to use the company’s supply chain and shipping operations.

Eventually, the offer will be open to other merchants, including those not selling on the e-commerce platform.

Amazon has ramped up its efforts to be the fastest in the online delivery race. The business has plowed profits back into physical expansion in the previous years, growing its fulfillment centers.

At the same time, it inked partnerships across the country to offer two- and same-day delivery in more markets.

Moreover, the tech titan amassed an extensive fleet of its own delivery drivers, trucks and planes. It was successful in speeding packages to customers’ doorsteps.

In line with this, analysts speculated that Amazon aims to compete directly with major carriers like UPS and FedEx. Last year, the firm said that it is on track to become the nation’s largest delivery service by early 2022.

Amazon won NASA space communications contracts

Furthermore, Amazon also snagged NASA space communications contracts together with SpaceX’s Starlink network and other satellite firms on Wednesday.

The e-commerce giant operates Project Kuiper, which has a value of $67.00 million. It is a planned network of over 3,000 satellites built to beam broadband internet to remote regions.

Meanwhile, SpaceX’s Starlink venture is already a larger satellite-internet network with 2,000 satellites in space. Elon Musk’s company received $70.00 million.

The US government space agency looks to rely on private space companies for its operations. It also wanted to stimulate more commercial activity in areas from space communications to sending humans to orbit.