Amazon expanding free-one day shipping

Amazon Fulfillment Center in Monroe is the largest building in the city at 1.3 million square feet. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Amazon Fulfillment Center in Monroe is the largest building in the city at 1.3 million square feet. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Amazon plans to expand its popular one-day shipping to more zip codes and products, the company said late last week as part of its earnings report.

Amazon will shift its free two-day shipping for Prime members to one-day shifting starting in the second quarter of this year, a cost of $800 million, chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said Thursday on a call with analysts.

“We’re able to do this because we’ve spent 20 plus years expanding our fulfillment and logistics network, but this is still a big investment,” he said.

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The one-day, same-day and one- or two-hour delivery options have been available for shoppers before now, but Amazon is moving the core two-day offer for Prime members to a one-day option. It’s already significantly expanded to new zip codes and in products in the past month, Olsavsky said.

It’s unclear when the change will be fully implemented, but some local zip codes recently gained access to the free one-day shipping as well as the option to pick an “Amazon Day,” where Prime members can choose a day of the week for their packages to arrive.

Amazon has made moves in recent months to expand its presence in the Dayton region including the expectation of hundreds of jobs moving in the the Wilmington Air Park for a new “air gateway” and package sorting operation.

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The company also completed construction on a Monroe fulfillment center last summer and is in talks with the city of Kettering and other groups to open a last-mile distribution facility in the Kettering Business Park.

Sales at Amazon were up 17 percent in the first quarter to $59.7 billion. Operating income increased to $4.4 billion in the first quarter, compared to operating income of $1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2018.

Walmart shares dropped from $103.52 at 4 p.m. Thursday to $100.45 at open on Friday after the news. The stock rebounded partially on Friday, but remains at $101.53, nearly 2 percent below Thursdays close.

Target stock closed at $81.74 Thursday and dropped more than 8 percent to $74.97 Friday morning. At close on Friday the shares were valued at 77.12.

For the second quarter of 2019, Amazon expects net sales between $59.5 billion and $63.5 billion, growth of 13 to 20 percent from the same quarter in 2018.

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